Big US soft-drink firms pledge to cut calorie count and container sizes over the next decade

In an ambitious pledge, the US soft-drinks industry is committing to cut Americans’ calorie intake from beverages by 20 per cent over the coming decade, with smaller cans and bottles a key part of the strategy.

As part of the agreement reached by the American Beverage Association and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Dr Pepper Snapple Group will promote smaller portions as well as zero- and low-calorie offerings, and they will provide calorie counts on vending machines and soda fountains.

“This is the single-largest voluntary effort by an industry to help fight obesity and leverages our companies’ greatest strengths in marketing, innovation and distribution,” Susan Neely, president and chief executive of the American Beverage Association, said. “This initiative will help transform the beverage landscape in America.”

In many ways, the soft-drink industry’s commitment is also something of a concession.

The announcement comes on the heels of several attempts to curb soda consumption on national and state levels. In New York City, beverage makers thwarted an attempt to place caps on portions of sugary drinks. In Illinois, state legislator Robyn Gabel proposed a soft-drinks tax that ultimately failed. And in San Francisco, a tax on sugary drinks will be voted on in November. A national tax, however unlikely, was proposed last month by Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.

And it’s not just lawmakers who are increasingly wary of soft drinks. Americans have been eschewing it for years. Consumption has been declining in the US for more than a decade.