Coca-Cola European Partners pledges to reduce calories in Swedish products by 20%

We’re pleased to announce our new pledge to cut the average amount of calories in the products we sell in Sweden by 20% from 2010 to 2020. This is in response to Swedish Health Minister Gabriel Wikström’s call earlier this year for further collaboration between industry and public policy makers to address the lack of physical activity and the intake of sugar and salt in Sweden.

For several years now we’ve offered low- and no-calorie product alternatives in Sweden, clear nutritional information on pack, responsible marketing guidelines and smaller packaging sizes. These changes form just a small part of our global commitment to help address the future challenges of obesity.

We’ve introduced new products including Coca-Cola Life, which contains 45% less calories, and we’ve reduced the average amount of calories in our beverages by 10% (between 2010 and 2015 in Sweden). Despite this initial action, we knew that more could be done following Minister Wikström’s call to address the challenges of public health in Sweden.

It is widely agreed that public health is a complex issue for which there is no one ‘silver bullet’. As called out by the health minister, it will require concrete actions from a number of players in society, with the food and beverage industry being a very important one.

We have pledged to achieve this 20% reduction in calories by 2020 but our journey will not end there. We are keen to continue to engage and encourage other stakeholders in the market to join us on this journey to see what further measures can be taken.