Tesco to remove Ribena, Capri-Sun & Rubicon in bid to tackle obesity

A big difference will be soon noticed on the drinks aisles of Tesco in September now the supermarket giant has announced it will be axing some of the best-selling children’s drinks brands.

High-sugar products will be removed from shelves this September, including Capri-Sun, the added-sugar Rubiscon juices, several varieties of Ribena and added-sugar Jucee drinks.

The move has been reported in trade magazine The Grocer, which says drinks will be taken off the shelves from September.

The drinks would be replaced with juice alternatives that did not have added sugar.

Tesco has already announced a five per cent year-on-year cut in sugar in its own-brand soft drinks.

A spokeswoman for Lucozade Ribena Suntory told The Grocer: “We believe it is important to offer choice for parents”. For drinks, it suggested, “Add bottled water, milk or 100 percent fruit juices to school lunch boxes”. We will have no-added-sugar flavours available in multi-pack cartons.’.

Meanwhile, plans are afoot to make Jucee 100-per cent “no-sugar added”.

The products will be removed from the shelves on September 7 – after children return to school following the summer holidays.

But industry experts doubted whether the move – which exclude top selling fizzy drinks – would go far enough for some health campaigners.

Adam Leyland, editor of The Grocer said: ‘A part of me thinks this is a really sensible idea.

‘But another part of me worries where all this ends.

‘Yet as Tesco’s crusade gathers pace, it could face hostility on a number of sides, not least on the basis of consumer choice. The chain has more than 3,500 stores in the United Kingdom and more than 7,800 stores worldwide, with sales of almost 70 billion pounds (roughly $108 billion), according to its website.