Council chiefs are calling for Coca-Cola to give out only ‘diet’ and ‘zero sugar’ drinks when its truck rolls into Wembley this Friday.
Coca-Cola’s festively-lit red branded lorry is rolling into Wembley Park as part of the company’s Christmas ‘Holidays are coming’ marketing campaign.
Staff will be giving out free drinks from 11am-7pm.
Brent Council officers have written to Coca-Cola asking the company to limit the drinks it will be giving away to their ‘diet’ and ‘zero sugar’ options.
It blames high sugar drinks for contributing to problems such as childhood obesity/
Cllr Krupesh Hirani, Brent Council’s cabinet member for community wellbeing, said: “It’s great to see Coca-Cola getting into the festive spirit once again.
“However, in a borough where nearly half of 11-year-olds are overweight there is an obvious concern that there is this focus on encouraging children to consume what is a highly-sugary drink.
He added: “With nine teaspoons of sugar in each 330ml can of Coca-Cola, their flagship product clearly has a negative impact on people’s health.
“With obesity and diabetes levels so high in the borough, we are calling on Coca Cola to stop promoting their sugary drinks to our residents.
“They are entitled to market their products and we are calling on them to promote their diet and zero sugar drinks instead.”
Coca-Cola has been contacted.
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