We may have all loved a good glass of Ribena as children but the times, they are a changing.
Tesco announced this week that it will be implementing a ban on several sugary drinks, including Capri-Sun and Ribena, as part of a move against childhood obesity.
A spokesperson for the supermarket chain said that the move was part of a 10-point plan against obesity and only no-added-sugar drinks will be stocked in the kids juice aisle from September.
The announcement was met with outrage by Internet users who were frantic at the thought of not being able to get their hands on Ribena.
i live for the ribena. wtf is this ban?
— Carissa (@CarissaT24) July 28, 2015
@Tesco Banning Ribena, but not Coca Cola, Mars Bars, Haribo? Random and silly. Don’t ban things, get creative in your shop layouts/pricing! — Ellie (@emctracey) July 28, 2015
So Tesco have let the health zealots get to them and they ban Ribena. An individual’s health is an individual’s responsibility, not Tesco’s.
— Thomas Barks (@thomas_barks) July 28, 2015
Ribena ban? Seriously? Another reason to not shop in Tesco. I grew up with the original pure syrup version and im not fat and no fillings. — Chris (@chrisdingleb) July 28, 2015
Life will get a lot more tough if Tesco do ban Ribena
— Jason Cotterill (@JasonCotterill) July 28, 2015
I leave the country for 5 days and you ban Ribena @Tesco ? pic.twitter.com/Yz7idED2Rf — Danny Parkinson (@dannyparki) July 28, 2015
wow, it’s at times like these around the ribena ban that you find out who your real friends are
— cats (@Shubblington) July 28, 2015
Luckily, Tesco Ireland have since clarified that it is not removing Ribena from sale but children’s juice drinks (ready to drink and in packaging from 150ml to 300ml) will be switching from full sugar to no-added-sugar versions from September.
“At Tesco we are committed to helping our customers to lead healthier lives by providing them a range of products that allows them to make healthy choices,” read a statement.
“We have an ongoing sugar and salt reduction programme in place that aims to reduce the added sugar and salt in our own label foods, particularly in our kid’s category drinks, and we are working with our suppliers to introduce a larger range of branded low sugar and no-added sugar drinks. We can confirm that we will continue to sell no-added sugar versions of branded kid’s category drinks including Ribena in place of the full sugar versions.”
