Last week, a piece by Florida Beverage Association’s executive director Liz DeWitt was published in the Sun Sentinel highlighting the beverage industry’s efforts to support consumers. In her piece, DeWitt notes that, “As companies with deep roots in Florida and thousands of employees and customers, we care about the health and the prosperity of our communities.” 

That’s why Florida’s beverage companies are already doing their part to address obesity by taking “voluntary, proactive steps to reduce the sugar and calories Floridians get from beverages, including reformulating beverages to include less sugar, offering smaller portion sizes, voluntarily removing full-calorie sodas from schools so parents can have better control balancing what their children drink, bringing more low- and no-calorie products to market, and providing more information to consumers (e.g. explicit calorie labels on the front of packaging). Because of these efforts, nearly half of beverages consumed today are calorie-free and the number of beverage calories delivered to schools has been cut by 90 percent.”

Dewitt says additional efforts from Florida’s beverage companies include “working together with public health and government officials to increase consumer education and expand access to low- and no-calorie beverage options on grocery shelves throughout Florida.”

Find out more about the actions Florida’s beverage companies are taking here.