The Department of Health is proposing to place controls on green tea and carbonated drinks which have high sugar content that is detrimental to health, deputy department director-general Sutha Jienmaneechotchai said.
He said the proposal will be made to the Consumer Protection Board and the Food and Drug Administration to look into regulating soft drinks and green tea adverts because Thais' daily sugar consumption is over four times the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s recommended level.
The WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grammes (six teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits, according to the WHO.
Dr Sutha said the average Thai consumes 104 grammes of sugar per day or about 26 teaspoons. He said soft drink ads offering cars and gold to consumers are helping to promote the over-consumption of sugar.
Normally, the intake of sugar from natural food, such as rice, fruit or cooked food, is not dangerous because it contains low levels of sugar, he said. The main concerns are the excessive sugar added to manufactured food or drinks, which could harm people's health.