Ahead of the proposed sugar tax due to be introduced in 2018, Tesco has announced further reductions to sugar levels in its own brand soft drinks.

Tesco started reducing sugar in its soft drinks in 2011, and the final 50 products in its 251-strong range have now been reformulated to below 5 grams per 100ml. The drinks will start appearing on shelves from Friday, including regular Tesco Cola in which the sugar content has been halved.

Tesco said the move means that average customer is now consuming over 20% less sugar from own brand soft drinks than they did in 2011.

Matt Davies, Tesco UK and ROI CEO, commented: “This is just one part of our plans to make the food on our shelves healthier by reducing levels of sugar, salt and fat in our own brands.

“We have worked to make sure our soft drinks still taste great, just with less sugar. We’re hoping this initiative will help make it a little easier for our customers to live more healthily.”

Chris Askew, Diabetes UK CEO welcomed the move, saying: “Helping customers lead healthier lives by reducing sugar in its own brand soft drinks is a welcome move by Tesco. Similar action from other manufacturers and retailers to make products lower in sugar, saturated fat and salt is vital to tackle rising rates of obesity in the UK.”

In addition to its work on soft drinks, Tesco has also cut the salt, fat and sugar in over 4,200 of its own products since 2012 and has plans for reductions in a further 1,000 products each year for the next three years.