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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Tuesday, June 20, 2017
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BACOLOD City – After announcing they will continue to boycott Coca-Cola products, the Sugar Alliance of the Philippines (SAP) said it is also planning to snub Pepsi Cola.
Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers’ Federation of the Philippines, disclosed in a press conference yesterday that Pepsi Cola Products Philippines uses high-fructose corn syrup (HCFS) instead of local sugar.
They have long planned to boycott Pepsi but Lamata said “it is not easy to fight two giant beverage companies at the same time.”
The SAP is asking Pepsi to stop using HFCS.
“They need to commit with the SAP to patronize locally-produced sugar just like what Coca-Cola did,” Lamata said.
On March 20, protesters from Negros Island Region and Iloilo gathered in front of Coca-Cola’s plant in Barangay Mansilingan to press an end to the importation and use of HFCS.
Days after the protest, the company informed the Department of Agriculture about its plan to buy local sugar for its soft drink and beverage production.
“The corporation said they were willing to spend a few million dollars more to show they were helping the sugar industry and Philippine agriculture,” DA chief Manny Piñol said.
HFCS, which is being used as alternative sweetener in beverage products, lowers the demand for locally-produced sugar, said SAP./PN
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