“Teh tarik kurang manis” or teh tarik with reduced sweetness is what most Malaysians would order at mamak eateries to reduce our guilt of indulging in pulled tea (teh tarik). Now, Nestle has introduced a “kurang manis” version for its pulled coffee known as Nescafe Tarik Kurang Manis. The drink is an aromatic coffee blended with condensed milk. This version contains only 4.4g of total sugar per 100ml (3.6g of sucrose and 0.8g of lactose).
Nescafe Tarik Kurang Manis represents a 68% reduction in total sugar compared with Nescafe Tarik, which has 13.9g of total sugar per 100ml (11.5g of sucrose and 2.4g of lactose). Nescafe Tarik Kaw (thicker version) has 15.1g of total sugar per 100ml (12g of sucrose and 3.1g of lactose).
Beverage companies in Malaysia are reformulating their products to offer consumers with a healthier choice and to meet the new sugar tax, which will be implemented on 1 July 2019. A RM 0.40 tax per litre will be imposed on soft drinks with more than 5g of sugar or sugar-based sweetener per 100ml. We expect more companies to introduce beverages with less than 5g of sugar per 100ml in the near future.
