The Swedish Food Administration (Livsmedelsverket) commissioned SIK to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of the product segment snacks and soft drinks in order to quantify its impact upon greenhouse-gas emissions, eutrophication and primary energy use. The products studied were crisps, sweets and soft drinks produced in Sweden and consumed in the Scandinavian capitals. The life-cycle phases included in the study are raw material and ingredient production; transportation of raw materials and ingredients; industrial processing (i.e. factory); and transportation to the central warehouse and to the local retailer.

The study was conducted in co-operation with the Swedish companies Svenska Lantchips, Leaf and Spendrups. Inventories were taken at their plants in order to generate specific data for processing. Where the data was incomplete or inadequate, assumptions have been made, as specified, for each system.

The project has been supported by the Swedish Board of Agriculture via its "A Food Strategy for Sweden" programme. The Nordic Council of Min-isters provided funding via grants from the Nordic Working Group for Diet, Food and Toxicology (NKMT) and the Nordic Strategy for Sustainable De-velopment.

Aggregated results from the current study in relation to greenhouse-gas emissions are presented in the chart below. The products’ greenhouse-gas emissions per kg of product are compared to other snacks and to some com-mon staple foods that may have the same function as snacks and soft drinks.