If you don't give up one sweetened coffee and you are about to spend a few days in São Paulo, it is best to be careful before placing your order at any bakery or coffee shop. Since 1999, the state of São Paulo has had a somewhat peculiar law, which prevents establishments from selling already sweetened coffee.
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Law 10,297 was enacted on April 29, 1999, by the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (Alesp). With it, it was established that restaurants, bars, cafes, bakeries and similar establishments cannot offer the drink already sweetened. Therefore, they are obliged to serve the drink in its natural form, and leave the customer to choose sugar or sweetener.
In the text of the law, “it is mandatory for bars, restaurants and similar, in the State, to have available to the customer the
Even if it seems like just a detail, the law has a reason for existing. The aim of the legislation is to ensure that consumers have the option of accessing pure coffee, without the addition of any type of sweetener. Therefore, the drink should only be sweetened if the consumer wishes.
The intention is to promote diversity of consumer choice and ensure that everyone can enjoy their coffee the way they prefer. Furthermore, the measure also aims to provide greater security for health of people who cannot consume sugar in their diets. Therefore, when ordering a coffee in São Paulo, keep in mind that it will not be sweetened, as the tradition of drink in the state goes far beyond taste, it is a matter of complying with a law established more than two years ago decades.
