People should halve their daily sugar intake to improve their health, the World Health Organisation says
People should slash their sugar intake by half if they want to improve their health, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
Current WHO guidelines say sugars should make up less than 10 per cent of total energy intake.
For adults of a normal weight, this means around 50g a day - about 12 level teaspoons - of sugar.
One can of Coca Cola contains approximately six teaspoons or 35 grams of sugar - the same amount of calories as an average cappuccino or half a croissant.
But now, in new draft guidelines, the WHO maintains its original advice that sugars should be less than 10 per cent of total energy intake, but it argues that cutting this intake to less than five per cent would bring ‘additional health benefits’.
It says this is the ‘ideal’ figure that people should aim for.
The guidelines follow several studies on the impact of sugar on obesity and dental cavities, including the role of ‘hidden’ sugars.
The WHO's limits on intake of sugars apply to all monosaccharides (such as glucose, fructose) and disaccharides (such as sucrose or table sugar).
These are added to food by the manufacturer, the cook, or the consumer, and are also sugars that are naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit concentrates.
The WHO said much of the sugars consumed today are ‘hidden’ in processed foods such as sweets, with sugary fizzy drinks having about 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Dr Francesco Branca, director for nutrition for health and development at the WHO, told a news conference that the 10 per cent target was a ‘strong recommendation’ while the five per cent target was ‘conditional’, based on the evidence.
He added: ‘Five per cent is the ideal one and the 10 per cent is the more realistic one.
‘We have few countries (hitting) below 10 per cent. But, yes, we should aim for five per cent if we can.’
Dr Branca said obesity affects half a billion people around the world and is on the rise among all age groups.
Experts say people are consuming too much 'hidden' sugar in foods such as sweets and fizzy drinks
He said the recommendation for less than five per cent was important because it told countries that reductions to ‘below five per cent are even better’.
The news comes after England's chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, told MPs yesterday that a ‘sugar tax’ may have to be introduced to curb child and adult obesity.
She said being overweight had become ‘normalised’ in Britain and the Government should regulate the food and drinks industry to protect people against the dangers of excess calorie consumption.
England's chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, told MPs yesterday that a 'sugar tax' may have to be introduced to curb obesity
‘We need to be both strong and prepared to regulate. I think that the science is going such that that we will find sugar is addictive,’ she said.
‘We haven't managed to get over to the public how calorie packed fruit juices are, smoothies are, colas and carbonated drinks. We need to have a big education to know one is fine, but not lots of them.
‘We may need to move to some sort of sugar tax, but I hope we don't have to.’
There has been much criticism of the Government's responsibility deal with the food and drinks industry - which asks them to sign up to voluntary codes and targets.
Asked if the Prime Minister was ready to consider introducing new laws or taxes to cut sugar consumption, David Cameron's official spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister's view is that the significant things the Government is doing through the responsibility deal with industry is the right way to be going about this, because at the heart of this is ensuring people have the public health information.
‘The Government is working with retailers in order to ensure that people have the information so they can make the best decisions around their own health.
‘What we are doing is working with the industry. You have already seen commitments from retailers and food manufacturers to reduce levels of salt, to remove some artificial fats, to reduce calorie content and improve labelling, as well as public health campaigns by local authorities and the NHS.
‘I think it's absolutely right that a social responsibility approach is at the heart of this.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2573986/People-HALVE-sugar-eat-want-improve-health-World-Health-Organisation-says.html#ixzz2v8Bt5xmL
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