Food Labelling: Sugar.
Sugar is a sweet tasting carbohydrate that we all crave from time to time. Sugar can be found in most food products and when consumed in moderation, can be part of a balanced diet. However, there are some misconceptions around sugar and a lot of information that some may find confusing. There are different types of sugars in food and there are also many hidden sugars in foods that you may not even realise. As a nation, we are consuming too much sugar which can lead to health implications such as heart disease or diabetes. Therefore, reading and understanding food labels can be helpful in ensuring we are more mindful of how much sugar is in the foods we are eating.
What is sugar?
Sugar is a carbohydrate found in most foods. Some sugars are naturally found in food while others are used during processing and cooking.
The most common types of sugar are:
· Sucrose - table sugar
· Glucose and Fructose - found in fruits, vegetables and honey
· Lactose - found in milk and diary products
· Maltose- found in malted drinks and beer
It can be hard to spot sugar on food labels, this is because it has lots of different names. The British Heart Foundation has made a simple infographic showing over 50 names of sugar - check it out here.
It is also important to mention that sugar is found in foods that we may not think contain sugars. For instance some of our savoury foods contain high amounts of sugar. An example of this is Tesco’s own tomato ketchup contains 2.8g of sugar for every 1 tablespoon.
When discussing sugar labelling let’s use the example of Coca Cola.
Classic Coke contains 35g which is approximately 9 teaspoons of sugar per 330ml serving.
Diet Coke contains 0g of sugar per 330ml serving.
Zero sugar coke also contains 0g of sugar per 330ml serving.
Diet and Zero sugar Coke don’t contain sugar but what is added to these beverages to make them taste so sweet? Sweeteners such as aspartame which are 180 - 200 times more sweet than table sugar. Anecdotal sources refer to sweeteners being linked to health implications. However, as a whole, research demonstrates how sweeteners are safe to consume as they undergo rigorous safety assessment. Overall, it is not harmful to consume these drinks but aim to consume them in moderation because excess acidity is associated with tooth damage.
Sugar: The Recommendations.
The sugar tax went into effect in 2018, to help reduce consumption of free sugars and their negative health effects such as tooth decay. Since then, we have observed a decrease in the consumption of sugary drinks with a 28.1% decrease in sugar intake from overall soft drink consumption from 2016 to 2020.
Here is the current recommendations:
Total Sugars. The reference intake for an adult is 90g.
Free Sugars - this includes any sugar added to foods such as cakes and sugar that occurs naturally in foods such as honey. Sugars that are found in dairy products, fruit and vegetables do not count towards free sugars.
- For adults free sugars should contribute to no more than 5% of daily food energy which is equivalent to 7 teaspoons of sugar.
- Adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars per day (of their total 90g).
- Children (7 to 10 years old) should have no more than 24g of free sugars per day.
- Children (4 to 6 years old) should have no more than 19g of free sugars per day.
- Children (younger than 4 years old), it is recommended to avoid sugar-sweetened beverages and food with added sugar
Sugar: Labelling.
For traffic light labeling on front of packaging, the guidelines for total sugar is: Adapted from FoP guidance: table 2 criteria for 100g of food (whether or not it is sold by volume).
Low. Green, which means there is less than 5.0g per 100g.
Medium. Amber, which means there is over 5.0g but no more than 22.5g per 100g.
High. Red, which means there is more than 22.5g per 100g.
Sugar: Labelling terms
Low sugar - The food product contains no more than 5g of sugar per 100g for solids and no more than 2.5g of sugar per 100ml for liquids.
Sugar free - The product contains no more than 0.5g per 100g.
No added sugar - No sugar added to the food product and if the food product contains natural sugar the label will state “contains naturally occurring sugar”.
Sugar: Our Advice
Reduce but still enjoy. Ask yourself if you need to reduce high sugar foods and sugar-sweetened beverages in your diet- if you do there are lots of easy ways how...but do remember it is ok to still have them in moderation and enjoy them.
Take a look at food labels. Lookout for and compare foods with green sugar labels but remember to look at the colour of other nutrients e.g. fat.
Sugar names. Checkout the back of the food label for the different names of sugar.
Aim to eat 5-a-day or more! Fruit and vegetables contribute to a healthy, balanced diet.
Cook and bake at home. When cooking/ baking at home we are able to see the amount of sugar being added to our foods so we can control it.
Think about foods already containing sugars. Examples include breakfast cereals or yoghurts. Check out food labels and try to choose ones you will enjoy and are low in sugar, for example oats and weetabix and plain yoghurts.
Check out Charlotte Radcliffe. Follow Charlotte on Instagram @The_Nutrition_Consultant and check out her posts:
Adults and teen drinks
Kids drinks
Breakfast cereals
Sugar otherwise known as..