Dazzler
10-02-2009, 05:57 AM
Do you know how much sugar is in your bread and cereal? We reveal which supposedly healthy foods are brimming with the sweet stuff.
The news is full of stories about the high salt content in food and health experts are constantly warning us to reduce our salt consumption or face an increased risk of heart disease.
But what about sugar - excess levels of which can cause tooth decay, obesity and diabetes?
Health experts have found that the amount of sugar in ‘healthy’ foods has doubled in 30 years – we take a look at some of the foods that contain dangerously high levels and give you some tips on reducing your intake.
Sugar in particular, it seems, is being added to food in unprecedented quantities, and earlier this year The Daily Mail has sparked a debate about sugar levels in our food by comparing the amount of sugar per 100g in ‘health’ foods today compared to 30 years ago.
Savoury warning
This is not the first time that high levels of sugar were found in unlikely food sources. A recent survey by Which? found that meals such as Tesco crispy beef with sweet chilli and Asda’s sticky chilli chicken contained more sugar than vanilla ice cream.
They also said that food labelling was confusing as sugar, in accordance with EU regulations, could be listed as fructose, dextrose, sucrose and glucose.
High sugar content is classified by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as more than 15g per 100g or more than 18g if a portion is more than 100g.
The Asda dish contained 19.2g of sugar per 100g, while Tesco’s crispy beef had a whopping 23.1g per 100g. Ironically, Weight Watchers digestive biscuits contain 20.5g of sugar – 4% more than McVitie’s digestives.
Although many companies do voluntarily label their products, not all do. 'Supermarkets are not obliged to include nutritional information on packaging unless they claim it is “low sugar”.'
Sugar facts
Fruit and milk contain naturally occurring sugar that we don't need to cut back on. However, many foods contain added sugars to appeal to our taste buds, but not necessarily to our health.
These include cakes, biscuits, fizzy drinks and even fruit juices. Such things are not nutritionally balanced, containing calories but little other nutrients, and the FSA recommends that we eat these in moderation.
When a fruit is whole, the natural sugars are held within the fruits structure, but when they juiced or blended, the structure is broken down. Although still a healthier option compared to fizzy drinks, juice is best confined to mealtimes.
It is always a good idea to check the nutritional information on food labels, as this give a good indication of the sugar content.
The ingredients list is also a good place to check, as added sugars must be included. Food manufacturers use different words to describe added sugars such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, hydrolysed starch and invert sugar, corn syrup and honey.
The main ingredients are always the first on the list, so if you spy any of these near the top of the list, the product will probably be high in added sugars.
Source (http://lifestyle.sg.msn.com/health/wellbeing/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3458223)
The news is full of stories about the high salt content in food and health experts are constantly warning us to reduce our salt consumption or face an increased risk of heart disease.
But what about sugar - excess levels of which can cause tooth decay, obesity and diabetes?
Health experts have found that the amount of sugar in ‘healthy’ foods has doubled in 30 years – we take a look at some of the foods that contain dangerously high levels and give you some tips on reducing your intake.
Sugar in particular, it seems, is being added to food in unprecedented quantities, and earlier this year The Daily Mail has sparked a debate about sugar levels in our food by comparing the amount of sugar per 100g in ‘health’ foods today compared to 30 years ago.
Savoury warning
This is not the first time that high levels of sugar were found in unlikely food sources. A recent survey by Which? found that meals such as Tesco crispy beef with sweet chilli and Asda’s sticky chilli chicken contained more sugar than vanilla ice cream.
They also said that food labelling was confusing as sugar, in accordance with EU regulations, could be listed as fructose, dextrose, sucrose and glucose.
High sugar content is classified by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as more than 15g per 100g or more than 18g if a portion is more than 100g.
The Asda dish contained 19.2g of sugar per 100g, while Tesco’s crispy beef had a whopping 23.1g per 100g. Ironically, Weight Watchers digestive biscuits contain 20.5g of sugar – 4% more than McVitie’s digestives.
Although many companies do voluntarily label their products, not all do. 'Supermarkets are not obliged to include nutritional information on packaging unless they claim it is “low sugar”.'
Sugar facts
Fruit and milk contain naturally occurring sugar that we don't need to cut back on. However, many foods contain added sugars to appeal to our taste buds, but not necessarily to our health.
These include cakes, biscuits, fizzy drinks and even fruit juices. Such things are not nutritionally balanced, containing calories but little other nutrients, and the FSA recommends that we eat these in moderation.
When a fruit is whole, the natural sugars are held within the fruits structure, but when they juiced or blended, the structure is broken down. Although still a healthier option compared to fizzy drinks, juice is best confined to mealtimes.
It is always a good idea to check the nutritional information on food labels, as this give a good indication of the sugar content.
The ingredients list is also a good place to check, as added sugars must be included. Food manufacturers use different words to describe added sugars such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, hydrolysed starch and invert sugar, corn syrup and honey.
The main ingredients are always the first on the list, so if you spy any of these near the top of the list, the product will probably be high in added sugars.
Source (http://lifestyle.sg.msn.com/health/wellbeing/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3458223)