Sun, Jan-12-14, 03:30
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Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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‘Five-a-day’ foods packed with sugar
Quote:
From The Sunday Times
London, UK
12 January, 2014
‘Five-a-day’ foods packed with sugar
FOOD companies are using a government-backed campaign designed to persuade us to eat more healthily to sell products laden with sugar, a Sunday Times investigation reveals.
A McDonald’s fizzy drink, a cocoa bar, Heinz spaghetti hoops and a packet of “fruit flakes” made with sugar and vegetable fat claim to provide one of the “five-a day” portions of fruit and vegetables recommended for a healthy diet.
The five-a-day promotion is based on advice from the World Health Organisation, which recommends eating a minimum of 400g (14oz) of fruit and vegetables, or five portions of 80g each, a day to lower the risk of health problems such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Yet some products claiming to be part of your “five-a-day” were more than three-quarters sugar, excessive consumption of which has been linked to some of these conditions.
Some contained added sugar, while others were sweetened with white grape juice or concentrated apple juice, which provide few nutrients.
A packet of Kiddylicious Strawberry Fruit Wriggles was found to be 78% sugar, mainly derived from concentrated apple juice: only 6% of the product was strawberry.
Raspberry Fruit Flakes contained 65% sugar, including fructose-glucose syrup, vegetable fat and concentrated fruit juices. Yu! mango pieces were 83% sugar while Bear Yo Yo raspberry fruit rolls were 49% sugar. Robinsons My-5 fruit shoot drinks, which are aimed at children, were 19% sugar.
A McDonald’s Fruitizz fizzy drink contained 10% sugar and a Nakd cocoa delight bar made with nuts and raisins also carried the five-a-day claim, despite having 42% sugar.
Health guidelines say no matter how much of one type of fruit you eat, it should be classed as only one of your five-a-day. However, Princes peach slices claimed to provide two portions and Baxters Italian tomato soup also claimed to count as two portions — it also contained added salt, sugar and vegetable oil. Heinz said its spaghetti hoops carried the five-a-day label because of the tomato content of its product, although it also contains added sugar and salt.
When the Department of Health launched the scheme, it said manufacturers could not use the official five-a-day logo on products aimed at children or on anything containing added sugar or salt.
But there is nothing to stop manufacturers putting their own five-a-day labels on foods containing high levels of sugar, salt and few nutrients. The scientist leading a new campaign to reduce sugar in our food by 30% over the next five years described the Sunday Times findings as “scandalous”.
Graham Macgregor, of Action on Sugar, said: “It is scandalous to label products with high levels of sugar as one of your five-a-day. Many fruit juices have the same amount of sugar as soft drinks. But the food industry still counts them as one of your five-a-day.
“Mothers are being deceived into thinking they are not giving sugar to their children when in fact they are because apple juice concentrate is the same as sugar. It is ridiculous to tell people it is a portion of their five-a-day. Why isn’t the Department of Health doing anything about it?”
Bear, the manufacturer of Yo Yo rolls, said it liaised with the health department before adding the claim to its packaging and its products included the entire pulp of the fruit.
Yu! said its mango product was “100% fruit”. Baxters used its own five-a-day logo on soups because it wanted customers “to understand the contribution” vegetables make to their diets.
Nakd, McDonald’s and Robinsons said the products contained only “natural” fruit sugars. Princes said it was “committed to helping people live healthier lifestyles”.
The government has spent more than £4m on its five-a-day scheme but only 25% of people achieve the full five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Public Health England said it did not “police” manufacturers’ five-a-day claims but added: “If someone thought this was misleading they could refer the product to their local trading standards office.”
Barbara Gallani, director of regulation at the Food and Drink Federation, which represents manufacturers, defended the right of companies to make the claims. “The nutritional benefits of fruit and vegetables are the same whether they are eaten on their own or as part of a composite product,” she said.
“The Department of Health encourages manufacturers to use more fruit and vegetables in their recipes to help people towards their five-a-day, although there is no government advice on how to use a five-a-day label on composite products. For this reason, manufacturers look to guidance from the IGD [industry body], which includes nutritional standards, as a guide how to label their products responsibly.”
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http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto...icle1362045.ece
Quote:
From The Sunday Times
London, UK
12 January, 2014
Obesity tsar calls for tax on juice
FRUIT juice contains so much sugar it should be taxed and should not be counted as one of your “five-a-day” portions of fruit, the government’s leading adviser on obesity has warned.
Susan Jebb said she had stopped drinking orange juice and warned others to dilute it or “wean” themselves off it.
Jebb oversees the government’s responsibility deal, a series of voluntary pledges by industry aimed at tackling health problems such as obesity and alcohol abuse.
She said many orange juices had as much sugar as Coca-Cola and should not be included as one of the “healthy” five-a-day fruit or vegetable portions recommended in health department guidelines.
“I would support taking it out of the five-a-day guidance,” she said. “Fruit juice isn’t the same as intact fruit and it has got as much sugar as many classical sugar drinks. It is also absorbed very fast so by the time it gets to your stomach your body doesn’t know whether it’s Coca-Cola or orange juice, frankly. I have to say it is a relatively easy thing to give up. Swap it and have a piece of real fruit. If you are going to drink it, you should dilute it.”
Jebb said she was in favour of taxing sugary drinks but that ministers feared that would be unpopular with the public.
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http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto...icle1362034.ece |
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