Sugar content of fruit drinks is ‘unacceptably high’

The sugar content of fruit drinks, including natural fruit juices and smoothies, is "unacceptably high", according to new research by British experts.

Almost half the products assessed contained at least a child’s entire daily recommended maximum sugar intake, according to the research published in BMJ (British Medical Journal) Open.

Smoothies were among the worst offenders in terms of sugar content, despite their generally wholesome image.

The study by UK scientists looked only at products specifically marketed at children, and excluded consideration of sugar-sweetened drinks and sports drinks.

Portion sizes

To assess the sugar content of fruit juice drinks, 100 per cent natural juices, and smoothies marketed specifically to children, the researchers measured the quantity of “free” sugars per 100ml in 203 standard portion sizes.

“Free” sugars refer to sugars, such as glucose, fructose, sucrose and table sugar, which are added by the manufacturer, and naturally occurring sugars in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates, but not the naturally occurring sugars found in whole fruits and vegetables, which the body metabolises differently and which act to curb energy intake.

The results highlighted wide variations in the amount of free sugars between different types of drinks and within the same type of product.

The sugar content ranged from zero to 16g per 100ml, with the average 7g.

Analysed

But sugar content was significantly higher in pure fruit juices and smoothies.

Among the 158 fruit juice drinks analysed, the average sugar content was 5.6g, but rose to 10.7g among the 21 pure fruit juices tested, and to 13g among the 24 smoothies assessed.

Some 85 juice drinks, or more than 40 per cent of the total sample of products, contained at least 19g of free sugars.

This is equivalent to five teaspoonfuls of sugar, a child’s entire daily maximum recommended amount.

Some 78 products contained non-calorific sweeteners, such as aspartame.

Although safe, health experts believe that a reduction in the overall sweetness of products is required for children’s taste buds to become accustomed to less sugar in their diets.

In most cases, packet sizes were bigger than the recommended portion size of 150ml for children.

The reference intake was based on an adult woman, and was therefore “wholly inappropriate” for children.