BMJ 2014;348:g2003 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g2003 (Published 7 March 2014)
Page 1 of 2
News
NEWS Average daily consumption of sugar must be halved, says WHO Anne Gulland London
The recommended average daily recommended intake of sugar should be halved so that it makes up 5% or less of a person’s total energy consumption, new guidelines from the World Health Organization have said.
In draft guidance WHO recommended that policy makers should ensure that all monosaccharides and disaccharides added to food or found in honey, fruit syrups, fruit juice, and concentrate should be at most 10% of a person’s energy consumption but that ideally it should be cut to 5%. WHO’s current advice is that sugar should make up 10% or less of a person’s energy consumption. The lower limit of sugar intake for an adult whose total energy consumption is 2000 kilocalories a day is equivalent to around 25 g of sugar or six teaspoons.
The guidelines have been drawn up in a bid to combat obesity and dental caries, Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s department for nutrition for health and development, told a press conference. “Obesity affects half a billion people in the world, and it’s on the rise in all age groups, particularly in low and middle income countries,” he said. “Dental caries is one of the most common non-communicable diseases, and it takes up to 5% of the health budget.” Branca said that food manufacturers would have to reformulate their products to ensure that they were made with less sugar.
“However, reformulation of products will not reduce the amount of sugar intake to the level required. There needs to be genuine change in behaviour,” he said. He said that a tax on sugary drinks would be an option for some member states and that WHO would provide technical support to countries that wanted to go down that route. Mexico has recently enacted a tax on sugary drinks, and France and the Philippines are considering this option. “Consumption of sugar sweetened beverages has to be done with great care and is one of the elements that has been
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associated with weight gain, particularly among children,” he said.
England’s chief medical officer, Sally Davies, told MPs earlier this week that a sugar tax might be needed, but Branca refused to be drawn on her comments that sugar might be addictive. He admitted that 5% would be a tough target to meet, as few developed countries currently met the 10% limit. The Food and Agriculture Organization has said that only southern European countries such as Italy and Spain meet the current limit.
Tom Sanders, head of diabetes and nutritional science at King’s College London, agreed that 5% was a tough target. “There are no trials to my knowledge to demonstrate that this is a feasible target—5% is untried and untested, 10% we can live with,” he said.
He added that the guidelines could be confusing to consumers as they covered only added sugar and not naturally occurring sugars found in fruit, vegetables, and milk products. He said that fizzy drinks and fruit juice were “easy targets” for sugar reduction, adding, “It is perhaps time to stop sports drinks being promoted as being ‘energy’ drinks because they are packed with much greater amounts of sugar than even standard fizzy drinks.” Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist and science director at the campaign group Action on Sugar, said that governments must ensure that food was clearly labelled.
“We need government to intervene to ensure that food labels reflect the guidance that has been recommended. If this is going to have any effect, [food labels] must be translated into something meaningful for the consumer,” he said. The guidelines will be open to consultation until 31 March. For more information go to www.who.int/nutrition/sugars_public_consultation/en/ . Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g2003 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2014
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BMJ 2014;348:g2003 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g2003 (Published 7 March 2014)
Page 2 of 2
NEWS
Figure
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
Page 1 of 2
News
NEWS Average daily consumption of sugar must be halved, says WHO Anne Gulland London
The recommended average daily recommended intake of sugar should be halved so that it makes up 5% or less of a person’s total energy consumption, new guidelines from the World Health Organization have said.
In draft guidance WHO recommended that policy makers should ensure that all monosaccharides and disaccharides added to food or found in honey, fruit syrups, fruit juice, and concentrate should be at most 10% of a person’s energy consumption but that ideally it should be cut to 5%. WHO’s current advice is that sugar should make up 10% or less of a person’s energy consumption. The lower limit of sugar intake for an adult whose total energy consumption is 2000 kilocalories a day is equivalent to around 25 g of sugar or six teaspoons.
The guidelines have been drawn up in a bid to combat obesity and dental caries, Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s department for nutrition for health and development, told a press conference. “Obesity affects half a billion people in the world, and it’s on the rise in all age groups, particularly in low and middle income countries,” he said. “Dental caries is one of the most common non-communicable diseases, and it takes up to 5% of the health budget.” Branca said that food manufacturers would have to reformulate their products to ensure that they were made with less sugar.
“However, reformulation of products will not reduce the amount of sugar intake to the level required. There needs to be genuine change in behaviour,” he said. He said that a tax on sugary drinks would be an option for some member states and that WHO would provide technical support to countries that wanted to go down that route. Mexico has recently enacted a tax on sugary drinks, and France and the Philippines are considering this option. “Consumption of sugar sweetened beverages has to be done with great care and is one of the elements that has been
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
associated with weight gain, particularly among children,” he said.
England’s chief medical officer, Sally Davies, told MPs earlier this week that a sugar tax might be needed, but Branca refused to be drawn on her comments that sugar might be addictive. He admitted that 5% would be a tough target to meet, as few developed countries currently met the 10% limit. The Food and Agriculture Organization has said that only southern European countries such as Italy and Spain meet the current limit.
Tom Sanders, head of diabetes and nutritional science at King’s College London, agreed that 5% was a tough target. “There are no trials to my knowledge to demonstrate that this is a feasible target—5% is untried and untested, 10% we can live with,” he said.
He added that the guidelines could be confusing to consumers as they covered only added sugar and not naturally occurring sugars found in fruit, vegetables, and milk products. He said that fizzy drinks and fruit juice were “easy targets” for sugar reduction, adding, “It is perhaps time to stop sports drinks being promoted as being ‘energy’ drinks because they are packed with much greater amounts of sugar than even standard fizzy drinks.” Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist and science director at the campaign group Action on Sugar, said that governments must ensure that food was clearly labelled.
“We need government to intervene to ensure that food labels reflect the guidance that has been recommended. If this is going to have any effect, [food labels] must be translated into something meaningful for the consumer,” he said. The guidelines will be open to consultation until 31 March. For more information go to www.who.int/nutrition/sugars_public_consultation/en/ . Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g2003 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2014
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
BMJ 2014;348:g2003 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g2003 (Published 7 March 2014)
Page 2 of 2
NEWS
Figure
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