Sugar: the new tobacco, consumption must be reduced by up to 30%

Sugar is hidden in many products and, according to some British doctors, must be considered the new tobacco

Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerous

Food awareness often leads to sad "discoveries" such as the now established one that excessive consumption of sugar it can lead to various diseases including obesity and diabetes. Many of us feel safe, convinced that we consume little or nothing because maybe they don't sugar the coffee or drink only water, but the reality is different: this substance it is found hidden in many foods and drinks and not only in sweets and fizzy drinks as we usually think.

Among other things, we must also tackle the problem of products with non-transparent labels regarding sugar content, as Altroconsumo revealed last year in one of his surveys, pointing the finger at 40 products.

This time the alarm was raised by some English doctors gathered in a real association "Action on Sugar", Including Dr Simon Capewell, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, who argues that sugar can be considered the new tobacco and as such it must be addressed. According to doctors, the only way to stem its excessive spread and the consequent damage is to force large multinationals to reduce the use of this substance by up to 30%.

From the latest statistics in the UK it seems that the average Briton consumes 12 teaspoons of sugar a day but some adults even go as high as 46. The maximum dose recommended by the World Health Organization is ten teaspoons, although many doctors would like to see this guideline cut in half. The problem is precisely that high sugar levels are found in many foods, including salty products and those considered healthy such as low-fat yogurt, which instead in England, from the surveys carried out by Action on Sugar, appears to contain up to five teaspoons of sugar.

"We must protect children above all from this public health hazard and the food industry must immediately reduce the amount of sugar it uses, especially for baby food and stop hitting the little ones with blanket advertisements for high calorie snacks and non-alcoholic drinks ”said Dr. Aseem, scientific director of the group.

To make you better "figure" how much sugar is consumed through various drinks and sweets, we report below some tables (taken from Feeding in balance) which indicate various foods and drinks alongside the quantity of sugar contained. It is evident how easy it is to exceed the threshold of 10 teaspoons a day! Better then, if possible, opt for other natural sweeteners.

Sugar: the new tobacco, consumption must be reduced by up to 30%