It will have been very hard to have missed the news last week about the war on sugar some health experts are calling for. The group ‘Action on Sugar’ says sugar is behind an unprecedented obesity and diabetes epidemic and are even labelling sugar “the new tobacco.”
As part of this campaign, the group is working with the media to try and help to educate consumers about the hidden sugar in many of our day to day purchases.
One of the highest rating culprits featured in exposes this week has been Starbucks drinks. The caramel Frappuccino with whipped cream and skimmed milk (tall) contains a whopping 44.3g of sugar or eleven teaspoons in one drink! Not far behind is Coca-Cola. Just one 330ml can contains nine whole teaspoons of sugar – eek! The most surprising to me was the Yeo Valley Fat Free Youghurt that I’d used in some of my smoothies turned out to have five teaspoons per serving – not something I want in my nice healthy smoothies. Needless to say that I soon switched over to fat-free natural yoghurt with no sugar content at all.
Here at TB we will soon featuring a round-up of sugar alternatives to help you fight the temptation of the sweet stuff, but in the meantime, stay savvy when reading the labels on products you are buying.
Some examples can be found in this table, from the Daily Mail:
