The sugar and energy in non-carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages: a cross-sectional study

Chuyao Jin,Chenxiong Li,Haijun Wang,Lizi Lin,Graham A Macgregor,Yuanzhou Peng,Fengjun He

doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7486-6

Chuyao Jin, Chenxiong Li + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7486-6

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Abstract

BackgroundThe consumption of non-carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages (NCSSBs) has many adverse health effects. However, the sugar and energy content in NCSSBs sold in China remain unknown. We aimed to investigate the sugar and energy content of NCSSBs in China and how these contents were labelled.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted in 15 supermarkets in Haidian District, Beijing from July to October 2017. The product packaging and nutrient information panels of NCSSBs were recorded to obtain type of products (local/imported), serving size, nutrient contents of carbohydrate, sugar and energy. For those NCSSBs without sugar content information, we used carbohydrate content as a replacement.ResultsA total of 463 NCSSBs met the inclusion criteria and were included in our analysis. The median of sugar content and energy content was 9.6 [interquartile range (IQR): 7.1–11.3] g/100 ml and 176 (IQR: 121–201) kJ/100 ml. The median of sugar contents in juice drinks, tea-based beverages, sports drinks and energy drinks were 10.4, 8.5, 5.0 and 7.4 g/100 ml. Imported products had higher sugar and energy content than local products. There were 95.2% products of NCSSBs receiving a ‘red’(high) label for sugars per portion according to the UK criteria, and 81.6% products exceeding the daily free sugar intake recommendation from the World Health Organization (25 g). There were 82 (17.7%) products with sugar content on the nutrition labels and 60.2% of them were imported products.ConclusionsNCSSBs had high sugar and energy content, and few of them provided sugar content information on their nutrition labels especially in local products. Measures including developing better regulation of labelling, reducing sugar content and restricting the serving size are needed for reducing sugar intakes in China.

Highlights

The consumption of non-carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages (NCSSBs) has many adverse health effects
Α:The serving criterion of UK guidance of front of pack color-coded labelling for drinks was> 13.5 g/portion if serving size> 150 ml β: The recommendation for daily free sugar intakes from the World Health Organization (WHO) was 25 g carbohydrate contents was 0.76 ± 0.16 g/ 100 ml
The sugar and energy content of NCSSBs were high in China and few of the NCSSBs had sugar content information on their nutrition labels especially in local products

Summary

Introduction

The consumption of non-carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages (NCSSBs) has many adverse health effects. NCSSBs are SSBs without carbon dioxide including juice drinks, tea-based beverages, sports drinks, and energy drinks [10]. The healthful effects of hot tea (soaking the dried tea leaves in hot water) were subdued when tea was consumed in ready-to-drink (RTD) cold tea form, mainly because of its high sugar content [16] and lower antioxidant ingredients [17]. The high sugar and caffeine contents in sports and energy drinks have been associated with increased risk of obesity, dental erosion, type 2 diabetes, palpitations, hypertension, and other diseases [18, 19]. Consumers in China might show misconception or neglect of the sugar content in NCSSBs [21]

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