Table 2.
Beverage sugar content in a single serving and proportion of products exceeding the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) reference serving size, based on information present on the manufacturer-declared product nutritional information panel (NIP), of beverages from supermarkets in New Zealand (NZ; n 749), Australia (n 1738), Canada (n 740) and the UK (n 930); data collected from labels in January 2015–September 2016
| Number of products | NIP serving size (ml) | Grams of sugar per NIP single serving† | Maximum FDA single | % Products exceeding the maximum FDA | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Containing sugar* | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | serving size (range)‡ | serving size‡ | |
| Carbonated soda | ||||||||
| NZ | 231 | 207 | 298·0 | 96·5 | 28·6 | 12·1 | 375 ml (250–375 ml) | 7·4a |
| Australia | 312 | 268 | 295·9 | 80·3 | 29·3 | 12·2 | 4·7b | |
| Canada | 156 | 105 | 297·6 | 44·5 | 30·2 | 11·6 | 3·2b | |
| UK | 227 | 155 | 262·2 | 43·4 | 19·8 | 12·3 | 1·8c | |
| Fruit-based drinks§ | ||||||||
| NZ | 115 | 114 | 251·4 | 90·0 | 24·0 | 12·2 | 250 ml (175–250 ml) | 11·4a |
| Australia | 322 | 312 | 259·8 | 85·8 | 21·7 | 10·9 | 21·8b | |
| Canada | 165 | 158 | 252·6 | 44·4 | 22·3 | 9·7 | 9·1a | |
| UK | 210 | 167 | 227·2 | 56·2 | 15·9 | 10·8 | 11·5a | |
| Fruit juices║ | ||||||||
| NZ | 206 | 206 | 246·0 | 48·0 | 24·3 | 9·0 | 250 ml (175–250 ml) | 15·5a |
| Australia | 687 | 687 | 252·4 | 57·8 | 22·6 | 8·7 | 55·9b | |
| Canada | 204 | 204 | 253·1 | 44·8 | 23·4 | 8·0 | 14·7a | |
| UK | 291 | 291 | 205·3 | 57·6 | 19·3 | 7·4 | 7·2c | |
| Water¶ | ||||||||
| NZ | 121 | 60 | 349·1 | 169·4 | 14·4 | 7·9 | 600 ml (400–600 ml) | 12·5a |
| Australia | 295 | 154 | 321·7 | 145·1 | 16·2 | 10·8 | 3·3b | |
| Canada | 138 | 42 | 411·3 | 142·1 | 19·0 | 11·2 | 1·4b | |
| UK | 106 | 57 | 266·9 | 64·0 | 13·1 | 11·7 | 0·0b | |
| Sports and energy drinks | ||||||||
| NZ | 76 | 63 | 597·9 | 247·7 | 43·1 | 19·0 | 600 ml (400–600 ml) | 40·8a |
| Australia | 122 | 103 | 454·4 | 177·1 | 34·1 | 14·0 | 11·0b | |
| Canada | 77 | 66 | 503·1 | 152·2 | 36·8 | 15·4 | 24·0c | |
| UK | 96 | 66 | 364·9 | 125·8 | 26·1 | 17·3 | 0·0d | |
a,b,c,dWithin each beverage category, percentage values with unlike superscript letters were significantly different (P≤0·01).
Includes all sugars, both naturally occurring and added.
Calculated for sugar (either natural or added)-containing products only.
Based on the maximum FDA single serving recommendations(16).
Includes all juice-containing beverages where water is listed as the majority ingredient.
Includes all beverages containing 100 % fruit or vegetable juice or where juice was the majority ingredient.
Includes carbonated waters, flavoured waters and coconut water drinks.