Table 3.
Sugar content of actual single serving products (≤600 ml) and the proportion of single serving products that exceed the WHO-recommended cut-offs of 5 % or 10 % of total daily energy as free sugars* in 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 single serving | Single serving | Grams of sugar per | % Sugar-containing products exceeding WHO energy recommendations of free sugars using serving size†,‡,§ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| products (≤600 ml) | size (ml)† | single serving†,‡ | Children | Adults | ||||||
| Total (n) | Containing sugar (n) | Mean | sd | Mean | sd | ≥5% | ≥10% | ≥5% | ≥10% | |
| Carbonated soda | ||||||||||
| NZ | 124 | 111 | 358·5 | 16·6 | 35·2 | 10·6 | 86·3a | 70·0a | 31·8 | 4·5 |
| Australia | 188 | 165 | 351·9 | 67·1 | 35·1 | 12·5 | 91·5a | 71·5a | 33·3 | 4·2 |
| Canada | 59 | 42 | 361·4 | 27·5 | 32·4 | 11·1 | 87·7a | 67·9a | 34·6 | 4·1 |
| UK | 68 | 55 | 357·7 | 76·5 | 29·8 | 14·5 | 69·0b | 45·5b | 12·7 | 1·8 |
| Fruit-based drinks║ | ||||||||||
| NZ | 43 | 43 | 333·4 | 153·0 | 28·7 | 13·7 | 64·3 | 35·7 | 21·4 | 0·0 |
| Australia | 172 | 172 | 326·2 | 111·5 | 24·1 | 11·3 | 60·5 | 23·8 | 9·3 | 0·0 |
| Canada | 44 | 44 | 330·7 | 122·8 | 25·7 | 9·8 | 67·9 | 31·6 | 17·4 | 1·4 |
| UK | 59 | 55 | 316·4 | 118·8 | 22·2 | 14·8 | 50·9 | 34·5 | 14·5 | 3·6 |
| Fruit juices¶ | ||||||||||
| NZ | 72 | 72 | 329·1 | 85·7 | 30·2 | 12·2 | 79·2 | 35·6 | 15·3 | 1·4 |
| Australia | 284 | 284 | 328·2 | 104·4 | 31·2 | 18·3 | 80·6 | 40·8 | 18·3 | 3·2 |
| Canada | 65 | 51 | 321 | 99·7 | 30·4 | 15·2 | 77·7 | 38·1 | 17·1 | 3·5 |
| UK | 104 | 104 | 320·9 | 106·4 | 29·0 | 14·3 | 73·1 | 37·5 | 19·2 | 5·8 |
| Waters** | ||||||||||
| NZ | 65 | 43 | 371·3 | 92·9 | 18·8 | 15·3 | 32·6 | 1·6 | 7·0 | 2·3 |
| Australia | 98 | 55 | 433·5 | 133·6 | 20·0 | 10·2 | 38·2 | 14·5 | 1·8 | 0·0 |
| Canada | 58 | 47 | 412·5 | 120·5 | 19·7 | 10·6 | 41·4 | 16·5 | 3·6 | 1·7 |
| UK | 35 | 25 | 396·4 | 111·3 | 21·5 | 12·4 | 52·0 | 20·0 | 8·0 | 0·0 |
| Sports and energy drinks | ||||||||||
| NZ | 45 | 36 | 420·9 | 128·2 | 41·2 | 17·3 | 83·3 | 69·4 | 44·4 | 11·1 |
| Australia | 47 | 31 | 376·3 | 113·9 | 39·8 | 17·7 | 90·3 | 67·7 | 51·6 | 3·2 |
| Canada | 41 | 31 | 384·6 | 111·1 | 39·1 | 16·9 | 87·2 | 59·8 | 49·8 | 6·6 |
| UK | 86 | 62 | 398·0 | 123·4 | 27·4 | 19·2 | 62·9 | 29·0 | 22·6 | 4·8 |
a,bWithin each beverage category for children, percentage values with unlike superscript letters were significantly different (P≤0·01).
Based on WHO sugar intake guidelines(29).
Product size irrespective of manufacturer-declared serving size information on the nutrition information panel.
Calculated for sugar (either natural or added)-containing products only.
5 % and 10 % daily energy as free sugars is equivalent to ≥20 g/40 g for children and ≥30 g/60 g for adults(30). Free sugars defined as all monosaccharides (e.g. glucose and fructose) and disaccharides (e.g. sucrose) added to the beverage by the manufacturer as well as all naturally occurring sugars present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and juice concentrates(30).
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.