8 1GT Thursday July 30 2020 | the times

times

Last month research published in

the European Journal of Preventive

Cardiology associated it with increased

deposits around the heart and in the

abdomen releases toxins that can

spark chronic inflammation, leading to

damage to immune-system defences

— as well as raising the risk of heart

disease and diabetes.

So how much sugar is safe to eat?

Well, the NHS recommends that we

consume no more than 30g of free

sugars a day, which, explains Anne de

la Hunty, a senior scientist at the

British Nutrition Foundation, are

sugars that “are not contained within

the cellular structure of food”, such as

food industry additives and “those

naturally present in honey, syrups and

unsweetened fruit.”

The 30g figure comes from the

Scientific Advisory Committee on

Nutrition (SACN) report on

carbohydrates published in 2015,

which recommended that intake of

free sugars should be reduced to 5 per

cent of energy intakes.

“This is equivalent to 30g a day for

people consuming 2,400kcal a day,”

Food giants

stand accused

of disguising

ingredients with

clever labels. John

Naish reports

T

he cheeky chubby

chops, guile-free smile

and winning words all

disguise a wicked form

of modern-day deceit.

No, not you, Boris.

This is about Percy Pig.

Marks & Spencer’s

cult sweet treat stands guilty of the

vilest sugar-sin trickery, says Henry

Dimbleby, a co-founder of the Leon

fast food chain and author of the

new government-commissioned

National Food Strategy.

M&S rejects the claims, but the

report is perfectly timed, with

scientists saying that being overweight

significantly raises the risk of death

from Covid-19. Dimbleby warns that,

Covid apart, Britain’s diet is a “slow-

motion disaster” that costs 90,

lives a year.

Why finger Percy, though? Because

he characterises the way in which

Big Food attracts us to junk foods.

The emblem atop Percy’s packaging

proudly proclaims how the sweets are

“made with real fruit juice”. And then

there’s the declaration that they

contain “no nasty artificial colours or

flavours”. What more reassurance

would a parent want? Dimbleby says

such parents would be “agog to find”

that the three largest ingredients by

weight are glucose syrup, sugar and

glucose-fructose syrup, among the

worst drivers of the obesity epidemic.

Easy-to-read “traffic light” labels

that signal for salt, fat and sugar (ie

red, amber, green for high, medium

and low) are only voluntary in the UK.

This is thanks to expensive political

lobbying by Big Food, which wants

you to see only its big, happy promises

on the front. Instead, we must become

nutritional store detectives. So what

should we look out for?

It’s sugar, honey

The word “sugar” is obviously easy to

spot on labels, but sugar may also be

included under far friendlier-sounding

natural names, such as honey, syrup,

nectar or molasses. It’s all the same to

our metabolisms, and it makes us pile

on fat in the most perilous places.

Innocent

pomegranate,

blackberry & acai

smoothie

What they say: No

concentrates, no added

sugar or water.

Sugar: 34g per 250ml

(one glass) portion

The drink

38%

Daily

intake*

Emily apple fruit

crisps

What they say: One of

your five a day; perfect

for baking; completely

natural; high in fibre and

contains naturally

occurring sugars; no

added sugar; gluten

free; vegan.

Sugar: 19.2g of sugar

per 30g packet

The healthy

crisps

Dorset Cereals classic

fruit, nuts & seeds

muesli

What they say: High in

fibre; no added sugar

(contains naturally

occurring sugars); low

in saturated fat; no

added colours; no

artificial flavours.

Sugar: 9.2g per

45g portion

The cereal

M&S Percy Pigs

What they say: No

nasty artificial colours

or flavours, made with

real fruit juice

Sugar: 25.1g per

quarter-bag serving

(42.5g)

The sweets

28%

Daily

intake

Percy Pig and the truth about ‘h

Based on the “reference intake”, the maximum amount you should eat per day.

This is 90g of total sugars, according to the NHS.

10%

Daily

21% intake

Daily

intake