[ 2013-12-29 ]

World health experts want to halve sugar consumption
THE World Health Organisation is considering
halving the amount of sugar that it recommends
people should have in their diet.

The proposed radical overhaul of current
guidelines is likely to provoke a furious battle
with the food industry.

The Sunday Times has learnt that a confidential
draft paper agreed by WHO experts states there
should be a “reduction of free sugars intake to
5% or less of total energy”.

Free sugars are defined by the WHO as all sugars
“added to foods by the manufacturer, cook, or
consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey,
syrups and fruit juices”.

The current worldwide recommended level is that
people should get no more than 10% of their
calories from sugar. It is endorsed by the
National Health Service.

The draft proposal follows a study of tooth decay.
It comes after claims that sugar may play a key
role in rising obesity and heart disease, which is
strongly disputed by the food industry.

“It is political dynamite,” said Philip James,
president of the WHO-affiliated International
Association for the Study of Obesity.

“The food industry will do everything in their
power to undermine this.”

A source said the publication of the recommended
new limit had been delayed amid fears of a robust
response from the multibillion-pound food
industry. The source said: “The figure is so
explosive that it is hard to water it down. Why
don’t they publish it?”

Shrinath Reddy, a cardiologist and a member of the
WHO panel of experts, said he supported the
reduction despite not attending the meeting where
the proposal had been discussed. “I would agree
with the recommendation to reduce it to 5%,” he
said.

“There is overwhelming evidence coming out about
sugar-sweetened beverages and other sugar
consumption links to obesity, diabetes and even
cardiovascular disease.”

The Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group
(NUGAG), a specialist nutrition review committee,
was set up three years ago to reassess the 10%
limit, which was set in 2003.

NUGAG had concluded at a meeting in March that 10%
was still valid with regard to obesity. It is
understood, however, that after reviewing a study
on dental health the panel agreed that sugar
intake should be reduced to 5%.

The dental paper was prepared by Paula Moynihan, a
professor of nutrition and oral health at
Newcastle University. It said that while a 10%
limit of dietary sugars resulted in lower levels
of tooth decay, a 5% limit — about five
teaspoons of sugar a day — should bring further
benefits.

The proposal is certain to face attack from the
food industry because the study admits that the
evidence for significant benefits from such a
reduction is limited.

The WHO panel considered that other evidence
supported such a reduction, however.

“Part of the problem is that sugary foods and
drinks are now staples in many people’s diet in
industrialised countries, whereas once they were
an occasional treat,” said Moynihan. “We need
to reverse this trend.”

Earlier this year Margaret Chan, the WHO
director-general, compared the tactics of the food
industry to those employed by the big tobacco
companies, which had for years tried to suppress
scientific evidence that smoking was bad for
people’s health.

Speaking in June at a global health conference in
Finland, Chan said: “It is not just ‘big
tobacco’ any more. Public health must also
contend with big food, big soda and big alcohol.
All of these industries fear regulation and
protect themselves by using the same tactics.”

There are concerns among some experts that the
draft recommendation has still not been published.
The sugar industry had threatened to lobby for
America to cut £260m of funding to WHO when its
experts had recommended cutting sugar consumption
to 10% in 2003.

A spokesman for WHO said that the draft
recommendations on sugar intake were still being
finalised and the process was “taking more time
than anticipated”.

Sugar Nutrition UK, an industry-funded research
body, said it was looking forward to commenting on
the NUGAG report, but the consumption of added
sugars was falling in the UK.

“There is no data to show that reducing intake
below current levels is beneficial to health,” a
spokesman said, adding that the dental report
funded by WHO had relied on studies “of very low
quality” and with “a significant number of
limitations.”

Source - The Times(UK)

... go Back