Sugar is currently being touted as
public health enemy number one and has rarely been out of the news since
campaign group Action on Sugar launched its attack on the white stuff earlier
this year. But while limiting trips to the biscuit tin, stopping short of
ordering a pud when out for dinner, and avoiding snacking on sweets, chocolate
and cake are no-brainers, one area that’s left many of us confused is fruit
juice.
Until recently, most of us
considered fruit juice to be a healthy drink that helps to boost our vitamin intake
and counts as one of our five-a-day. But now fruit juices have come under fire
for their sugar content. Indeed, figures from the National Diet and Nutrition
Survey reveal fruit juice provides around 8% of the sugar in our diet – a
significant amount. But some anti-sugar campaigners have gone as far as to
suggest avoiding drinking fruit juice altogether, claiming a glass of OJ is as
bad for our health as a can of cola. But is this really the case?
‘A 330ml can of cola typically
contains around 140 calories and 35g sugar – that’s equivalent to almost 9tsp
sugar,’ says HFG nutrition consultant Juliette Kellow. ‘In reality, that’s not dissimilar
from a 330ml bottle of fresh orange juice, which has around 150 calories and
33g sugar – just ½tsp sugar less. With figures like this, it’s easy to see why
some people are confused and think they’d be better off drinking the cola.’
But it’s not so much fruit juice that’s a problem – it’s the vast
serving sizes we tend to have these days, explains Juliette. ‘Unlike cola,
which contains sugar and no other nutrients, pure fruit juice can boost our
intake of vitamin C and antioxidants. But as
is the case with many of the foods and drinks we now consume, we have a
tendency to supersize them, which doubles – if not triples – the calories and
sugar contents and leaves us with a drink comparable to no-nutrient fizzy
drinks.
But while fruit juice provides
nutrients, it doesn’t contain the healthy fibre you get from eating the whole
fruit. ‘Drinking fruit juice won’t fill you up in the same way as eating fresh
fruit will, meaning it’s easy to take in excess calories,’ explains Juliette.
So what should we do about our morning
glass of OJ? ‘You can only count 150ml fruit juice as a portion of your five-a-day
– anything more than this does not count,’ says Dr Susan Jebb OBE, a nutrition
scientist and obesity expert. ‘The fact that juice is only considered to be one
portion is intended to signal that a small amount is fine, but since it doesn’t
have all the healthy components of intact fruit, it should be consumed in
strict moderation. And five-a-day does not include fruit drinks with added
sugar.’ In other words, it’s fine to include pure fruit juice as part of your
five-a-day – but only in controlled amounts.
‘A 150ml glass of freshly squeezed OJ contains around 65 calories and
3½tsp sugar – roughly the
amount that occurs naturally in an orange,’ explains Juliette. ‘So if you stick
to that serving size, there’s no reason not to include fruit juice as part of a
healthy balanced diet.’
However, Juliette believes the juice industry could do far more to
promote this message. ‘I’d like to see a move towards producing individual
150ml cartons or bottles, and watered-down juices for adults that contain just
150ml juice – there are plenty of similar products aimed at children,’ she
says, ‘I’d also like to see 150ml given as the typical serving size on
nutrition labels for large cartons of juice, rather than the 200ml or 250ml that’s
commonly used.’
As for fizzy drinks such as cola, the advice is simple. ‘Swap them
for calorie- and sugar-free versions – or better still, water,’ says Juliette. ‘Research
shows regular soft drinks provide 15% of the sugar in our diet, rising to a
massive 30% in teenagers. Cutting them out is a really easy way to reduce our
consumption of sugar and, therefore, empty calories.’
But it’s not just drinks we need to be wary of. According to data
from market research company Kantar, presented yesterday at a conference held
by The Food & Drink Innovation Network, since sugar hit the headlines sales
of chilled fruit juices have dropped among certain consumer groups, but overall
sales of biscuits have seen very little change!
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