Sugar intake should be reduced to 5-10% of calories, WHO says

People worldwide should cut their freesugar intake to between five and 10 per cent of their overall calories, the World Health Organization advises.

Free sugars refer to table sugar added to foods and drinks by thecook or consumerand sugarsnaturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juiceconcentrates. Excluded as non-free sugars are those contained in fruit, vegetables and milk.

Dr.FrancescoBranca, director ofWHO's Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, said there's solid evidence that keeping free sugars to less than 10 per cent of total energy intake reduces the risk of being overweight, obesity and tooth decay.

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The previous UN public health agency's guideline called for free sugar intake to be less than 10 per cent of energy intake. The update reduces the level to "less than five per centof totalenergy intake if possible."

The "strong" recommendation for a 10 per cent limit, or 12 teaspoons, can be adopted immediately as policy, such as in dietary guidelines in each country, WHO said.

"It is very easy to exceed the recommendation of12 teaspoons if you think of having maybe a bowl of breakfastcereals in the morning, then maybe you have a can of sodasometime during the day, then you have for dinner a sweetenedyogurt," Brancatold a briefing.

"You are already above the 10 per cent. You are already atapproximately 15 teaspoons."

In contrast, the "conditional" recommendation for the five per cent level is desirable, but "dialogue and consultations are needed before therecommendation is implemented as policy."

Five per cent of sugar intake daily is about 25 grams of sugar/day for an adult, or about six to seventeaspoons. For a child, five per cent amounts to 22 grams of sugar or six teaspoons.

In 2014, theHeart and Stroke Foundation of Canada also recommended the same limits, saying ideally free sugars should be less than five per cent of total daily calories.

"I think the WHO's new sugar guidelines are a step in the rightdirection,"MaryScourboutakos, a doctoral student in nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, said in an interview.

The guidelines provide abenchmark for policy planners to assess free sugarconsumption and levels in the food supply. There is currently no Canadian policy on limiting sugar in the food supply,Scourboutakossaid.

Scourboutakoswas the lead author of a recent study on added sugar levels in kids' meals at restaurant chains, which ranged from zero to 114 grams four days worth of sugar for a child.

Drinks were the main source of addedsugar in kids' restaurant meals.Ribs and chicken strips with sauce had half a day's worth, as did some dressings and sauces such as barbecue sauce, depending on the quantity. The findings shed light on why menu labelling is so important,Scourboutakos said. Restaurant sauces aren'tnecessarily more sugar loaded than those sold at grocery stores since suppliers could be the same, she said.

Some countries have taken public health measures to reduce free sugar intake, such as nutrition labelling, restricting marketing of food and non-alcoholic sugary drinks to children, fiscal policy and dialogue with food manufacturers to reduce levels in processed foods.

The 10 per cent target may be more realistic, said TomSanders, a professor of nutrition and dietetics at King's College London who wasn't part of the WHO guidelines.

He suggested limits on sugary drinks, cereals, beer, cookies and candy.

"I don't want to say that you can't even have jam on your toast, but it is possible to do this with some effort,"Sanderssaid.

WHO is also drawing attention to sugars "hidden" in processed foods. For example,one tablespoon of ketchup has about four grams (one teaspoon) of sugar.

The draft guidelines were released in March 2014 for public comment.