Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n
The World Health Organisation announced that “sugars should be less than 10% of total energy intake per day.” It further advised that “a reduction to below 5% of total energy intake per day would have additional benefits.”[i]<\/a><\/p>\n This announcement follows much “Action on Sugar” in 2014 – this being the name of a new organisation launched on 9th January 2014, with the stated aim of targeting added sugar.[ii]<\/a> Dr Robert Lustig has been telling us “The bitter truth about sugar.”[iii]<\/a> Dr Assem Malhotra called for the dietary advice on sugar to undergo emergency surgery.[iv]<\/a> James DiNicolantonio suggests that <\/b>“the metabolic syndrome is being driven by a diet high in carbohydrate\/sugar as opposed to fat.[v]<\/a><\/p>\n “The term ‘free sugars’ refers to all monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices.”[vi]<\/a><\/p>\n The Department of Health Dietary Reference Values<\/i> remains the basis for UK dietary advice.[vii]<\/a> It has not been updated in the past 22 years, despite epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes having developed in this time. <\/i>This document recommends that “the population’s average intake of non-milk extrinsic sugars [free sugars] should not exceed about 60 g\/day or 10 per cent of total dietary energy.”<\/p>\n Guideline Daily Amounts<\/b><\/p>\n In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) published a leaflet to help consumers judge the nutrients in food, in relation to the Daily Guideline Intakes (DGIs).[viii]<\/a> In 1998, the DGIs became Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) – set by a collaboration of UK government, consumer organisations and the food industry, overseen by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).<\/p>\n The summary table for GDAs for adults is as follows:<\/p>\n