Geneva: The World Health Organization on Wednesday urged the recommended daily intake of hidden sugar be halved, as it steps up the fight against obesity.
The UN health agency confirmed previous guidelines that sugars should make up less than 10 percent of a person's total daily energy intake, but in a new twist said countries should strive for half that amount.
Setting the bar at five percent would mean people should consume no more than 25 grammes, or the equivalent of six teaspoons of sugar a day -- less than the 10 teaspoons in your average can of soda.
Health-hazardous "free" sugars, in the form of table sugar, fructose or glucose for instance, are added to foods and drinks by manufacturers, cooks and consumers themselves, and are naturally present in substances like honey and fruit juices.
The guidelines do not refer to sugars in fresh fruits, vegetables and milk, since there is no evidence they are harmful, WHO said.
- Sugar-full ketchup -The UN agency pointed out that much of the so-called free sugars we consume today are "hidden" in processed foods that are not usually seen as sweet, like ketchup, which contains a full teaspoon of sugar in each tablespoon.
"In reality, we find (these sugars) in the majority of products," said Francesco Branca, who heads the WHO's Department of Nutrition for Health and Development.
He pointed to a survey of US supermarkets indicating 80 percent of products contained added sugar.
An average-sized bowl of breakfast cereal contains four teaspoons of sugar, while sweetened yogurts contain one or two, he pointed out.
If you have a bowl of cereal in the morning, a can of soda during the day and a sweetened yogurt after dinner "you're already at 15 teaspoons, so it is very easy to exceed" the guidelines, Branca told reporters.
WHO first raised the alert about added sugars in 1989, and has for more than a decade been recommending keeping sugar consumption below 10 percent of a person's total daily energy intake.
On Wednesday it said that recommendation had been strengthened by increased scientific evidence, and urged countries to adopt it as policy, and if possible to go further and halve the recommended level.