Food retailers defend sugar record after SACN report slashes sugar guidance

(ShareCast News) - A government-backed report on carbohydrates has called for the British recommended daily allowance of sugar to be cut in half, which has forced retailers to robustly defend their efforts to cut the sugar content and calorie counts of their products.As expected, the Scientific Advisory on Nutrition (SACN), on Friday published a report where it said it was now "recommending that population average intake of free sugars should not exceed 5% of total dietary energy" from its previous draft guidance of 10%.The report from SACN, which advises Public Health England and other government agencies on nutrition matters, specifically said consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages "should be minimised by both children and adults".This has been predicted weigh on producers of soft drinks such as Coca Cola HBC, Britvic, AG Barr and SAB Miller as well as supermarkets, sweet snacks makers such as Premier Foods and Finsbury Food, as well as sugar producers, including the like of Tate & Lyle and Associated British Foods. Food labelling may also need to change."The evidence is stark - too much sugar is harmful to health and we all need to cut back," said Professor Ian Macdonald, chair of the SACN Carbohydrates and Health working group. "The clear and consistent link between a high-sugar diet and conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes is the wake-up call we need to rethink our diet. Cut down on sugars, increase fibre and we'll all have a better chance of living longer, healthier lives."But the UK retailers argued that they had already implemented a variety of initiatives to cut the sugar content and calorie counts of their products, which the SACN acknowledged, in line with an increasing consumer interest in health and diet issues.Soft drinks have been in particular focus of retailers, the British Retail Consortium said, with thousands of tonnes of sugar removed from an array of fizzy beverages and juices.In a statement defending the record of its members, the BRC pointed out that Tesco has removed 1.5bn calories from its soft drinks division in the last year, while Morrisons removed 122 tonnes of sugar from its high juice squashes and 72 tonnes from its energy drinks.Asda remains a lead partner in the Change4Life sugar swap campaign and has cut added sugar across all its soft drinks by 22%. Marks & Spencer has removed 59 tonnes of sugar from their yoghurts and over 70% of Aldi's own-label soft drinks are now sugar-free.Aside from reformulating products, retailers have made efforts to improve nutritional labeling, promote fruits and vegetables and offer in-store healthy eating advice, the BRC pointed out."Retailers have demonstrated both individually and also collectively through government initiatives, a progressive approach to reducing sugar in their products," said Andrew Opie, the BRC's director of food and sustainability."We know there is further to go and we are happy to discuss future reductions in sugar, building on the progress we have made so far. However, we believe that the focus needs to be on those initiatives that will make a difference and, crucially, getting the entire food industry to adopt retailers' positive approach," he added.