WHO recommends drastically limiting the consumption of "hidden sugar"

In an effort to boost the fight against obesity, the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 4 called for a drastic reduction in the consumption of "hidden sugar" found in most foods such as soda and ketchup.

WHO calls for drastically limiting the consumption of "hidden sugars" found in most foods such as soda or tomato sauce. Source: authoritynutrition.com

More than a decade ago, the WHO issued guidelines recommending that sugar intake should account for less than 10% of total energy intake. This time, however, the UN health agency is calling on countries to strive to reduce that figure by half, to less than 5%.

This ratio means that people should not consume more than 25 grams of sugar per day, equivalent to about 6 teaspoons of sugar, much lower than the average amount of sugar equivalent to 10 teaspoons in a can of soda.

According to WHO, harmful "free" sugar ingredients, such as common table sugars, fructose or glucose, are currently added to many foods and drinks by manufacturers, chefs and housewives.

In addition, this sugar component is also available in some products such as honey and fruit juice. WHO also points out that much of the "free" sugar that we consume today "hides" in processed foods that are not normally considered sweet, such as tomato sauce. In a tablespoon of tomato sauce, there is exactly one teaspoon of sugar.

However, in its recommendations, WHO does not mention sugar in fresh fruits, vegetables and milk because there has never been any evidence that they are harmful to health.

According to Vietnam+