Improved WHO recommendation on sugar impractical?

Criticism of new WHO recommendation on sugar

31/03/2014

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced its intention to significantly downgrade its recommendation on sugar consumption. In the future, the requirement should apply that only five percent of the daily calories should consist of sugar. This plan is now criticized by some and considered impractical.

Maximum five percent of daily calories from sugar
WHO wants to significantly reduce sugar consumption. The plan is to recommend that only a maximum of five percent of daily calories should consist of sugar. This is half as much as previous World Health Organization guidelines. Since the draft of the new guidelines was introduced earlier this month, researchers, physicians and politicians discuss it. The WHO collects comments on its website until 31 March. After that, the proposal could soon become an official directive. As it was said, the decision should be made in the summer.

Set on pressure of the food industry and politics
The WHO has already prepared for the possibility of the recommendation being hampered. When the organization proposed the ten percent limit in 2003, massive pressure had been put on it. At that time, the food industry had tried with all the means in their power to prevent the recommendation. And the American Congress even threatened to cut the funds from the WHO. As a WHO spokeswoman now said, be prepared for it, if now again similar pressure should be exercised.

Chocolate bar contains more sugar than recommended
Numerous studies have now documented the health risks that emanate from sugar consumption. For example, sugar increases the risk of obesity, type II diabetes or massive caries. Whether the five-percent recommendation is not too high, remains controversial. Even WHO health expert Francesco Branca said five percent as a target is good, but ten percent would be more realistic. An average adult should therefore consume about 25 grams of sugar a day, the equivalent of about six teaspoons. That's about the same amount as in a glass of apple juice and is less than that contained in a can of cola or a bar of chocolate.

Hazardousness of sugar is controversial
However, some scientists question how dangerous sugar really is. Sugar is poisonous, omnipresent and addictive, according to the American doctor Robert Lustig, who demands that sugar be treated as alcohol or tobacco in the future. For example, he suggests that sweetened drinks should no longer be sold to minors or any food containing sugar should be taxed. Other scientists, however, assume that many people consume too many calories, but only see part of the problem in sugar. In her opinion, the evidence that sugar triggers diabetes or heart disease is weak. The WHO refers almost exclusively to studies that have studied the risk of getting tooth decay for its five percent recommendation.

WHO proposal is impractical
It is also difficult for an average European to absorb only five percent of his calories on sugar. As Gerhard Rechkemmer, president of the Max Rubner Institute (MRI) said, even those who consistently omit soft drinks and sweets could barely reach their goal. The MRI is an upper federal authority in the business area of ​​the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. For example, the average German alone drinks 45 liters of apple juice annually. This would already have reached over half of the maximum annual amount of sugar. In order to get below the five-percent threshold, the recipes of food would have to be changed. Moreover, since hardly anyone could say how much sugar their food really contains, the WHO proposal is impractical. According to the Berliner Tagesspiegel Rechenkemmer said: „I do not know how much sugar I took today.“ Although such recommendations are politically justifiable, it is completely unclear how they could be implemented.

Alternative Stevia
Clear rules of behavior such as: „Do not drink soft drinks!“ would be easier. Because these contain almost nothing except much sugar and do not get full. Eating just a few teaspoons of sugar would be difficult for almost everyone, but eating the same amount in a coke is commonplace for many. So do not mind banning soft drinks from his diet. Another alternative to restricting sugar is the sugar-sweet Stevia, which has been used for years in products such as yogurt, cereals and chocolate. The sugar content in the diet can be drastically reduced by the vegetable sweetener. (Sb)

Picture: Lupo