Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support


But too much of it can expand our waistlines, rot our teeth and 

 of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
So the World Health Organization has new 

: Limit sugars to less than 10 percent of total calories consumed each day. And capping your sugar intake at just 5 percent of your daily calories "would provide additional health benefits," the guideline says.

The WHO recommendation echoes the advice of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, the panel that helps shape federal nutrition policy, which released its 

And just what would it take to comply with WHO's sweet-tooth limits? Well, consider the soda-drinking habits of Warren Buffett.

: "If I eat 2,700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I drink at least five 12-ounce servings. I do it every day," says the major Coca-Cola shareholder.


So that's 700 calories of soda. And, yep, that's about 25 percent of Buffett's daily calories.


If Buffett decided he wanted to follow the WHO guidelines, he'd need to cut out three Cokes a day. And he'd need to skip other favorite sugary treats, such as the 

 in Omaha — a dessert the billionaire has

As for the rest of us, cutting back to less than 10 percent of calories from added sugar may mean rethinking our favorite snacks and beverages.

WHO says the types of sugars we want to cut back on include all of the sweeteners added to foods, such as sucrose (aka table sugar) and high fructose corn syrup, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.


The only sugars that we don't need to limit, according to WHO, are

intrinsic sugars, which are naturally present in foods such as whole fresh fruits and vegetables.
The WHO recommendations to cut back on sugar are not sitting well with the global beverage industry. The

 International Council of Beverages Associations

 (whose members include The Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo), released the following statement:


"ICBA is disappointed that the WHO has confirmed the conditional recommendation suggesting a further reduction of the intake of free sugars to below 5 percent of total energy intake, as it does not reflect scientific agreement on the totality of evidence."

The release went on to say that the industry "will continue to offer innovative ways to help consumers to achieve calorie balance though smaller portion sizes, no- and low-calorie beverages and transparent, fact-based nutrition information."

But public health advocates say the new WHO sugar guidelines are an important tool to help push back against the food and beverage industry — which has been resistant to limits on sugar.


"The guidelines are based on two meta-analyses of more than 120 scientific studies," 

, a fellow at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center, said in a statement.
Roache, who was not involved in the study, says, "These guidelines are a crucial tool for developing and implementing policies to address weight-gain and obesity, such as food labeling laws, restrictions on advertising foods and beverages, and restrictions on sales of unhealthy products in regulated settings like schools and hospitals."  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Health

Allison Aubrey

Author

Public health advocates say the new World Health Organization sugar guidelines are an important tool to help push back against the food and beverage industry.

U.N. to world: Eat less sugar

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox