CHILD

Expert reveals the hidden sugars in foods and how to spot them

Last modified on Friday 3 July 2020

It's no secret that there are many hidden sugars in our foods - but what are they and how do you spot them? After Public Health England announced that children are consuming an extra 2,800 extra sugar cubes each year, paediatric dietician Nicole Rothband told Netmums exactly how you can reduce your child's sugar intake.

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Reading labels and understanding what is in your foods can be a confusing business.

But there is a way to figure out exactly what is in that jar of sauce or so-called healthy snack once you understand the terminology.

And it turns out, you should be looking for more than the word 'sugar' on the list of ingredients to determine whether it's a healthy option for you or your child.

Glucose, high fructose corn starch and sucrose are some of many alternative names used for sugar.

‘You have to be aware that sugar is described as other things on labels,’ paediatric dietician Nicole Rothband told Netmums.

We spoke to Nicole after figures released by Public Health England this week showed children are consuming an average of 2,800 excess cubes of sugar every year!

Nicole, who is also a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, says parents should look at simple guides such as Change4Life 's food scanner app.

Websites such as NHS and Change4Life provide guides on how to read and understand food labels, Nicole added.

Change4Life is a campaign supported by the NHS to help people in England live healthier lifestyles by making small adjustments to diet and lifestyle.

She explained how ingredients on food labels are usually listed in terms of amount, so if sugar is one of the first you see, it's not a good sign.

And some foods list a guideline daily amount which is actually for adults, not children.

‘You need to be aware of what a guideline daily amount is for children when you’re reading a label because a guideline daily amount for an adult is much higher than it is for a child,' she added.

What is a high amount of sugar for a child?

According to the NHS , a child’s allowed sugar intake depends on their age.

There’s no guideline limit for children under the age of four, but it’s recommended they avoid sugar-sweetened drinks and food with sugar added to it.

Children aged four to six should have no more than 19 grams of sugar a day, which is around five sugar cubes.

Children aged seven to ten should have no more than 24 grams of sugar a day, which is around six sugar cubes.

And adults should have no more than 30 grams of sugar a day, which is around seven sugar cubes.

She says there are around seven teaspoons of of sugar - so around 35 grams - in a 330ml can of fizzy drinks.

‘And if you think “would I give my child a cup of tea and put seven teaspoons of sugar in it” or, “would I myself drink a cup of tea and put seven teaspoons of sugar in it” the answer’s likely to be no,' she added.

'It’s about being aware and thinking, looking at labels, reading labels, looking at ingredients, looking at the nutrition information relating that to the guideline daily amount, using a sugar calculator in the Change4Life app because it’s really good.’

What alternative foods and resources are there out there?

Nicole recommends the Change4Life website.

The site also has a sugar calculator, which helps you keep track of how much sugar your child in consuming in a day.

Change4Life also has plenty of sugar swaps you can make to help reduce intake for example swapping a cake bar for malt loaf, or a high-sugar juice drink for one with no added sugar.

And how do you stop children from snacking? Nicole has advice about that, too.

She said: 'I think what we have to think very carefully about is how much our children are snacking. In fact it’s very common to see children constantly grazing.

‘You see them sitting in their buggies eating and very often it’s a parent’s first response if a child is fed up, to offer them something to eat and there are lots of snack foods available on the market that are aimed specifically at children and claim to be healthy.'

She added: ‘If the parent responds to a child’s complaint of boredom by always giving them food then they’re likely to grow up as an adult that every time they’re bored, they go to reach for something to eat and it’s just something they’ve learned out of force of habit and that’s going to lead to almost undoubtedly to them being overweight or obese.’

If you do need to give your child a snack, it's best to give them low-sugar fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, apples, pears and oranges, she says.

Last year, Public Health England revealed how severe obesity in 10 to 11-year-olds has now reached an all time high, which increases the risk of overweight and obese adults.

This, in turn, increases the risk of heart disease, some cancers, type two diabetes and tooth decay.

Making simple food swaps every day can help reduce your child’s risk of being overweight and suffer from health issues longer down the line.

Other names for sugar in foods

There are around 56 different names for sugar in foods, including:

  • Barley malt
  • Barbados sugar
  • Beet sugar
  • Brown sugar
  • Buttered syrup
  • Cane juice
  • Cane sugar
  • Caramel
  • Corn syrup
  • Corn syrup solids
  • Confectioner’s sugar
  • Carob syrup
  • Castor sugar
  • Date sugar
  • Dehydrated cane juice
  • Demerara sugar
  • Dextran
  • Dextrose
  • Diastatic malt
  • Diatase
  • Ethyl maltol
  • Free flowing brown sugars
  • Fructose
  • Fruit juice
  • Fruit juice concentrate
  • Galactose
  • Glucose
  • Glucose solids
  • Golden sugar
  • Golden syrup
  • Granulated sugar
  • Grape sugar
  • High fructose corn syrup
  • Honey
  • Icing sugar
  • Invert sugar
  • Lactose
  • Malt
  • Maltodextrin
  • Maltose
  • Malt syrup
  • Mannitol
  • Maple syrup
  • Molasses
  • Muscovado
  • Panocha
  • Powdered sugar
  • Raw sugar
  • Refiner’s syrup
  • Rice syrup
  • Sucrose
  • Treacle
  • Turbinado sugar
  • Yellow sugar

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