Do you know how much sugar is in your Mocha?

I recently read an article by the BBC on their website, that the campaign group, Action on sugar has carried out research which shows that 98% of the 131 hot flavoured drinks they analysed, would receive a ‘red’ (high) label for excessive levels of sugars per serving as sold. The charity said in some of the worst cases the drinks contained 20 or more teaspoons of sugar.

The research

The campaign group found that one of the worst offenders was Starbucks Venti, Hot Mulled Fruit – Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon, which had 99.0 sugars per serving, which equates to 25 teaspoons of sugar per serving. Whilst a mocha from KFC contained 58.8 sugars per serving, which equates to 15 teaspoons of sugar per serving.

Kawther Hashem, Registered Nutritionist and Researcher for Action on Sugar says:

“Coffee shop chains must immediately reduce the amount of sugar in these hot drinks, improve their labelling and stop selling the extra-large serving sizes. “These hot flavoured drinks should be an occasional treat, not an ‘everyday’ drink. They are laden with an unbelievable amount sugar and calories and are often accompanied by a high sugar and fat snack. It is not surprising that we have the highest rate of obesity in Europe. Our advice to consumers is to have a plain hot drink or ask for your drink to contain a minimal amount of syrup, preferably sugar free, in the smallest serving size available.”

So how much sugar should we be having?

WHO, the World Health Organisation, recommend in a publication released in March 2015, titled ‘Sugar intake for adults and children’ that the intake of free sugars should be less than 10% of total energy intake.

The NHS advise that sugar intake should be 70g for men and 50g for women, but do recognise that this can vary depending on:
•your  size
•your age
•how active you are

Sugar and dental health

It is important that individuals take responsibility for their sugar intake. However, this can be difficult when sugar is present in many of the foods and drinks that we eat. In order to maintain dental hygiene, it is important that people do some of the following:

– Brush their teeth twice a day
– Visit the dentist for 6 monthly check ups, or more depending on one’s dentition
– Reduce your intake of sugary snacks

Our experience

We understand the importance of reducing sugar to promote dental health, as well as overall health. If you have any concerns about your dental treatment, please contact the Dental Negligence Team.