Associated British Foods manufactures food and beverage products in 44 countries.
Sugars occur naturally in many foods including fruits, vegetables and milk products. They are also a common ingredient in processed foods where they perform a variety of functions such as developing texture and colour, improving palatability and providing a preservative.
We gain weight when we take in more calories than we expend. A healthy lifestyle keeps a proper balance between calorific intake and exercise. All carbohydrates, including sugars, contain calories. The role sugar plays in a balanced and healthy diet by providing a natural source of energy has been examined over many years. This work has demonstrated that it is the total consumption of calories that counts irrespective of their source, as all excess calories contribute to weight gain. In fact, recent scientific reviews1,2 have failed to find a positive association uniquely linking sugar consumption and obesity.
British Sugar is committed to increasing scientific knowledge and consumer education on the relationship between diet, lifestyle and health. Health professionals advocate that the best way to achieve a healthy balanced life diet is to base it on whole and refined grains such as oatmeal and wholewheat bread, eat five portions of fruit and vegetable each day and exercise – a simple message that British Sugar supports.
1 EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition, and Allergies (NDA) (2010) Scientific opinion on Sugars Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for carbohydrates and dietary fibre. EFSA Journal 2010; 8(3):1462
2 Ruxton CHS, Gardner, EJ, McNulty HM (2010) Is Sugar Consumption Detrimental to Health? A Review of the Evidence 1995–2006 Crit Rev Food Sci and Nutrition, 50, 1–19