Thursday 22 October 2015

Sugar trap

We've all fallen into the trap before.

We look at the packaging of our favourite types of food or snack and if there are pleasant pictures of vegetables or a shining sun, we assume it's all organic and good for us.

Very few people actually take the time to read the back of the packet and see the content (guilty). And yes, of course they display a little convenient diagram showing how many grams of each ingredient is in the packet, however it's only ever per '25 grams' or some other minute proportion of the entire packet. And let's be honest, no one is going to stand there and do the maths.

So we shrug it off and give our favourite treats the benefit of the doubt. But here I though I'd show you how important it is to read the labels, and especially to check the sugar content, because you'd be shocked at the statistics...

1. Half a cup of tomato pasta sauce - 19 grams of sugar
2. 1/3 cup of dried cranberries  - 24 grams of sugar
3. 1 granola bar - 12 grams of sugar
4. 1 energy drink - up to 83 grams of sugar
5. 1 pint of cider - 20 grams of sugar
6. 1 glass of fruit juice - 20-30 grams of sugar
7. 1 can of coca cola - 9 grams
8. Starbucks caramel frappaccino - 11 grams
9. Glaceau vitamin water - 4 grams of sugar
10. French dressing - 7 grams of sugar

(All based on average portions/brands)


I have to admit when researching this, I shed a small tear when I came across the sugar content of a vodka and cranberry (7 grams)... But actually, cranberry juice cleanses the kidneys, so I will still need that in order to stay healthy!...

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