DINAKARAN ARTICLE

WHO says 24g of sugar a day is the safe limit

DRAFT GUIDELINES ISSUED IN BID TO COMBAT OBESITY AND RELATED ILLNESSES

The next time you order lunch, you may want to pass up on the can of soda. Or think twice about dousing your fries in ketchup. According to the latest World Health Organisation draft guidelines, a can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar, and every tablespoon of ketchup 1 teaspoon of sugar, which pushes you over your recommended ‘sugar’ limit for the day. 

In a bid to combat obesity and related illnesses such as diabetes, WHO drafted ‘sugar intake’ guidelines, which recommend that the intake of free sugar in both adults and children not exceed 10% of total energy intake (around 50g or approx 12 tsp). And, says Francesco Branca, who presented the guidelines, a further reduction to less than 5% of total energy gives additional health benefits. Doctors recommend 12g or 3 tsp of sugar a day for children under 8, while pre-teens and teens can go up to 24g. 

WHO guidelines refer to the added sugar and the sugar naturally present in fruit juices, honey, syrup. Intrinsic sugar, present in fruit and vegetables, is not counted. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, say doctors, adding that the guidelines should have come sooner. 

Dr Nihal Tomas, Professor and Head, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Christian Medical College, Vellore, believes this is perhaps one of the most important guidelines WHO has drafted, considering that an estimated 101.2 million people in India will have diabetes by 2030. 

“The average Indian consumes anything from 6 tsp to 10 tsp a day of sugar. But in young adults I would say the amount of sugar consumed is much higher, perhaps even double on average,” says Dr Thomas. “While people may count the number of teaspoons they put into their coffee or tea it is the hidden sugars that are never taken into account. In some places they use sugar in certain gravies like a shahi kurma or a tikka masala,” he says. 

Dietitian Dharini Krishnan says the changing dietary habits of young adults are a cause for concern. “Most Indians don’t usually exceed the 6 tsp of sugar a day limit if they stick to regular Indian food — idlis, dosas and chapatis — which do not have free sugars. But when you begin eating something like breakfast cereals or use flavouring agents in milk, that is when you can tip over,” she says. 

The intake is more worrying for children. “If you take the sugary flavouring or fortified powders one adds to milk, a tablespoon, which is actually 3 tsps, contains approximately 12g of sugar. Give the child this kind of milk twice a day and they have already doubled their daily quota,” says Krishnan.

In a study in ‘PLOS Medicine’, researchers suggested adding a 20% tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in India, estimating it could prevent 11.2 million cases of overweight/obesity and 400,000 cases of type 2 diabetes between 2014 and 2023. 

“A taxation on SSBs could reduce the buying capacity and that in turn could mean fewer people buying those beverages,” says Sutapa Agrawal, population scientist at the Public Health Foundation of India who co-authored the study. 

“Governments have seen consumption of tobacco reduce because of taxation, so why not do the same with sugar-sweetened beverages?” she says. In fact, Branca refers to sugar as perhaps being the new tobacco in terms of public health action.

Keralites want ban on pan masala and gutka

Thiruvananthapuram, March 17 (IANS) Taking a cue from Assam, which has banned consumption of harmful tobacco-based pan masala and gutka products, a cross section of people in Kerala have called for a similar legislation in the state.

People say the desired impact of the ban - of reducing the public health burden - cannot be achieved unless consumption is also prohibited.

"Since our state banned these products in 2012, we have been taking stringent action against violators," said K. Anil Kumar, commissioner for food safety, the regulating department for the effective implementation of the ban on pan masala and gutka.

"The smuggling of these products into our state has been a major challenge in implementing the effective ban on pan masala and gutka containing tobacco and nicotine.

"As such, any positive step in addition to this ban or strengthening this ban would be highly desirable. This would also help in curbing use among children in their vulnerable years," he said.

Kerala was the second state in the country after Madhya Pradesh to ban the manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations 2011.

K. Ramadas of the Regional Cancer Centre here said that while oncologists and the medical fraternity at large can treat and provide care to the cancer afflicted, a legislative reform, as has been effected in Assam, would have far-reaching positive implications.

"Chewing tobacco, whether it is pan masala and gutka, is a major cause of cancer in the head and neck in Kerala," he said.

"I have seen several youngsters who have lost their taste buds, parts of their tongue and jawbones due to use of these smokeless tobacco products. This sorry state can be corrected to a great extent if Kerala can also legislatively ban the consumption of chewing tobacco products."

Assam has banned consumption of pan masala, gutka etc under the Assam Health (Prohibition of manufacturing, advertisement, trade, storage, distribution, sale and consumption of zarda, gutka, pan masala, etc, containing tobacco and/or nicotine) Act, 2013.

Vimala Menon, secretary of charity organisation Cheshire Home here, said that as someone who has seen the suffering of cancer victims in palliative care, "I feel that everything possible should be done to bring down cancer incidence in our state".

"Banning consumption of all forms of chewing tobacco products by law and imposing strict penalty on violators would be an effective move," Menon said.