New sugar advice: what does it all mean?

The World Health Organisation has advised halving the amount of sugar that people consume daily to six teaspoons. Here a Q&A explains the current rules and what the changes would involve

The World Health Organisation has warned that sugar consumption should be halved to help reduce health problems such as obesity and tooth decay Credit: Photo: Alamy

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is updating its guidance on the amount of sugar that people can consume daily, which would mean that some individual products would put individuals at risk of reaching the new threshold in a single sitting.

Here we explain the current guidelines on sugar intake and how the WHO is planning to change them.

What is the current guidance on sugar intake?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) currently recommends that adults should get no more than 10 per cent of their daily calories from “free” sugars. NHS advice is in line with this threshold.

Based on a recommended daily calorie allowance of 2,000 calories for the average person, this equates to an upper limit of 50g or 12 “level” teaspoons of sugar.

What does "free" sugar include?


Is it possible to tell how much free sugar is in individual products?

In Britain the nutritional information on food labels only states the total sugar in each product – it does not provide a breakdown of how much of that sugar is added or “free”.

Products such as yoghurts and chocolate drinks are likely to include a significant amount of lactose, which is the naturally present sugar in milk. However, nutritional reference guides provide an estimate of lactose levels in many popular products, which can help to estimate how much of their total sugar is added.

For example, skimmed milk contains around one teaspoon of lactose per 100ml. Therefore of the 11 teaspoons of total sugar in a 350ml chocolate milk drink, four spoons are likely to be naturally present sugar and the remaining seven would be “free” and therefore covered by the WHO guidelines.

Who wants the current guidance to be changed and why?

Some leading scientists and campaigners have called for the recommendation to be halved to 5 per cent.

These include groups such as Action on Sugar, which warn that current levels of sugar intake need to be radically reduced to help tackle obesity and chronic disease.

Separately a report by scientists at Newcastle University, which was considered by the WHO as part of its review, suggested the lower threshold is needed to reduce tooth decay.

What are the changes that have been announced?

On Wednesday the WHO published new draft guidance on sugar intake which will now go out to consultation.

The international body is proposing to stick to its current recommendation that people should get no more than 10 per cent of their calories from free sugars.

However the draft guidelines state that a further reduction to 5 per cent “would have additional benefits”. Dr Francesco Branca, director for nutrition for health and development at the WHO, said the 5 per cent threshold is the "ideal" limit for which people should now aim.

What will happen now?

Comments on the draft guidelines are being invited by the WHO until the end of March, when it will consider feedback and publish its final guidelines.

Observers expect fierce lobbying over the next month. On one side will be campaigners urging the WHO to go ahead with new advice on people cutting their daily intake to less than 5 per cent – or to go even further by halving the formal 10 per cent recommendation.

On the other side the food industry, which points out that there is uncertainty over the benefits of cutting to five per cent, is likely to resist any reduction in the current limits.

Meanwhile the Government’s science advisory committee on nutrition is separately reviewing levels of carbohydrates, including sugar, and is expected to report this summer.