Brits go sugar-free for September

It appears the public are clueless when it comes to sussing sugar in foods, as one in five (21 per cent) don’t believe chocolate contains sugar, with the same amount (22 per cent) thinking biscuits are sugar-free too. Drinks are not immune from sugar ignorance either, with almost half (47 per cent)of respondents believing that neither wine or beer contain sugar. Perhaps more worryingly, over a third (38 per cent) of people asked did not know that fruit juice contained sugar, despite warnings from Action on Sugar that many juices contain at least six teaspoons of sugar - more than cola.

Other food and drinks which respondents believed were free of sugar included the below:

-      Sweets (20 per cent)

-      Hot chocolate (30 per cent)

-      Fruit (40 per cent)

-      Spirits (58 per cent)

-      Fizzy drinks (20 per cent)

-      Sports drinks (26 per cent)

-      Energy drinks (28 per cent)

This worrying lack of knowledge could be reaping havoc on the nation’s teeth. Many patients are not aware that each time sugar is consumed, teeth are under acid attack for up to one hour, producing harmful acids and increasing the risk of tooth decay. Some are also unaware that fizzy drinks could be just as harmful to the teeth and that carbon dioxide gas is used to create bubbles in fizzy drinks, which then turns into a very dilute acid in the drink. This exposure to dilute acid can lead to the dissolving of tooth enamel if consumed on a regular basis.