New Study Into ‘Deceptively’ High Sugar Levels In Supermarket Yogurts Highlights Concerns Over Impact Of Sugar On Obesity

A new study into yogurt ingredients has found that many products marketed towards children and those labelled as organic have very high sugar levels.

The findings come from a new study released by scientists from the Universities of Leeds and Surrey that was published in BMJ Open this week.

The researchers analysed the product information of 921 yogurts available in major UK supermarkets.

Their findings discovered that across all categories of yogurt products - except natural, Greek and "Greek-style” yogurts - the average sugar levels were well above the five grams per 100 grams threshold required to be classed as “low sugar”.

In the UK, these “low sugar” yogurts are marked with a green “traffic light” label.

Organic yogurts were found to have one of the highest average content, with 13.1 grams per 100 grams - a standard sugar cube weighing roughly four grams.

Lead author Dr Bernadette Moore from the School of Food Science and Nutrition at Leeds, said: “While there is good evidence that yogurt can be beneficial to health, products on the market vary widely in nutrient content.

"Items labelled ‘organic’ are often thought of as the ‘healthiest’ option, but they may be an unrecognised source of added sugars in many people’s diet.

“Many of the products that were suggested for children’s lunchboxes were high sugar dessert yogurts, rather than lower sugar options. Retailers could play a positive role in promoting health by establishing boundaries for lunchbox recommendations and clearly labelling the amount of added sugar.

“Our study highlights the challenges and mixed messages that come from the marketing and packaging of yogurt products.”

One of the reasons this happens is that yogurts contain their own naturally-occurring sugar, but current UK labelling laws do not require companies to declare added sugars on nutrition labels, meaning “total sugar” indicates the weight of lactose as well as any added sugars.

The NHS recommends that children aged between 4 - 6 should not have more than 19 grams of sugar a day, but the researchers discovered that only two of the 101 children’s yogurts studied could be classified as low in sugar, the average having 10.8 grams per 100 grams.

Stephen O’Hara, the CEO of OptiBiotix (OPTI) FOLLOW, which has developed zero calorie prebiotic sweeteners designed to replace sugar as a food ingredient, said: “With growing concerns over the impact on health of traditional sugars and artificial sweeteners, government health officials are right to encourage manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugar in food & drink products.

“We have developed SweetBiotix^® which has the potential to address a global consumer and industry need, addressing international concerns over the impact of sugar on obesity.

"Our product replaces ‘unhealthy’ sugars in existing products with non-digestible, low calorie, healthy alternatives.”

Speaking about the dangers of added sugars, the University of Surrey’s Dr Barbara Fielding said: “Diets high in added sugars are now unequivocally linked to obesity and dental problems. An alarming 58% of women and 68% of men – along with one in three of UK children aged ten to eleven – were overweight or obese in 2015.

“In the UK, on average, children eat more yogurt than adults, with children under three years old eating the most. It can be a great source of protein, calcium, and vitamin B12.

"However, we found that in many of the yogurt products marketed towards children, a single serving could contain close to half of a child’s recommended daily maximum sugar intake. Many portion sizes for children’s yogurts were identical to adult portion sizes.”

The paper, "An evaluation of the nutrient contents of yogurts: a comprehensive survey of yogurt products in the major UK supermarkets" was published in BMJ Open and can be read here.