sign in sign up
<<
Home , Sweet and sour

FOOD

Sweet and saucy A squirt of tangy is not the obvious food you think of for content. However, we surveyed a range of savoury and found they be suprisingly high in sugar.

Consumers can agonise about that average female this would equate to 180 the nutrient is an ok food choice, whereas spoonful of sugar we add to our tea, calories per day or 45g of sugar. a green light signifies a healthy choice, however sugar seems to be sneaking into It has also been suggested some foods and is low in the nutrient. our bodies elsewhere, unbeknown to us. can go unaccounted for in our daily sugar From those surveyed 18 of the 20 Increased consumption of sugar has intake. Safefood produced a report last contained added , which was most implications for our health in a number year highlighting that many parents don’t often the second or third ingredient in the of ways. It feeds plaque which leads to count soft drinks in their children’s daily ingredient’s list. was the tooth decay. Added sugar in food gives food intake, a significant contributor to exception that had on average low sugar the body pure energy, but often does so sugar consumption in the guise of content. But unfortunately this doesn’t without other vitamins and minerals, hidden sugars. Consumer Choice also mean it’s a healthy product (see Sweet and providing calories, but ones that are suspects other foods may also go salty too). Of the other four categories empty of nutrients. For better health we unaccounted for, such as the sauces we included, came out the should get our energy from sources that add at the table. To see if sauces are a highest with an average of 5.1g of sugar provide energy and other nutrients as significant source of sugar we surveyed a per portion, that’s well over a teaspoon. well. For example, when we fancy a sweet range of them - from like cream was the lowest, however had treat, we should ideally try to reach for ketchup, mustard and to a still high half teaspoon per serving. rather than a slice of cake. sauces that are used in cooking. The Levels of sugar did vary between brands, The European Food Safety Authority’s survey included 20 condiments, and a so it is worth checking labels. (EFSA) Panel on Dietetic Products, total of 40 pasta, curry and oriental If looking for alternatives there are a Nutrition and Allergies is currently cooking sauces. few reduced sugar on the market working on setting values for the amount which contain considerably less sugar, of individual nutrients people need for Saucy sides with around 10 to 15g less per 100g than good health. It hasn’t set an upper limit Quite surprisingly all of the condiments, the average. for sugar because health effects are linked except for one, were high in sugar (see to patterns of food consumption. For Condiments). This was determined using Cooking sauces AT A GLANCE example it has found some evidence of a the UK Food Standards Agency traffic Products like tomato and curry are link between weight gain and high sugar light criteria (see Nutrition criteria). A red great time savers when preparing a meal Cooking sauces. intake from soft drinks. However the light indicates the food is high in that in a hurry. Cooking sauces overall faired World Health Organisation recommends nutrient and is something we should better than condiments with most having Condiments. we shouldn’t get more than 10% of our only eat occasionally, an amber light a medium or amber rating. Tomato based calories from added sugar. For the shows the food has a medium level of pasta sauces can be quite sugary, but Hidden sugars.

FOOD NOVEMBER 2010 consumer choice 349 Useful websites SUGAR IN SAUCES - CONDIMENTS SUGAR IN SAUCES - PASTA SAUCES

Safefood www.safefood.eu Condiments Sugar Per portion Italian cooking sauces Sugar Per portion Tomato Ketchup 100g 15g Tomato Based Pasta Sauce 100g 150g Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute Chef 27 4.05 Dolmio Express Italian Chilli Pouch 170g 6.1 9.2 www.indi.ie Heinz 23.7 3.6 Dolmio Original Bolognese 320g 5.9 8.9 Heinz Organic 26.8 4.0 Dolmio Stir in Sun Dried Tomato 150g 5.1 7.7 Food Standards Agency – Oak Lane 19 2.9 Dolmio Taste of Italy Tomato and 350g 6.9 10.4 Traffic Light Labelling Tesco 27.4 4.1 www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlab Tomato and Chilli 350g 5.9 8.85 Lakeshore 26.5 4.0 els/trafficlights/ Average 25.1 3.8 Jamie Oliver Red and Rosemary 350g 4.4 6.6 Lloyd Grossman Bolognese 425g 7.4 11.1 Food Safety Authority of Ireland Chef 25.5 3.8 Lloyd Grossman Tomato and Roasted Garlic 350g 5.3 8.0 www.fsai.ie HP 22.7 3.4 Ragu Traditional 500g 6.8 10.2 Tesco Tangy 16.7 2.5 Ragu Original 500g 7.2 10.8 Average 22 3.2 Sacla Tomato and Roasted Veg 5.7 8.6 Salad Cream Seeds of Change Organic Bolognese 500g 8.9 13.4 Heinz 17.5 2.6 Seeds of Change Tomato and Basil 350g 8.7 13.1 Tesco 15.6 2.3 Superquinn Tomato and Chilli 350g 5.2 7.8 Chef 14.7 2.2 Lakeshore 17.1 2.6 Tesco Original 3.9 5.9 Average 16.2 2.4 Average 6.2 9.3 Relish Carbonara 100g 150g Branston Tomato and Red Pepper 34.9 5.2 Lloyd Grossman Carbonara with Pancetta 340g 2.6 3.9 Tesco Tomato 28.5 4.3 Tesco Carbonara 310g 1.5 2.3 Chef Chunky Tomato 38.5 5.8 Dolmio Pasta Bake Carbonara 480g 2.6 3.9 Average 34.0 5.1 Average 2.2 3.4 Mustard 100g 2g 100g 50g Colman's 9.5 0.2 Sacla Basil Pesto 190g 3.8 1.9 Wholegrain 4 0.1 Jamie Oliver Green Pesto 190g 2.6 1.3 Maille Dijon 0 0.0 French's Classic Yellow 1 0.0 Sacla Sundried Tomato Pesto 190g 4.9 2.5 Average 3.6 0.1 Average 3.8 1.9

NUTRITIONAL CRITERIA 1 again it varies from brand to brand, which went from a low of 5.9 to a high of 13.4g per portion (see Pasta sauces). Green (low) Amber (medium) Red (high) Tomatoes will naturally have a certain Sugars ≤5.0g/100g >5.0 to ≤12.5g/100g >12.5g/100g amount of sugar and as a gauge we Salt ≤0.30g/100g >0.30 to ≤1.50g/100g >1.50g/100g looked at what a can of tomatoes contains. We compared four brands and 1 UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) nutritional criteria for traffic light signpost labelling. found on average 5g of sugar per 150g, which does indicate that bottled sauces are significantly sweeter than homemade. Most of the sauces (90%) had added sweetener, such as sugar, honey or choice comment glucose. However it was lower in the ingredients list than found in condiments, mostly the 4th to 6th Our analysis of food labels always draws surprising conclusions. Nutritional labels present useful ingredient listed. Making your own sauce information for consumers, but at a glance it’s near impossible to evaluate if the food contains nutrients at home may be a better option (see in quantities it would be better to avoid for our health. Making your own at home is not always a ‘Tomato sauce for pasta’, Consumer realistic option, without becoming a slave to the stove. Product reformulation is a positive step but must Choice, February 2010, p13 and ‘Pesto’, represent genuine change. For now, consumers concerned about their sugar and salt intake must April 2010, p112). Or Safefood (see continue to behave like label checking detectives. However while the results of our survey are not Useful websites) make a useful suggestion encouraging, sauces are not a huge issue, unless you eat a lot of them. Use portion control by keeping to combine a tin of tomatoes with your sauce on the side and add only what you need. sauce, which also stretches it further.

350 consumer choice NOVEMBER 2010 FOOD our survey says SUGAR IN SAUCES - CURRY AND ORIENTAL

• A teaspoon contains about 4.2g of sugar. A sachet of tomato ketchup will usually contain Curry and oriental sauces Sugar Per portion around 15g. According to our survey, ketchups have around 3.8g of sugar per 15g. That’s Curry 100g 150g almost a teaspoon. And who ever just uses one sachet? If serving yourself from the bottle you’re likely to use a lot more than this. Knorr Hot 500g 7.6 11.4 • A typical jar of tomato sauce for pasta contains from 300g to 500g of sauce. From our Uncle Ben's Medium 5.3 8.0 survey if you use half a large jar, say 250g, that contributes 15g of sugar to your daily Sharwood's 425g 3.0 4.5 intake, that’s three and a half teaspoons and the equivalent of half a bar of chocolate1. • is much more sweet than sour. A 150g portion contains around 26g of Korma sugar. That’s almost as much as a bar of chocolate or as eating a of Smarties and Uncle Ben's 490g 6.9 10.4 two Milkybars!2 Pataks Mild 500g 6.7 10.1 1 A Cadbury’s Dairy Milk (49g) contains 27.8g of sugar. Source: www.cadbury.co.uk, 26 August 2010. 2 Nestle Sharwoods Mild 420g 7.8 11.7 Milkybar (12.5g) contains 7.2g of sugar. Nestle Smarties (20g) contain 13.1g of sugar. Source: www.nestle.co.uk, 26 August 2010 Tikka Masala Pataks 425g 3.9 5.9 Curry and oriental sauces were On the traffic light scale, pasta sauces Lloyd Grossman 425g 6.2 9.3 similarly sweet, but again the level of averaged as having medium salt content. Sharwoods 420g 6.3 9.5 sugar did vary depending on the brand. This worked out at an average of 1.6g for Thai Red Curry Curry sauces ranged from a low of 4.5g a small 150g serving. Pesto sauces were to a high of 11.7g per portion. Overall on the higher end of the scale with 1.2g Lloyd Grossman 350g 5.9 8.9 from the cooking sauces we looked at, per 50g. Curry cooking sauces also Tesco Finest 350g 1.9 2.9 oriental sauces fared worst on the traffic contained medium salt content, with Average 5.6 8.4 light scheme, with one half having 1.5g per 150g portion. Oriental cooking Choi Mein 100g 60g medium and the other receiving a high sauces were also similarly salty at around Amoy Stir Fry 16.3 9.8 rating for sugar. While there’s a clue in 1.1g per portion. Blue Dragon Stir Fry 10.7 6.4 the name, sweet and sour came out worst The Irish Heart Foundation’s statistics Tesco Stir Fry 9.4 5.6 on the sweetness scale (see Our survey are certainly credible when the salt says). content of sauces is considered. It seems Black Bean 100g 60g to take little effort to increase our salt Amoy Stir Fry 9.9 5.9 Sweet and salty too intake with a dab of mustard and a squirt Blue Dragon Stir Fry 14.4 8.6 High salt intake is linked with high of ketchup here and there. Tesco Stir Fry 10.1 6.1 blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Sweet and sour 100g 150g Statistics show our salt consumption is Changing times Sharwood's Cantonese 17.9 26.9 on average more than twice what it While the survey findings aren’t positive, Uncle Ben's 18 27 should be, at over 9g per day. We should reducing the levels of certain nutrients, only consume 4g. particularly trans fat, sugar and salt, is on Average 13.3 12 According to the Irish Heart the agenda for some food companies. Foundation 80% of the salt we consume The CAI has lobbied for better nutritional comes from processed foods. The other content in foods, with work on on evaluating efforts. The Platform 20% of salt intake is from what’s added reductions in the sugar content of produced a report on product in cooking or salt that naturally occurs in breakfast cereals a case which has reformulation in July and found that food. Since the sauces we surveyed would received a lot of our energies. most commitments were for 5 years or be considered processed foods we also One positive development is Kellogg’s less and suggested longer term plans of looked at their salt content, which was commitment to reducing the levels of 10 to 12 years, with monitoring and noticeably quite high. sugar in all Coco Pops cereals by 15%. evaluation, could have a more To give a summary of their nutritional That said, a serving will still contain one sustainable effect. The report also content we worked out a few averages, and a half teaspoons. Kellogg’s have also highlighted that when nutrient however, again, there is a good degree of stated they are looking at reducing sugar reductions were made it is not specified difference between the salt content of levels in other brands. We welcome this what they would be replaced by. The different brands. The average salt change, and would also like to see further use of artificial sweeteners in place of content of the ketchups we surveyed was reductions in the future. sugar, and saturated fats replaced by 0.4g per 15g sachet. That’s 10% of what Some companies have introduced trans fats, would be a negative our intake for the day should be. product reformulation strategies to development. However the lowest contained 3 times improve the nutrition of their foods. A role for government in helping less salt than the highest, so it is worth Commitments include evaluating evaluate impacts and monitor changes checking product labels. products overall nutritional content, such was identified. One initiative here is the While mustard is the one as by Unilever, whereas others focus on Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s (FSAI, we surveyed that had a consistently low specific nutrients, such as salt in the case see Useful websites) work with industry sugar content, it was high in salt, with a of Mars. to reduce the salt levels in processed 15g sachet containing on average 1.5g of The impact of these changes is unclear, and prepared foods (see ‘Salt ’ salt, that’s over a third of our daily salt however, the EU Platform for Action on Consumer Choice, December Report by intake. Diet, Physical Activity and Health focuses 2009/January 2010, p485). Aisling Murtagh cc

FOOD NOVEMBER 2010 consumer choice 351