Sugar consumption guide set to halve in government's SACN report

16th Jul 2015 15:21

(ShareCast News) - Sugar producers and sweet food manufacturers are soon to be hit by a halving of the government's recommended sugar intake levels, according to reports.A report on carbohydrate consumption by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), which advises Public Health England and other government agencies on nutrition matters, was reported to be on the verge of trimming its recommended "acceptable upper limit" for sugar, the Grocer magazine has reported.In its draft report last year, SACN said 10% of total energy intake was an acceptable upper limit, but is rumoured to be poised to halve this to 5%, which experts told the Grocer would mean "massive changes to diets".The final SACN report is due to be released on Friday, having been held back by the government in order to form part of the Department of Health's wider obesity strategy.According to existing government research, all age groups in the UK consume more sugar than the current recommended daily limit of 10% of daily energy intake.However, there has been concern about the negative impact of this level of consumption on public health, notably tooth decay, obesity and type 2 diabetes.