When you knock back a fizzy drink, unless it’s a ‘diet’ drink, you know you’re getting sugar. But what about drinks you might think of as healthier choices?
Some of the sugars in drinks might be naturally present (such as lactose in milk drinks), which means those drinks are more likely to contain useful nutrients (such as calcium or vitamins). Added sugar, or sugar from fruit juice, is more likely to affect body weight and cause damage to our teeth. It’s this type of sugar that the World Health Organization recommends we try to keep to 26g or less each day. That’s about five teaspoons of sugar.
How does it measure up?
One 330ml can of Coca-Cola contains 35g sugar (7 teaspoons).
We’ve compared the sugar content per serve to 1 teaspoon of sugar (5g in line with New Zealand’s official food measurements*)
*11th edition of New Zealand Food Composition Tables published by the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research and the Ministry of Health.
NOTE: Serving sizes may vary.
(Products listed in order of lowest to highest sugar content)
Little Island Coconut Creamery Original Coconut Milk Beverage
3.5g sugar per 250ml serve
Good Buzz Kombucha Made With Cold Brew Coffee
7.1g sugar per 330ml bottle
Moccona Mochaccino sachet
8.1g sugar per 14g sachet
G Force Vitamin Enriched Fruit Drink Orange Mandarin
12.1g sugar per 250ml serve
Lipton Ice Tea Peach
13.2g sugar per 250ml (1/2 bottle) serve
The Homegrown Juice Company Raw Energy
14.6g sugar per 200ml (1/2 bottle) serve
Coca-Cola Life
17g sugar per 250ml serve
Nestle Milo Activ-Go
17.9g sugar* per 200ml pack
*about half from lactose in the milk
Oqua Organic Coconut Water
18g sugar per 350ml can
Phoenix Organic Energy From Nature Apple & Lemon
29.7g sugar per 330ml serve
Lewis Road Creamery Chocolate Milk
34.6g sugar per 300ml serve
Simply Squeezed Smoothie Spirulina Slam
46.4g sugar per 350ml bottle
www.healthyfood.com
