A new publication by Public Health England has highlighted the dangers of hidden sugar in both smoothies and fruit juices.
The guide makes recommendations to improve oral health, including limiting the consumption of sugar laden drinks to just 150mls per day.
Additional guidelines advise reducing our intake of sugar to no more than 5% of our daily energy intake. A new hydration section of the guide promotes milk, water, sugar free drinks, tea and coffee as effective ways to stay hydrated.
The UK’s leading health charity, the British Dental Health Foundation, has supported this report, viewing it as an important step to increasing awareness of the levels of sugar in many drinks.
Dentist Dr Ben Atkins, Trustee of the British Dental Health Foundation, commented on the new guide:
“There is a real problem in getting everyone to recognise when there are hidden sugars in food or drink which people perceive to be “healthy”; especially in things like smoothies and fruit juices which are currently very fashionable.
Many of us are just not aware of the very high levels of sugar in some of these and that is a huge problem when it comes to our oral health.
People are often surprised when they continue to have problems even when they follow recommendations to brush for two minutes twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, but this is due to the hidden sugars in their diet, such as in apparently ‘healthy’ drinks and snacks.”