Food companies have “43 different names” for added sugars on their packaging, according to Choice, and the consumer group is calling for reform.
Choice has asked the government to clearly label sugar on food products following World Health Organisation recommendations that consumers limit the intake of 'free' or added sugars to no more than 10 per cent of a person's total energy intake.
Spokesperson Tom Godfrey said some added sugars were easy to identify, such as brown sugar and caster sugar, but others, such as agave nectar, high-fructose corn syrup, rapadura and molasses, were not.
“We believe consumers have a right to know what added sugars are in their foods, but currently food companies make it very hard for us to work it out,” he said.
“On food labels, the nutritional panel doesn’t differentiate between added sugar content and sugars that naturally occur in the product. So the only way for you to find out is by trying to identify these 40-plus different names in the ingredients list.
“The fact is, consumers should be able to identify which ingredients listed on food products are added sugars. We believe this could be achieved through a recommendation that's currently being reviewed by our food standards body.”
One of the key recommendations of the government's 2011 food labelling review related to cases where sugars were added as separate ingredients in food. Here, the term 'added sugars' could be used in the ingredient list as the generic term, followed by a bracketed list with further details. For example, “added sugars (fructose, glucose syrup, honey)”.
"To get this change across the line, we are calling on consumers to email their state food minister and tell them they want added sugars to be clearly labelled," Godfrey said.
