Moore, JB orcid.org/0000-0003-4750-1550, Sutton, EH orcid.org/0000-0002-6756-4359 and Hancock, N orcid.org/0000-0002-1768-2971 (2020) Sugar Reduction in Yogurt Products Sold in the UK between 2016 and 2019. Nutrients, 12 (1). 171. ISSN 2072-6643
Abstract
The UK government has called for industry reformulation of foods that contribute most to sugar consumption in children’s diets, including yogurts. The aim of this work was to comprehensively survey yogurt products available in UK supermarkets in 2019 to determine whether sugar contents had been reduced since our baseline survey in 2016. Product information was collected for 893 unique yogurt, fromage frais and dairy dessert products, and nutrient contents were analysed in comparison to those previously examined. Examining all products, there was a highly significant (p < 0.0001) reduction in the median total sugar contents in 2019 compared to those in 2016: median (interquartile range): 10.4 g/100 g (6.6, 13.0) versus 11.9 g/100 (8.8, 13.6). However, notable product turnover was evident; while 60% of the 2019 products surveyed could be matched by brand and name to 2016, 40% were new. In scrutinising paired products closely, only 32% (173 of 539) had reduced sugar contents with a smaller mean difference of −0.65 g/100 g (p < 0.0001), suggesting that the overall median had dropped as a result of higher sugar products being discontinued. Categories showing the most improvements were children’s, drinks and fruit yogurts. Although only 15% of the 2019 products contained ≤5 g/100 g sugars, considered a ‘low-sugar’ product for labelling, this was an improvement over the 9% identified in 2016. Our results yield important insights into current market trends and demonstrate that the median sugar content of UK yogurt products has been reduced by 13% in two years. These data independently evidence modest, but encouraging changes in response to public policy initiatives aimed at preventing childhood obesity.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Keywords: | yogurt; sugar; childhood obesity |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Food Science and Nutrition (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Jan 2020 12:10 |
Last Modified: | 17 Dec 2024 15:25 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/nu12010171 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:155285 |