Sugar Content in Processed Foods in Spain and a Comparison of Mandatory Nutrition Labelling and Laboratory Values

Abstract

To reduce the sugar content of processed foods through reformulation, the first step is to determine the content of the largest sources of sugars in each country’s diet. The aim of this work was to describe the sugar content in the most commonly consumed processed foods in Spain and to compare that sugar’s labelling and laboratory analysis values (LVs and AVs, respectively) to confirm its adequacy. A sample of the 1173 most commonly consumed processed foods in Spain (28 groups; 77 subcategories) was collected. For each product, the total sugar content was compared according to its AV and LV. The median (25th –75th percentiles, interquartile range) sugar content by group was calculated for the total sample, and the groups were classified as “high sugar content” when this value was above 22.5 g/100g of product. The adequacy of the LV, according to the European Union (EU) tolerance requirements, was then evaluated, and each subcategory median was compared with the AV to determine its appropriateness via a median test for independent samples (p < 0.05). In total, 10 out of 28 groups presented high sugar content. Moreover, 98.4% of the products met the EU tolerance ranges. Finally, only one subcategory (“cured ham”) presented significant differences between the AV and LV median values (0.4 g vs. 0.1 g sugar/100g, p < 0.05). The groups of food products whose sugar content reduction could have the greatest impact on public health were identified. In addition, our study showed the high adequacy of LV with the EU labeling tolerance requirements, as well as the LV’s appropriateness as a tool to implement actions aimed at reducing sugar consumption.

Diet Quality and Sociodemographic, Lifestyle, and Health-Related Determinants among People with Depression in Spain: New Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Population-Based Study (2011–2017)

“…This finding is in line with the results of another study [ 113 ], which may be attributable to the sugar contents of this group of food. Sweets contain large amounts of sugars, which are associated with a high glycemic load [ 114 ]. Actually, research shows that high glycemic load diets are associated with a high level of pro-inflammatory cytokines and a worse lipid profile, which have already been proven to be related to high depressive symptoms [ 115 ].…”

Carbohydrates, Starch, Total Sugar, Fiber Intakes and Food Sources in Spanish Children Aged One to <10 Years—Results from the EsNuPI Study

“…Consumers may only identify that sugar is actually added to a product by reading the ingredients list, where it is mandatory to declare. In a recently published work conducted on processed products from the Spanish market [ 47 ], sugar contents from labels were compared to analytically obtained values; however, no assessment of added sugar contents was possible as these are chemically identical to intrinsic ones, underlining the need from manufacturer’s data on these ingredients.…”

Evaluation of the Accurateness of the Nutritional Labels of Processed and Ultra-Processed Products Available in Supermarkets of Ecuador

“…It was more frequent for some food categories to report an indicator as “medium” when they should be reported as “high”, especially in sugar-sweetened beverages for the sugar indicator. In a study carried out in Spain about the sugar content in processed products, they found that in the 28 categories of products analyzed, 10 had high sugar content in relation to the tolerance levels of the European Union [ 27 ]. In the United States studies, they found that 19% of the products in the sugar component presented lower data than their analytical data [ 28 ].…”

“…The network has different modules for fulfilling its objective, one of which is “food labeling” [ 26 ]. Taking as reference the INFORMAS protocol for monitoring nutrition labels on processed and UPPs, as part of the surveillance of the food environment of industrialized products and taking into account the results of studies carried out in Spain and in the United States about irregularities in the nutritional labels with respect to the content of the product after a laboratory analysis, they found the under-declaration of the nutrient values on the labels [ 27 , 28 ], and they found higher or lower sugar values in relation to the values declared on the labels. In another study conducted in Canada [ 29 ], they found products with superior laboratory values compared to the values of calories, saturated fat, sugars, and sodium reported in the nutritional table.…”