Junk food bonanza: Study reveals which country has the healthiest snacks

While the United Kingdom is known for its scrumptious biscuits, delicious sweets and potato crisps, meaning it’s been the subject of strict diet guidelines in recent years to help the nation make healthier food options, new research shows British food may not be as bad for people as originally thought. The George Institute for Global Health says the United Kingdom actually has the healthiest packaged foods and drinks of 12 major countries and territories around the world.

A new global survey – which analysed the levels of sugar, saturated fat, salt and calories in popular food and drink items – found that the United States of America also has healthier packaged options than Australia. More than 400,000 food and beverage items were included in the study, which ranked each item using Australia’s current health star rating system.

The system measures the levels of the key nutrients in the food including energy, salt, sugar, saturated fat, protein, calcium and fibre. Items given ½ a star rating are considered the unhealthiest options, while five-star foods are the healthiest options.

The research, published in the Obesity Reviews Journal, found the United Kingdom had the highest average health star rating of 2.83. America wasn’t far behind at 2.82, while Australia came in third at 2.81. India proved the worst country for healthy packaged snacks and drinks, with an average of just 2.27.

China’s average health rating was also near the bottom at 2.43, while Chile’s packaged foods and drinks ranked third worst with an average rating of 2.44. China topped the list as the worst country for harmful levels of saturated fat and were also found to be the worst for sugar levels.

Interestingly, while China’s food was generally thought to be unhealthy, their drinks were found to be some of the healthiest in the survey. In contrast, South Africa’s drinks scored an average health rating of just 1.92, but their snacks ranked much higher with 2.87. And while The United States, United Kingdom and Australia are known for their love of salty snacks, it was actually Canada that was found to have the unhealthiest salt levels of any country.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s snacks were considered the best option when it came to sugar with an average of 3.8 grams per 100 grams, while Canada came in second place with 4.6 grams per 100 grams. The average sweet treat in China had 8.5 grams of sugar per 100 grams, which is twice the average in the United Kingdom.

“Globally we’re all eating more and more processed foods and that’s a concern because our supermarkets shelves are full of products that are high in bad fats, sugar and salt and are potentially making us sick,” Lead author Dr Elizabeth Dunford said in a statement. “Our results show that some countries are doing a much better job than others.  Unfortunately it’s the poorer nations that are least able to address the adverse health consequences that have the unhealthiest foods.”

Billions of people are exposed to unhealthy food options on a daily basis, with experts warning that the obesity crisis sweeping the world is the first ripple of a tsunami of dietary ill health that will soon face the world. Co-author Bruce Neal explained: “We have to find a way that the food industry can profit from selling rational quantities of quality food, rather than deluging us with unhealthy junk. There are few greater priorities for human health.’’

Many of the world’s major food and drink manufacturers have now signed up to the International Food and Beverage Alliance and made pledges to reduce levels of salt, sugar and harmful fat in items being sold to the public, researchers added. The findings could force major companies to improve the healthiest of their product ranges.

Public Health England recently launched their ‘OneYou’ campaign to put the nation on a stricter diet, which encourages people to restrict their daily food intake to just 400 calories for breakfast and 600 calories at lunch and dinner time. Some 62 per cent of adults in the UK are considered obese, while 63.4 per cent of Aussie adults fall into the same category. In the USA, 75 per cent of the population is expected to be overweight by 2020.

Meanwhile in Australia, the Australian Beverages Council announced a pledge that will see the non-alcoholic beverage industry commit to a 20 per cent reduction in sugar across the industry’s portfolio by 2025, with leading companies including Coca-Cola South Pacific, Coca-Cola Amatil, PepsiCo committing to the pledge.

Sugar will be reduced across the industry by an average of 10 per cent next year and will include everything from carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks and electrolyte drinks to juice, fruit drinks, iced teas and flavoured milk.