We’re beating the US on one super-sugary product

The United States is often criticised for its obscenely unhealthy junk food fascination. However is is Australia that is winning in the unhealthy stakes, when it comes to the contents of our soft drinks.

We already know soft drinks contain lots of sugar, but did you know the ones sold in Australia have more sugar than the ones sold overseas? A report in the Medical Journal of Australia shows some glucose levels are up to 22 per cent higher than what is found in the US.

It is bad news for the more than 30 per cent of people who regularly consume soft drinks. 

Increased glucose is linked to heart disease and diabetes, two of Australia’s most common health complaints. Soft drinks in Australia are mainly sweetened with sugar cane-derived sucrose. This works out to be 50 per cent glucose and 50 per cent fructose. In the US they use corn syrup and sucrose-rich sugar beet in Europe.  

The study, completed by Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, looked at samples of soft drink from Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

The report hopes to motivate more research into the health effects of Australian soft drinks. Senior author Professor Bronwyn Kingwell, head of the Metabolic and Vascular Physiology Laboratory Program at Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, says it’s not fully understood how the two sugars differentially affect our metabolism, in a report for MJA Insight.

“It could be that drinks of a certain composition have an increased risk for certain types of metabolic diseases,” Kingwell explains. “We’re a bit in the dark at the moment as to what the long term consequences of consumption of Australian drinks are. But what this study does is put it out there that our drinks are different, and it’s something we need to look into.

Do you avoid soft drinks for their sugar content?