Fruit juice is so high in sugar it should not count as part of a healthy five-a-day diet, the Government’s obesity tsar has warned.
Juice drinks have been singled out as a particular concern – lacking fibre and other nutrients as well as being high in calories. Even pure fruit juice is said to contain a large amount of naturally-occurring sugar – but people end up drinking too much of it because they do not see it as unhealthy.
Dr Jebb, a professor of diet and population health at Oxford University, said: ‘I would support taking it [fruit juice] out of the five-a-day guidance. ‘Fruit juice isn’t the same as intact fruit and it has got as much sugar as many classical sugar drinks.
‘It is also absorbed very fast, so by the time it gets to your stomach your body doesn’t know whether it’s Coca-Cola or orange juice, frankly. I have to say it is a relatively easy thing to give up.
Fruit also makes people feel fuller, helping to cut down on the need for other snacks. Dr Jebb’s comments come after health experts last week urged firms to cut the amount of sugar added to food over concerns it is becoming the ‘new tobacco’.
In 2011, researchers from Leeds University and the University of Bangor also called for fruit juice to be discounted from a healthy diet.
They said it gives the public a ‘sweet tooth’ and discourages them from eating fruit pieces that are far better for health.
