[Local data] Free sugar content in pre-packaged foods and beverages in Hong Kong

3 min read /
General Nutrition Public health
candies

In Hong Kong, free sugars are found to be highly prevalent in pre-packaged foods, yet the data on free sugar content is limited. A local study including 18,784 pre-packaged foods from 14 major food groups and 54 minor food groups has been conducted, to assess their free sugar levels and identify the major types of free sugars present.

Save (for later)
  • Most products (64.5%) contained at least one free sugar ingredient (FSI) (n = 12,118)
    • Sucrose (either in solid or syrup forms) was the mostly used FSI (54.7%)
  • All major food groups contained products with FSI
    • Including food groups that were not often related to free sugars
    • E.g., ‘Fish and fish products’ (46.0%), ‘Meat and meat products’ (73.8%)
  • The overall median (interquartile range) free sugar content was 3.2 (0.0-17.2) g per 100 g or 100 mL
    • ‘Sugars, honey and related products’ had the highest median free sugar level (80.0; 72.0-96.0)
    • ‘Confectionery’ had the second-highest median free sugar level (41.2; 25.4-58.9)
    • ‘Fruit’ had a large difference in the median total sugar (44.0; 17.0-62.7) and free sugar content (1.0; 0.0-16.6), implying that most sugars in this category were naturally occurring
    • The median free sugar content of ‘Fruit and vegetable juices’ (10.0; 8.3-11.5) was higher than that of ‘Soft drinks’ (8.5; 6.0-10.6)
  • Free sugars constituted 65.8 ± 43.4% of the total sugars in all products
    • Free sugar percentage ranged from 1.8 ± 11.9% (‘Edible oils and oil emulsions’) to 98.7 ± 11.2% (‘Sugars, honey and related products’)
    • Products claimed to be ‘healthy’ such as cereal bars and fruit juices were found to contain high levels of total sugars (26.0 ± 8.6 and 9.8 ± 3.8 g per 100 g or 100 mL) and a large proportion of total sugars as free sugars (76.4 ± 23.7% and 100.0 ± 0.0% respectively)
       

Link to the full report:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8540970/pdf/nutrients-13-03404.pdf
 

Reference:

Chan L et al. Total and free sugar levels and main types of sugars used in 18,784 local and imported pre-packaged foods and beverages sold in Hong Kong. Nutrients. 2021;13(10):3404.
 

Other articles that you might be interested in:

Food Group Exchange Tips Card (Sugars)
 

WYE-EM-194-NOV-21