New research suggests sugar should make up no more than three percent of total energy intake in order to reduce the physical and financial burdens of tooth decay.
Researchers analyzed the effects of sugar on teeth and found they are the only cause of tooth decay in children, University College London reported.
"Free sugars include monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit concentrates," the World Health Organisation Nutrition Guidance Adivisory Group stated, UCL reported.
Tooth decay is one of the most common non-communicable diseases in the world and affects between 60 and 90 percent of school-aged children and most adults. In the U.S. 92 percent of adults between the ages of 20 and 64 have experienced tooth decay, and was much higher in both adults and children who's sugar consumption was over zero percent of energy.
Current guidelines from the World Health Organization set a maximum of 10 percent total energy intake from free sugars with a five percent target, which translates to about 50 grams of free sugars a day.
"Tooth decay is a serious problem worldwide and reducing sugars intake makes a huge difference." said study author Aubrey Sheiham, Emeritus Professor of Dental Public Health (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health). "Data from Japan were particularly revealing, as the population had no access to sugar during or shortly after the Second World War. We found that decay was hugely reduced during this time, but then increased as they began to import sugar again."
The researchers recommended a radical policy change in hopes of reducing both sugar consumption and tooth decay. This included: reducing the promotion of fruit juices and sugary treats for children; providing food at nurseries and schools with a maximum of free sugars that accounts for no more than 2.5 percent of energy; removing vending machines providing sugary snacks; and creating a sugars tax to increase the cost of sugar-rich foods.
"There is a huge issue about how to curtail the flow of sugars in the food chain and divert sugar. If produced at all, it should be converted into alcohol, as in Brazil, to be used as fuel for vehicles. We need a European agreement that all sugar beet production should be phased out in the EU. This production is totally unnecessary and has always been unnecessary as the sugar cane producers of the lower income countries produce enough. As part of the US/EU trade agreement, the US should no longer be promoting the export of sugar and the U.S. should also curtail production," said co-author Professor Philip James, Honorary Professor of Nutrition at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and past President World Obesity Federation (formerly IASO).
