EVALUATION OF SUGAR AND SWEETENED FOODS IN THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR ENERGY AND NUTRIENT CONTENT

There are unique recommendations for an increase in carbohydrates and a reduction of fat in the diets of the western countries and it would be questionable whether sugar could solve partially this problem. There is in fact a significant contribution of carbohydrate energy from sugar. On the other hand it appears uncertain whether this would not lead to a deficit in nutrients for sugar contains only energy but no other nutrients and exhibits in this way a low nutrient density. There are many sweet foods with a high nutrient density, which are highly accepted by the consumers and help to provide people with important nutrients like calcium. Many of them, however, are rich in fat and the most are poor in dietary fiber. If sugar is the main source they are also lacking other nutrients at all. Many problems like the ratio of energy requirement to nutrient demands e.g. in groups with high physical activity are yet not solved. In that way the tolerable sugar content is difficult to calculate for the different groups of the population. For this reason it can not be recommended to increase the sugar consumption above the amount used presently in Germany.