The share of sweetening ingredients has fallen since 2010 in products sold in France, health authorities indicated on Tuesday. Despite this reduction, their conclusion is clear: foods are not less sweet.
ANSES, the National Food Safety Agency, studied from 2008 to 2020 the composition of more than 50,000 processed foods, both sweet and savory, to assess the frequency with which they contain sweetening ingredients.
77% of products contain a sweetening agent
Result: three-quarters of products contain at least one sweetening ingredient or sweet taste vector. However, the agency notes “ a decline in the use of sweetening ingredients over the last 10 years “. These include not only the classic white sugar – the sucrosesucrose – but also sweeteners like aspartame, as well as syrups and fruit juices. “ This trend is partly linked to product reformulations by manufacturers (…). Sugar syrups or synthetic sweeteners are much less used », Indicates ANSES. But she warns that this should not be concluded as a general decline in the sugar content of foods.
Less sugar does not mean less sweet
Is this good news? Not so sure. As the study only examined the nature and frequency of ingredients included but not the quantities used, “ rarely indicated on packaging “. As Julie Gauvreau-Béziat, head of the food observatory unit, explains, “ the removal of a sweetening ingredient can go hand in hand with the revision of the proportion of the other ingredients “. It is therefore not possible to draw conclusions mattermatter public health. On the other hand, ANSES simultaneously published another study which focuses on drinks without alcoholalcohol. A real decline in sugar content was observed in the 2010s in the 4,500 references of sodas, fruit drinks and flavored waters inspected.
These results result from the implementation of measures aimed at reducing sugar levels: “ A collective agreement has in fact been established between the main manufacturers in the sector and the public authorities to reduce the average sugar level by 5%. », Specifies ANSES. Since 2018, a tax proportional to the added sugar content has applied to these products: legislative levers therefore exist to combat major public health issues, such as obesity and diabetes.
