WHO Recommends Reduction In Daily Intake Of “Free” Sugars.

World Health Organization “recommended (3/5) that adults and children reduce their daily intake of ‘free’ sugars – such as fructose or table sugar added to foods and drinks by manufacturers, as well as those naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices – to less than 10 percent of their total energy take.” Reducing “that figure to five percent, or roughly six teaspoons or less a day, would provide additional health benefits, the WHO said.” The WHO’s guidelines do “not apply to naturally occurring sugars in fruit, vegetables and milk, since those come with essential nutrients.” Currently, “Americans get about 13 percent of their calories from added sugar, or 268 calories a day, the equivalent of about 18 teaspoons.” To meet the WHO’s recommendations, people in the US “would have to slash their average sugar intake by about two-thirds.” he Salt” blog points out that “public health advocates say the new WHO sugar guidelines are an important tool to help push back against the food and beverage industry — which has been resistant to limits on sugar.” http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/03/04/390726878/dump-the-lumps-the-world-health-organization-says-eat-less-sugar