Your breakfast could contain an entire DAY’S worth of sugar as it’s revealed chocolate spreads and jams are driving us to diabetes
Two slices of bread with chocolate spread can contain an entire days worth of sugar - the same as 15 chocolate fingers
YOU probably already know that chocolate breakfast spreads and jam contain sugar...but you might be spreading them a little thinner after reading this.
These tasty spreads can contain your entire recommended daily sugar intake in just one serving, a new study has revealed.
That is a lot to digest before 9am.
Chocolate spreads are the worst offenders, with two slices of bread covered in the spread containing an entire day's worth of sugar.
To put that into perspective, that's the same as 15 chocolate fingers - and you wouldn't crack open a packet of biscuits for brekkie.
Campaign group 'Action on Sugar' analysed almost 300 spreads to reveal the shockingly high amount of sugar packed into each serving.
More than two thirds of the 38 chocolate spreads tested had more than ten grams of sugar in a 20 gram serving.
Some of the most well-known brands such as Tesco original chocolate spread, Nutella and Asda hazelnut chocolate spread had three teaspoons of sugar per 20g serving which is meant for just one slice of toast.
That is more than half of a child's recommended maximum intake of five teaspoons a day.
Eaten over the course of a week, two slices of bread with chocolate spread every day is the equivalent of eating two and a half boxes of Maltesers.
Brands like Nutella, the survey found, contain four times more sugar than it did hazelnuts despite being advertised as a "hazelnut spread".
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But jams aren't far behind and, perhaps most shockingly, even the reduced sugar conserves are not the sweet deal you might have thought they were - especially if you are giving it to your kids.
Simply M&S reduced sugar strawberry jam was found to contain two teaspoons of sugar per 20 gram serving - almost half the recommended daily intake for a child.
And it is no surprise the standard varieties of jam contain a shocking amount of sugar.
Tesco strawberry jam measured in at three teaspoons of sugar per 20 grams, so two servings of that on two slices of toast and an adult has reached their daily sugar limit.
Kawther Hashem, a nutritionist and researcher for Action on Sugar, said: "Many of these spreads are high in sugar and not an everyday breakfast option.
"Our survey shows that you can spread at least one teaspoon less sugar on your toast, if you just choose products with less sugar.
"Read the labels when shopping, try out our free app ‘FoodSwitch’ and choose high fruit and lower sugar varieties of your favourite spread.”
Eating excessive amounts of sugar comes with an array of health risks linked to obesity.
Those who are overweight are more at risk of type 2 diabetes, which comes with the risk of complications including heart attack, stroke and diseases.
Type 2 diabetes is the more common form of the disease – accounting for between 85 and 95 per cent of all cases, according to .
It is usually associated with obesity and occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin to maintain a normal blood glucose level.
Carrying excess weight around your tummy, a common side effect of eating too much sugar, increases your risk of the disease because it releases chemicals that can upset the body's metabolism.
Studies have also linked excessive consumption of sugary treats to Alzheimer’s disease later in life.
So just how much sugar should you be eating?
It is generally recommended that sugar intakes should only be about five per cent of your daily energy intake.
So that means no more than seven teaspoons per day for the average adult - the equivalent to a small glass of fruit juice and a flavoured yoghurt each day.
Children should be consuming far less than that.
Kids aged two and under should have just 3 teaspoons per day, kids aged three to six should have no more than four teaspoons a day and kids between seven and 10 should have no more than six teaspoons.
Earlier this year research revealed that kids in the UK were eating 20 chocolate chip biscuits worth of sugar every day.
Around one in ten British kids are obese by the time they start primary school, but this doubles by the time they reach their final year, with one in five 11-year-olds dangerously tubby.
Action on Sugar, based at Queen Mary University of London, is calling on the Government to get tougher when it comes to regulating sugar in food.
Sweet spreads are one of the top 10 contributors of sugar intake in children, it says, and are part of Public Health England's sugar reduction programme, which aims to reduce sugar in food by 2020.
Graham MacGregor, chairman of Action on Sugar said: "Companies that make these ‘sugar’ spreads and specifically market them misleadingly as something else to children, should consider their ethical and corporate responsibility.
"They should immediately stop this misleading marketing and ensure that they go well beyond the 20 per cent sugar reduction that Public Health England is calling for, as there are already identical spreads that contain far less sugar."
A spokesperson for Ferrero, the makers of Nutella, said: "Nutella can be enjoyed as part of a varied diet. The recommended portion size is 15g (two heaped teaspoons), which is only 81 calories and contains 8.5 g of sugar.
"This information is clearly communicated to consumers on pack and in our marketing, which is always targeted at adults and never at children.
"Compared with other typical breakfast options, such as butter and jam on toast, a two heaped teaspoon servings of Nutella on wholegrain bread contains 3.5g less fat and 2.2g less sugar."
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