In the UK, they have found out that dietary sugar intake must only account for 5% of calories consumed. This is in contrast to the current recommended daily allowance of 10%.
The report by The Guardian says that the findings were made by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) last July. In here, they illustrated that just one can of soda or sweet drink, sweetened squash drinks included, would use up and even exceed the daily limit.
Adults normally take 12% of daily energy from sugar while teenagers take more than 15%. For adults, a good 25% of daily sugar comes from sugary drinks, the Telegraph UK shows. For the findings to make any effect, government intervention is required.
Simon Capewell, a professor of clinical epidemiology at Liverpool University and Action on Sugar adviser, said, "British children and parents are currently drowning in a world full of sugary drinks, cheap junk food and aggressive marketing."
"But in some other countries, regulations and duties have successfully reduced sugar intake. Can the UK government now show that they are also genuinely committed to promoting our children's health, rather than supporting industry profits?"
The Royal Society for Public Health and British Dental Association (BDA) have both backed the report. BDA chair Mick Armstrong, in a statement addressed to the government, said the government has "a clear duty to send the strongest possible signal to the food industry, that while added sugar might be helping their sales, it is hurting their customers".
Other papers in the UK have also linked an increased prevalence of dental caries with sugar intake of more than 5%.
The Department of Health has accepted the recommendation but has is not considering anything close to a sugar tax. It will feed the findings to the national strategy regarding childhood obesity.
The sugars that the report mentions includes table sugar, sugar added to food and drinks, and those found in natural fruit juices and syrups, or what the report calls "free sugar."
The prevalence of diabetes and tooth decay in the UK has prompted medical practitioners to back the findings which is the result of seven years of research commissioned by health secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2014.
