Eat Less Sugar

• Save fizzy drinks as an occasionally treat rather than a regular part of the diet – even though the diet versions don’t contain sugar they are still very sweet which can encourage a sweet tooth.
• Try diluting fruit juice half and half with fizzy water. Dilute squash and cordial well.
• Check food labels to help you pick the foods and drinks with less added sugar or go for the ‘low-sugar’ or ‘no added sugar’ version. Choosing food and drink with a green traffic light for sugar will mean they are ‘low sugar’.
• Try choosing tins of fruit in juice rather than syrup.
• Try having sugar coated breakfast cereals as an occasional treat and sweeten your cereal by adding fresh fruit.
• Try halving the sugar you use in your recipes.  It works for most things except jam, meringues and ice cream.
• Rather than spreading jam, marmalade, syrup, treacle or honey on your toast, try a mashed banana instead.
• Try to avoid adding sugar to hot drinks or your cereal.

You can see at-a-glance how much sugar food or drinks contain just by checking the traffic light labelling on the front of pack.

• Food and drinks that have a red traffic light for sugar are high in sugar and should be an occasional treat rather than a regular part of the diet.  Food and drinks that have a green traffic light for sugar are low in sugar.
• Another way to check the sugar is to look at the nutrition information on the back of the pack, may products provide information per 100g and per serving and also colour code the nutrition panel and provide Guideline Daily Amount information.
• A food which contains less that 5g of sugar per 100g is low in sugar.  A drink which contains less that 2.5g of sugar per 100ml is low in sugar.