A pot of yoghurt, a glass of OJ and a bowl of cereal. A standard breakfast? It might give you about 50 per cent more added sugar than you're supposed to eat in a day.
Or, more than three times the recommended intake if it's your child eating that pretty common breakfast menu.
At Fair Go, we've been asking for some time, how much sugar is really in your food and drinks and why is it not easier to read it on the label before you buy.
We wondered aloud, about two years ago, whether it might be a good idea if food and drink makers had to print a little teaspoon logo on the front of the label with a number, representing how many teaspoons of sugar were in the packet.
So we were a bit bowled over when the trans-Tasman food regulators who help shape our lives, diets and shopping baskets put that idea on their menu.
The Food Regulation Standing Committee is looking at seven ideas. Eight, if you include status quo, doing nothing new.
They’re asking if they should increase education for consumers in how to read existing labels, or put it in bold type, or list sugar that has been added separately to sugar that naturally occurs in a food or drink, or insist on a warning label if any food goes above a certain sugar threshold, or give you a code you can scan that sends you to a website for more info.
Or there's the very simple "how many teaspoons of sugar are in this" option.
Clearer labelling is a no-brainer according to the head of AUT’s Human Potential Centre, Professor Grant Schofield.
"Of course it's the exact opposite of what a food company wants. It's like getting a tobacco company to voluntarily put a warning on the front. It’s just not going to happen if you ask them to volunteer."
The NZ Beverage Council says it’s happy to have the conversation, but blaming sugar is oversimplifying the problem.
"Sugar in itself is not harmful, it's the overconsumption."
They will all be having their say. If you have an urge to have yours, you can.
Be warned, it’s not for the faint-hearted. It’s been designed for the experts, but if you have a view and can spell out why that matters, ideally with a bit of evidence from your life, your voice could count.
What’s it all about?
http://foodregulation.gov.au/internet/fr/publishing.nsf/Content/labelling-of-sugars-on-packaged-foods-and-drinks
How to have your say
https://consultations.health.gov.au/chronic-disease-and-food-policy-branch/consultation-labelling-of-sugars-on-foods-drinks/
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