Traditional fizzy drinks 'contain more sugar than Coca-Cola'

Traditional and upmarket fizzy drinks such as ginger beer and cloudy lemonade contain more sugar than Coca-Cola and Pepsi, according to a new analysis.

Nearly four out of five (79%) 330ml cans of fizzy drinks contain more than six teaspoons of sugar, according to the campaign Action on Sugar, which has analysed 232 drinks sold in leading supermarkets.

The worst offenders are ginger beers, such as Old Jamaica ginger beer and Jammin sparkling ginger beer flavour drink, which have the equivalent of 13 teaspoons of sugar per 330ml serving. Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's ginger beers have 11. Coca-Cola and Pepsi have nine.

Also very high in sugar are Club Orange (12 teaspoons), Sainsbury's cloudy lemonade (11 teaspoons) and Fanta grape-flavoured drink (11 teaspoons). Other drinks which some people may chose out of an assumption that they are healthier, such as elderflower and grape juice, also exceed the sugar levels in colas.

Action on Sugar says almost all the sweetened drinks have far too much sugar for our health. Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other popular drinks like Sprite and Dr Pepper are particularlyconcerning because of the numbers of people who drink them and the frequency with which they do so. Coca-Cola has just announced a new version, with lower sugar, but campaigners protest that it will still contain the equivalent of four teaspooons.The survey is published before a report, expected later this month, on carbohydrates including sugar in the national diet from the government's nutrition advisory body, SACN, which may recommend lower levels. The World Health Organisation has recently set a guideline limit of 10% of daily calories from sugar, with a recommendation that countries should aim to get it down as low as 5%. However, the recent official national diet and nutrition survey showed adults and children in England were exceeding the 11% current target - children were consuming around 15% of their calories as sugars, and a third of those came from soft drinks and fruit juices.

Sara Boseley, health editor, The Guardian, Thursday 12 June 2014.

I. Answer the following questions using your own words but taking into account the information in the text.

According to the text, what does it mean “the worst offenders”?

Why has The World Health Organisation recently set a guideline limit of daily calories from sugar?

II. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)? Identify the part of the text that supports your answer by copying the exact passage on the answer sheet.

a) Old Jamaica ginger beer and Jammin sparkling ginger beer have the same amount of sugar than Coca-cola.

b) Many people choose elderflower because is healthier than any other fizzy drinks.III. Campaigners claim that another version of Coke contains similar amount of

sugar than Coca-cola.IV. Find a synonym for each of the four words below from these six options:

sparkling equivalent announced exceeding

concerning contain

fizzy

surpass

broadcast

regarding

V. Choose a, b, or c, in each question below. Only one choice is correct.

1. According to a new analysis

a) Almost 79% cans of fizzy drinks contain more than six teaspoons of sugar.

b) Less than 79% cans of fizzy drinks contain more than six teaspoons of sugar.

c) 79% cans of fizzy drinks contain over than six teaspoons of sugar.

2. Some people take for granted that…

a) Elderflower and grape juice surpass the sugar levels in colas.b) Elderflower and grape juice are healthier than colas.

c) Fanta grape-flavoured is healthier than elderflower and grape juice.

3. The World Health Organisation…

a) Has recently established a proposal to limit 10% of daily calories from sugar.

b) Has recently told to limit 10% of daily calories from sugar.c) Has recently set a guideline limit 15% of daily calories from sugar.

Part B. Composition (130-150 words approximately). Choose one of the following topics:

1. Do you think is a good idea to limit the daily calories from sugar? Give reasons to support your opinion.

2. What will you do to improve peoples’ diets?