A critical evaluation of added sugars and non-nutritive sweeteners in processed food products

Background Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly diabetes and obesity, are pressing issues both in Mauritius and at the international level. Hence, to mitigate the risk of chronic diseases, there is increased focus on reducing added sugars in food products. This movement has sparked interest in the usage of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS), which offer low or zero calories in food products. This has caused numerous food manufacturers to reformulate their food products by including NNS as sugar substitutes while some are shifting to alternate added sugars other than sucrose such as high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, and various fruit juice concentrates that are less identifiable to consumers thus creating confusion in assessment of the sugar content in food products. The purpose of this study is to explore the types of NNS and added sugars present in different categories of processed food products present on the Mauritian market. Methodology A market survey was carried out in retail outlets where the original labels of 525 food products (117 local and 408 imported) were examined for presence of added sugars and non-nutritive sweeteners. The food products were divided into 15 distinct food categories, each containing 35 food products. The quantity of added sugar content is not usually displayed on nutritional information of the product; therefore, the overall total sugar content was considered for analysis. Results Out of the 525 food products surveyed, 77.9% (n = 409) contained added sugars while 6.3% (n = 33) contained NNS. Nineteen different types of added sugars were identified where the use of “sugar” (68.6%) was the most predominant and followed by glucose syrup (6.8%).