Fruit juice is not a “healthy choice”

More likely that fruit juice is among the foods that are most commonly served at our breakfast tables. But do you know that Health Canada has cut fruit juice from the new Canada Food Guide? In the previous Food Guide, half a glass of fruit juice counted as one serving of fruit or vegetables and was considered as a “healthy choice”.

“Fruit juice is little more than a soft drink without the bubbles”

You would be surprised to know about ground-breaking findings in the report entitled Obesity in Canada: A Whole-of-Society Approach for a Healthier Canada, which was released on March 1, 2016, by the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. This report is a result of an intensive study conducted between February 2014 and June 2015. The report says. “Fruit juice, for instance, is presented as a health item, when it is little more than a soft drink without the bubbles.”

Fruit juice contains as much sugar as a sugary soft drink

So, if you think that fruit juice is a healthy choice, you are wrong! Fruit juice contains as much sugar and calories as a sugary soft drink. Check the facts:

Unsweetened Apple juice

• 10 grams of sugar per 100 grams
• 46 calories

Soda

• 9 g of sugar per 100 grams
• 38 calories

1 teaspoon = 5g

WHO recommends: 6 teaspoons of sugar per adult per day = 30g

Do the math!

You probably don’t know that during the last 35 years the number of obese Canadian adults has doubled and the number of obese children has tripled. But you definitely know that obesity causes many serious health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers. An increase in consumption of pre-packaged, highly processed foods, like instant noodles and frozen pizzas, candy, soft drinks, and salty snacks are some of the key contributors to Canada’s obesity crisis.

There are 21 recommendations in the report to combat obesity, and the following are some of them:

• a complete revision of Canada’s Food Guide to better reflect scientific facts
• a ban on advertising food and drink to children
• a possible tax on sugar-sweetened beverages
• a review of nutrition food labelling to make it easier to understand
• a plan for making healthy food more affordable.

The cost in health care spending, and in lost productivity due to obesity, is estimated to be between $4.6 billion and $7.1 billion in Canada annually.

Water is the main drink of choice

Health Canada recommends water as the main drink of choice when it comes to healthy eating. While some fruit juices do have natural fruit sources, it also contains more sugar than an average person should intake within the day and that’s why Health Canada is recommending the change.