By Kim Bo-eun
The morning chills of autumn tempt one to drink a cup of hot chocolate. But you may have to think twice next time when you buy one at a nearby cafe.
According to a study by a government agency, beverages commonly enjoyed at cafes contain large amounts of sugar, with some drinks’ sugar levels taking up more than 60 percent of the daily recommended intake.
The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) looked into the sugar levels of 1,136 beverages at 22 coffee shops, fast food chains and bakeries across the nation. Its report showed Tuesday that the amount of sugar ranged from 4.3 to 32 grams per drink.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the daily sugar intake be less than 10 percent of the calorie intake. If the daily calorie intake is 2,000 kilocalories, the adequate amount of sugar intake should be below 50 grams.
Smoothies were found to have the highest sugar level at 32 grams, followed by hot chocolate at 31.8 grams, ice tea at 31 grams, various fruit ades at 26.7 grams and green tea latte at 22.3 grams. The figures were based on 300 milliliter drinks.
The sugar levels of smoothies, hot chocolate and ice tea were found to account for 64 percent of the WHO’s recommended daily intake.
For caffeinated beverages, hazelnut latte had 20 grams, white chocolate mocha had 16 grams, vanilla latte had 15.1 grams and caramel macchiato had 14.5 grams of sugar.
Even for Americanos, if consumers add two shots of syrup, a single cup can take up 24 percent of the daily recommended intake.
The amount of sugar in one syrup shot (10 grams) is 6 grams. For two sugar cubes it is 2.5 grams, and for a sugar pack it is 5 grams. A shot of syrup contains 24 kilocalories and this is equivalent to the amount of energy required to climb five flights of stairs.
The KFDA will launch a campaign jointly with 12,500 franchise stores of 22 coffee chains to reduce the public’s sugar intake.
It plans to enforce measures to compel stores display nutritional contents on menus, increasing public awareness about its sugar reduction campaign through promotional material, and develop new recipes and products with less sugar.
“Excessive intake of sugar breaks nutritional balance and can result in obesity, diabetes and various diseases,” said Lee Woo-young, deputy director of the KFDA’s nutrition policy division. “We must try to reduce our sugar intake to below 50 grams a day, as recommended by the WHO.”