By Park Jae-hyuk
If you plan to lose weight, forget bingsu (a traditional Korean shaved-ice dessert) or fresh fruit juice from your summer dessert list, as the sugar content of each exceeds the daily sugar intake recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), a study showed, Tuesday.
The Seoul Research Institute of Public Health and Environment analyzed 63 kinds of bingsu and 19 fresh fruit drinks sold at bakeries and cafes in Seoul.
According to the research, one 400 gram portion of bingsu contains 45.6 grams of sugar, nearly reaching the WHO’s daily recommendation of 50 grams.
Regardless of portions, a bowl of bingsu had 82.3 grams of sugar on average, as the serving size differs from store to store and two or more people often share a bowl.
Fresh fruit drinks were found to have 55 grams of sugar per cup on average, exceeding the recommendation.
“Stores often add sugar or syrup to sweeten the juice,” said the institute. “They should use fresh fruit more and less syrup for customers’ health.”