New Labels Count Total Calories on Front of Sodas & Drinks
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Front labels of beverages 20 ounces or less now contain the total calories in the container. No more reading the tiny print on the back of the container and learning that there are four servings in the bottle. Americans now see front and center the calories they will consume by drinking sugared colas or fruit drinks.
Dr Jessica Bartfield, a medical weight-loss specialist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, says that most Americans fail to do the math on total calorie counts. Couple that fact with our love of ‘sickeningly sweet’ beverages and you have a recipe for an obesity epidemic. Sound familiar?
Dr Bartfield shares three top statistics about America’s sugar addiction (via Science Daily):
- Just A Spoonful of Sugar — “The average American consumes 22.5 teaspoons of added sugar daily, half of which comes from regular soda and fruit drinks, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2004).”
- Sugar On Top — “10 percent of overweight adults consume 450 calories of sugar sweetened beverages per day, which is three times that of an average American. Cutting 450 calories per day would lead to about a 1 pound per week weight loss, close to 50 pounds in one year.”
- Babies and Beverages — “A study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that reduction in sugar-sweetened beverages (regular soda, fruit drinks and fruit punch) had a significant effect on weight change at 6 months and 18 months, even more of an impact than solid- calorie reduction.”
