Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is estimated to affect over 16% of adult women and 6% of adult men in Nigeria, which is ‘off course’ to prevent these numbers from increasing and has showed limited progress towards achieving the target of reducing obesity among these population groups. There is increasing concern that intake of added sugars-particularly in the form of sugar-sweetened beverages-increases overall energy intake and may reduce the intake of foods containing more nutritionally adequate calories, leading to an unhealthy diet, weight gain (obesity) and increased risk of NCDs. This study estimates dietary sugar intake from carbonated soft drinks and its associated risk to health in Nigeria.
Methodology: The level of sugar in carbonated soft drinks was estimated by this study from on-pack nutrition labels of brands most commonly available in the open markets and supermarkets in Lagos, Nigeria and daily soft drink consumption data from research studies. The assessment was done to evaluate dietary sugar intake and calculate its associated risk to health from soft drink consumption using the recommended methods in the Codex Food Safety Risk Analysis Manual and FAO Dietary Risk-Pesticide Registration Toolkit. Comparison of the estimated dietary intake was made with the recommended maximum level of sugar intake from the WHO Population Nutrient Intake Goals and the WHO Sugar Guidelines.
Result: The result shows that the estimated dietary intake of sugar from the soft drinks is 29.2g per day, contributes 58.4% of the WHO recommended maximum daily sugar intake. According to CCCF’s criteria for selecting food groups that contribute to exposure, soft drinks contribute significantly to total dietary intake of sugar. According to the WHO African Region Nutrient Profile Model, soft drinks in Nigeria, 100ml of which contains an average of 8.12g added sugars, is classified as excessive in sugar. If maximum sugar level is set at 4gper 100ml carbonated soft drinks, the estimated dietary intake will reduce to 14g per day and the contribution of soft drinks will reduce to 28% of the recommended maximum intake. The relative intake is estimated to be 2, meaning consumer will take in 2 times less sugar if sugar benchmark is set at 4g. The relative risk reduction is estimated to be 52%, meaning the likelihood of exceeding the maximum daily intake/obesity is 52% less if the benchmark is set.
Conclusion and recommendation: This study concludes that consumption of carbonated soft drinks increases the risk of excessive sugar intake and unhealthy weight gain and is likely to be a major reason behind obesity rise in Nigeria. It recommends the establishment of sugar benchmark for soft drinks at 4g per 100ml of the product and restrictive marketing to children.

Keywords:Dietary intake assessment; Added sugars; Soft drinks; WHO sugar guidelines; WHO African region nutrient profile model; National policy on food safety and quality