How much sugar do you really eat? 6 Minute English

Rob: I’m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English

– we’ve got a sweet topic today, and six

tempting items of vocabulary.

Neil: Hello, I’m Neil. And we’re going

to be talking about sugar – which many

of us find tempting. But how much

is too much, Rob?

Rob: I don’t know, Neil, but hopefully

we’ll be finding that out. I must admit though –

I have a sweet tooth – and that means

I like sugary things!

Neil: Me too. But something I’m always

seeing in the news these days

is that we’re eating too much sugar.

And one important factor is that

sugars are sometimes hidden

in processed foods.

Rob: Processed food is any food that

has been changed in some way –

by freezing it or putting it in tins –

or by combining foods or adding chemicals.

In fact, some of the sugars we eat

are hidden in food that we think of

as healthy. Such as yoghurts,

low fat snacks, and fruit drinks.

Neil: Do you check the information

on the back of food packets, Rob? –

To see what’s in them?

Rob: Yes, I do. But it can be

very confusing – there’s so much information.

And I’m not always sure how much

of a certain thing is bad.

Neil: Well, that brings me onto today’s

quiz question. Can you tell me, if a food

contains 5% total sugars per 100g,

is it… a) high in sugar, b) low in sugar

or c) somewhere in the middle?

Rob: I’ll say low, Neil.

Neil: OK. Well, we'll find out later.

Some food products have colour coding

on the packaging to help you understand

the information, don’t they? –

red for high levels of sugar, salt

or fat – orange for medium,

and green for low.

Rob: That sounds helpful. Then you can

see at a glance what’s good

or bad for you.

Neil: At a glance means with a quick look.

OK, let’s listen now to BBC reporter

Rajeev Gupta interviewing a man in Chester,

in the UK. He’s asking him to guess

how much sugar there is in a pot

of fat-free yoghurt.

Reporter: I've actually got a pot of yoghurt

in front of me. This says 'fat-free' on it

and it's been marketed as being

quite healthy. If I was to say how much

sugar is in here, what would you say as…

say is the quantity of the tub?

Interviewee: I’d probably think maybe

a couple of teaspoonfuls, you know,

it’s quite surprising how much is sugars

in all these products, isn’t there?

Reporter: Well, there’s

about a third of this yoghurt pot

is actually sugar.

Interviewee: To be honest, that’s

quite amazing, that.

I would never have thought a third of that

would have been sugar

just by looking at it.

And it does say it’s fat-free.

Neil: So the yoghurt is fat-free,

which means it doesn’t contain any fat.

And the man guessed there might be

two teaspoons of sugar in the yoghurt.

Rob: That’s right. And if something

is sugar-free then it doesn’t contain

any sugar. But in this case,

a third of the yoghurt’s content

was sugar. That, to me, sounds like

an awful lot – even for someone

with a sweet tooth like me!

Neil: OK, well, let’s listen to

Dr Gunter Kuhnle.

He’s a Nutritional Biochemist at

Reading University.

Dr Gunter Kuhnle: One problem we see –

nutritionists – is sort of this focusing on

any individual foods –

at one time it was that fat

has to be avoided at all costs,

now it seems to go towards sugar

and sugar is demonised and

people link it to drugs and so on.

I think this is the wrong way forward.

Individuals, yes, you should have

a balanced diet. But it is important also

to enjoy your food and not really do this

extreme focusing on one side or

one aspect and individual nutrients.

Rob: So if you avoid something

at all costs you do everything you can

to avoid it. And demonise means

to make someone or something

seem very bad.

Neil: Dr Kuhnle thinks that

totally cutting out one type of food

like this – whether it’s fat or sugar –

is wrong. He thinks we should

eat a balanced diet – and enjoy

our food.

Rob: That sounds very sensible.

Now, how about telling us the answer

to today’s quiz question, Neil?

Neil: Thanks for reminding me, Rob. I asked

if food contains 5% total sugars per 100g,

is it… a) high in sugar, b) low in sugar

or c) somewhere in the middle?

You said low and you were…

right! Well done!

Rob: Thank you.

Neil: If foods contain more than 22.5% total

sugars per 100g they are classified as high.

Rob: And I guess that between 5 and 22.5%

they are somewhere in the middle.

Neil: Correct! OK, shall we go

over the words we heard today?

Rob: Yep. First up – if you have

a ‘sweet tooth’ it means you like sugary things.

For example, ‘My little nephew has

a sweet tooth. He eats far too many

biscuits and sweets.’

Neil: His dentist won’t be pleased!

Number two – ‘processed food’ is any food that

has been changed in some way – by freezing it

or putting it in tins – or by combining

foods or adding chemicals.

Rob: For example, ‘The meat in sausages

is highly processed.’

Neil: Oh dear, I didn’t know that.

I’m a big fan of sausages!

Rob: Number three – ‘at a glance’ –

means with a quick look.

Neil: For example, I could tell at a glance

that I wouldn’t like the food

at that restaurant.’

Rob: ‘Fat-free’ means without any

fat in it. For example, ‘I bought this yoghurt

because it says fat-free on the label.’

Neil: Aha – but did you realise that

a third of it was sugar! Moving on –

If you avoid something ‘at all costs’

you do everything you can to avoid it.

For example, ‘I wanted

to win the game at all costs.’

Rob: I didn’t know you were so competitive, Neil!

And finally – ‘demonise’ – means to make

someone or something seem very bad.

Neil: ‘Politicians shouldn’t demonise

their opponents.’

Rob: They often do though, don’t they?

OK. Well, that’s all we have time for on

today’s show. But please check out our

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Neil: Join us again soon! Meanwhile,

visit our website: bbclearningenglish.com,

where you'll find guides to grammar,

exercises, videos and articles to read

and improve your English.

Goodbye!

Rob: Bye!