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‘Making Sense Of Sugar’ campaign launched by AB Sugar

17 September 2014

London, 17 September - As the obesity debate continues to capture the nation’s attention, a new campaign launches today, Making Sense of Sugar, to help inform and educate people about sugar, the role it can play as part of a healthy balanced diet, and to help people to make better informed choices about what they consume.

Based on robust science and facts, the long-term campaign, by AB Sugar, will provide information about sugar in a way which is simple, straightforward and informative. Additionally, it will address the myths around sugar and obesity and help people better understand the link between the energy (calories) they consume versus the energy (calories) they expend.

The campaign kicks-off with the launch of the www.makingsenseofsugar.com website. It is packed with the latest facts and stats, clarifying some of the confusion behind sugars. The website debunks myths, provides tips on healthy eating and staying active, as well as helping consumers learn about the different types of sugars and how they are used, through to simple guidance on how to identify sugars within foodstuffs.

As part of the campaign, AB Sugar has also commissioned an independent report in partnership with 2020Health, exploring potential policy solutions to the current obesity epidemic.*

Mark Carr, CEO of AB Sugar, commented: “This campaign forms part of a long-term, sustained investment from AB Sugar and, as a responsible business, reflects our commitment to help tackle the UK’s obesity challenge.

Obesity is a complex issue that has no single cause. Current scientific consensus points to the over-consumption of calories in all its forms and our increasingly sedentary lifestyles, rather than obesity being a result of a single ingredient, such as sugar. In fact, as obesity rates continue to rise total sugars in the diet have actually fallen by almost 12% per capita in the past decade.**

We believe that there is an important job to be done to help empower consumers to make informed choices and to balance their overall calorie intake and diet. Tackling the obesity epidemic requires collaborative action and we are committed to playing our part.”

Sharon Fisher, Communications Manager of AB Sugar, commented: “We’ve launched Making Sense of Sugar to inform and educate people about sugar. Our research has found that there is much confusion around health and obesity, especially where sugar is concerned.

With this campaign, we want to provide factual and helpful information, where people who may be confused or simply want to learn more about sugar can do so and we encourage anyone with an interest in sugar to visit the website and follow us on Twitter to get the latest campaign news and updates.”

Visit the Making Sense of Sugar website www.makingsenseofsugar.com, watch an informative new video and follow the campaign at @senseofsugar.

For further information, please call:

0207 492 0975 or email press@makingsenseofsugar.com

* Additionally, AB Sugar will continue to support independent scientific work and research on the role of sugar in the diet and health working with bodies such as Sugar Nutrition UK (SNUK), The South African Sugar Association (SASA) and The Spanish Sugar Institute, (Instituto de Estudios Documentales del Azúcar y la Remolacha - IEDAR).

Funding has also been provided to enable the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) to undertake an independent impact assessment of its education work in schools, which is based on the government’s ‘eatwell plate’ and eight tips for healthy eating. BNF is directly responsible for the establishment of the intervention, methodology and project management with no input or involvement from AB Sugar. An independent third-party (university) will also collate data from the impact assessment and draw conclusions from the results. No new classroom teaching resources will be developed.

** As obesity rates continue to rise total sugars in the diet have actually fallen by almost 12% per capita in the past decade: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-food-statistics
 

Key facts about sugar:

• Approximately half (45–60%) of our energy intake should come from carbohydrates (these include sugars and starches). The rest of the diet should be made up of protein (12–15%) and fat (between 30–35%, as % of energy) http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/1462.pdf
• The Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) of sugars for an adult is 90g for women and 120g for men. http://www.foodlabel.org.uk/label/gda_values.aspx
• Sugar has four calories per gram, which compares to protein (four calories), fat (nine calories), and alcohol (seven calories)

About AB Sugar

AB Sugar is one of the largest sugar producers in the world and has operations in 10 countries, from Europe to southern Africa to China, and employs around 40,000 people. The company is also involved in the developing bioethanol industry and in seed coating and enhancement technology, as well as non-sugar products including animal feed, soil conditioning and landscaping products, electricity and even tomatoes. AB Sugar has the capacity to produce over five million tonnes of sugar and around 600 million litres of ethanol each year.

British Sugar (part of AB Sugar) is the leading supplier of sugar to the UK market and is the sole processor of sugar beet in the UK, producing more than one million tonnes of sugar at its four factories from around seven million tonnes of sugar beet.

AB Sugar is an advanced and sustainable manufacturer with a real commitment to its people. The company believes its business decisions should simultaneously benefit the environment, its stakeholders and the communities in which it operates.

AB Sugar is a wholly owned subsidiary of international food, ingredients and retail group Associated British Foods (ABF) with sales of £13.3bn and over 113,000 people in 47 countries.

For more information, visit www.absugar.com.