A review by Rethink Sugary Drink, a partnership between 19 health and community organisations of which the Australian Dental Association (ADA) is a key member, has found that some heavily promoted frozen drinks contain up to 49 teaspoons of sugar per serve, far in excess of the World Health Organization's recommended intake of no more than six teaspoons a day.
The number of teaspoons of sugar per serve in these drinks, which are a popular go-to beverage in summer, range from 13 and 18 in KFC's Mountain Dew Freeze and Hungry Jack's Frozen Fanta Sour Watermelon Spider Large respectively all the way up to 49 teaspoons in 7-Eleven's Slurpee Sour Orange Mega.
The high amounts of sugar in frozen drinks have a significant effect on a person's oral and general health, especially when you consider that someone can consume over a week's worth of recommended sugar intake in just a couple of minutes.
Quite apart from leading to unhealthy weight gain and increasing the risk of serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart and kidney disease, stroke and some cancers, Dr. Mikaela Chinotti, Oral Health Promoter at Rethink Sugary Drink partner the ADA, notes that they contribute to tooth decay and erosion.
"The excessive sugar content in frozen drinks can harm your oral health, leading to tooth decay. They also contain high levels of acid, which can dissolve the outer surface of tooth enamel and lead to further tooth erosion and cavities.
"Half of Australian children and one in three young men have experienced tooth decay, something that is becoming far too common. If we could get young Australians to cut back on these extremely sugary drinks or stop drinking them entirely, we'd start to see much healthier teeth."
In addition to investigating how sugary frozen drinks are, the review also examined the marketing tactics used to convince people to purchase them, finding that "that brands are using incentives like add-ons and cheap deals, as well as sneaky marketing tactics aimed at young people to entice them to buy these sugar-laden drinks."
The aim, as Craig Sinclair, Director of Prevention at Cancer Council Victoria says, is to distract consumers "from the eye-watering amount of sugar [these drinks] contain."
Mr Sinclair urged Australians not to get sucked in by the marketing ploys used by these companies that deflect from the high sugar content of these products.
"It's important that people look beyond the promotions and the gimmicks and really think about the health impacts of consuming these drinks. We encourage anyone drinking sugary drinks regularly to switch to water instead, for your health now and well into the future."
For a range of other measures that benefit a person's oral health go to Teeth.org.au and for more on the health risks of drinks high in sugar, go to Rethink Sugary Drink
