The Truth About Sugar, BBC One, 9pm
As journalist Fiona Phillips notes at the start of this sobering and eye-opening documentary, the first in a new four-part science series, sugar has trumped saturated fats and salt to become Public Enemy Number One as far as dieticians and public health professionals are concerned. It's easy to see why: in the UK we eat a million tonnes of the stuff every year, which equates to around 15 teaspoons a day for everybody. To put that in context, the current recommendation is 12 teaspoons but after examining new scientific studies into sugar the World Health Organisation (WHO) is soon likely to recommend a daily intake of no more than six teaspoons a day.
But how solid are the facts behind the bad press and should we be taking sugar as seriously as the headlines and the WHO would suggest? Over the course of an hour, Phillips examines the science of sugar and the cravings it can induce, uncovers some surprising (and shocking) facts about how much sugar goes into even the most innocuous products - you'll never look at a bottle of tomato ketchup the same way again - and tries to help four volunteers with sugar-heavy diets cut their intake.
We start with the plucky foursome and a shock tactic familiar from programmes like My Big Fat Diet: each of the volunteers is presented with a table groaning with cakes, sweets, chocolates and biscuits, their sugary intake for the week. Phillips is joined here by Paula Moynihan, Professor of Nutrition and Oral Health at the city's university, who presents each of them with their average daily sugar intake.
Young mother Cara, we learn, is eating 28 teaspoons a day, while Rick's love of Indian deserts sees him top that with 29. "That's really terrifying, to be honest," he says. But it's when Moynihan gets to the table crowded with fizzy drinks that jaws drop. Standing next to it is 26-stone Simon, who's addicted to cans of pop to the extent that he has a fridge at home filled with them. And his average daily sugar intake? Thirty nine teaspoons - or 57 kilogrammes a year.
Don't reach for the biscuit barrel when you're watching this one.
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