How sugar content of our favourite fizzy drinks varies wildly around the world: Top brands found to contain up to SEVEN teaspoons more in some countries

  • Action on Sugar tested the levels of 274 sugar-sweetened soft drinks
  • It found Sprite in Thailand had the most sugar of any 330ml can at 47g
  • Schweppes Tonic Water in the U.S. and the UK had the biggest difference
  • World Health organisation recommends just 25g – six teaspoons – per day
  • Can of Coke in both the UK and the US contains 9 teaspoons of sugar  

Cans of Coke and other top brand fizzy drinks contain wildly differing amounts of sugar – depending on where they are sold in the world.

Tests found some leading-name drinks had more than double the sugar content of their equivalents bought in other countries.

In some cases, the difference was as much as six teaspoons – the recommended amount for an adult to consume in an entire day.

The research on popular drinks, including Dr Pepper and Fanta, was collected by Action on Sugar.

The UK campaign group is demanding that big brands take urgent steps to cut the amount of sugar in soft drinks.

Tests carried out by Action on Sugar have revealed the countries where popular fizzy drinks have the highest and the lowest sugar contents 

Tests carried out by Action on Sugar have revealed the countries where popular fizzy drinks have the highest and the lowest sugar contents

Sprite in Thailand fared worst overall with a staggering 12 teaspoons of sugar in one 330ml can.

This was compared to five teaspoons in countries including the Netherlands and France.

The same serving of Schweppes Tonic Water had 11 teaspoons of sugar in the USA versus just four in the UK.

Of the 274 sugar-sweetened soft drinks tested, researchers found every single product would get a red colour coded label – to indicate the dangerously high levels.

Health campaigners, who compiled the figures, warned that adults and children are consuming huge quantities of hidden sugar in processed food and drink, fuelling obesity and poor health.

By 2030, an estimated 2.16 billion people worldwide will be overweight and, of these, 1.12 billion will be classed as obese.

The World Health Organisation recommends people should cut their sugar intake to a maximum of 25g a day, or six teaspoons, and that a reduction to below five per cent of total energy intake would have ‘additional benefits’.

REVEALED, HOW COCA-COLA VARIES AROUND THE WORLD

* Drinking a can of Coke in Canada will give you 10 teaspoons of sugar

* Thailand had the joint lowest of eight teaspoons

* Version in the UK and US both contain nine

Overall, four out of the seven drinks with the highest sugar content were in North America or Canada, while Europe had the lowest sugar content.

Drinking a can of Coke in Canada will give you 10 teaspoons of sugar whereas Thailand had the joint lowest of eight teaspoons (the UK and US both contained nine).

Meanwhile, a Japanese or Kuwaiti Pepsi was found to have 10 teaspoons while one bought in the US, Serbia or Germany was slightly less at nine teaspoons.

A drink of Fanta in Ireland, Argentina or the UK had six teaspoons of sugar whereas one produced in India contained almost double.

Action on Sugar said the companies have shown it is possible to have lower sugar levels in some countries and it called for this reduction to be applied to all their products, regardless of where they are sold.

It said sugar-sweetened soft drinks were linked to the escalating worldwide obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic.

HIGHEST AND LOWEST SUGAR CONTENT BY DRINK AND COUNTRY – RATED IN TEASPOONS
SOFT DRINK COUNTRY WITH HIGHEST TSP OF SUGAR COUNTRY WITH LOWEST TSP OF SUGAR DIFFERENCE IN TSP
Sprite Thailand  12 Austria/Poland 
Schweppes Tonic Water  USA  11   Argentina 
Fanta Orange  India/Vietnam  11  UK/Ireland/Argentina  6
Coca Cola  Canada  10   Thailand  1
Pepsi  Japan  10   UK/Greece/Serbia/Switzerland  1
7Up  Canada  10   USA  
Dr Pepper  USA   9 Germany 
* Some drinks have replaced sugar with stevia Source: Action on Sugar 

BBC reporter asks how much sugar is in Coca Cola