HANOI, June 22 (Xinhua) -- On average, a Vietnamese person consumes 46.5 grams of free sugars, compared with the rate of below 25 grams recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), Vietnam's Preventive Medicine Department said on Friday.
A WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10 percent of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5 percent or roughly 25 grams, or 6 teaspoons, per day would provide additional health benefits, according to the WHO.
Free sugars refer to monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose, and disaccharides such as sucrose and table sugar added to foods and drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.
On average, a Vietnamese person consumed 44 liters of sugary drinks in 2016, up from only six liters in 2000, the department quoted surveys by international organizations and companies.
Vietnam consumed over 4 billion liters of sugary drinks, including more than 1 billion liters of soft drinks in 2016, according to London-based market research firm Euromonitor International. The country's soft drink market has annually grown 9.2 percent in recent years.
