The 'healthy' flavoured water with as much sugar as three doughnuts

By TAMARA COHEN

It is supposed to sweeten the chore of drinking a healthy eight glasses of water a day.

But the bitter truth is that a small bottle of flavoured water can contain as much sugar as a plate of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

The most popular brand, Volvic’s Touch of Fruit in lemon and lime, has 27.5g of sugar in its standard 500ml bottle – equivalent to almost seven teaspoons.

Drinking one bottle gives an adult a third of their recommended daily intake of sugar and is equal to eating three powdered blueberry-filled Krispy Kreme doughnuts, which each contain 9g of sugar.

The drink, which promises ‘tasty hydration’, contains even more sugar than a Kit Kat bar, which has 22g.

But Volvic is by no means the worst offender, according to a shocking study of the flavoured water industry, which sells 300million litres per year in Britain.

Campaigners have criticised flavoured water brands for dwelling on the fruit content of the drinks in their advertising without mentioning the high sugar levels.

Drench, which was launched last year by Britvic and invites customers to ‘improve alertness’, has more than 40.48g of sugar in a 440ml bottle of its blackcurrant and apple flavour drink – equivalent to 46g per 500ml.

Despite this, the firm advertises its products as promoting a healthy lifestyle, saying: ‘Staying mentally hydrated is now even easier.’


Sweet: Many brands of water have more sugar than a Krispy Kreme doughnut or a Kit Kat chocolate bar

And This Water – part of the Innocent drinks company, which prides itself on its healthy credentials – offers drinks containing as much as 50g of sugar per 500ml, equivalent to five and a half Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

The company had its adverts banned in 2008 because they failed to tell consumers that some flavours contained up to 42g of sugar in a 420ml bottle. The posters featured the slogan: ‘Simple, natural, refreshment.’

Coca-Cola’s adverts describing their Vitamin Water as ‘nutritious’ were also dropped last month because each bottle contains up to 30g of sugar, equivalent to five teaspoons.


Certainly the only water children should be drinking is tap water, and if adults want to drink sweetened water, they must be aware it is full of sugar so they can burn it off with exercise.

‘We are seeing children raised on sweetened drinks having their teeth extracted at age three, and it’s pernicious.’


source: dailymail