Sugars content in selected foods in the EU : a 2015 baseline to monitor sugars reduction progress

In 2015, as part of the EU Framework for National Initiatives on Selected Nutrients, the EU High Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity (HLG) set as a target the reduction of added sugars in food products by a minimum of 10% by 2020 against a 2015 baseline. A suitable monitoring framework is necessary to describe the baseline situation and to evaluate the progress of food reformulation; its development is under way in some EU Member States, as well as part of the Joint Action on Nutrition and Physical Activity (JANPA). This report complements these activities by filling data gaps where needed and by providing a broad geographical coverage based on commercially available data collected in a harmonised way for branded products across Europe. It estimates sugars content from 2015 data for the three product categories identified by the HLG for immediate action: sugars sweetened beverages, breakfast cereals and dairy products. Based on market volume information, this report estimates the amount of total sugars sold to European consumers by these three product categories. By providing the mean sugars content, weighted by market share, for product (sub-) groups, it also highlights the existence of product groups whose reformulation is critical to achieving the 2020 target. The results highlight the need to adopt a multifaceted approach that targets not only individual high-sugars products, but also the products with high market shares that are contributing the highest overall volumes of sugars to consumers, independent of actual total sugars content. These results are calculated using 2015 data from a commercial market research company, Euromonitor International. The analysis is performed for 22 European countries; however, a comparison between countries is not provided due to differing market coverage.