New ‘healthy’ flavoured water has as much sugar as 3 doughnuts

LONDON - A drink that has been parading as healthy flavoured water actually contains 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.

The drink is supposed to be our answer to drinking eight glasses of water but 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.

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.

And This Water - part of the Innocent drinks company - offers drinks containing as much as 50g of sugar per 500ml, equivalent to five and a half Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

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.

A Volvic spokesman said the brand had launched a sugar-free range of flavoured waters and that their bottles were also clearly labelled with the sugar content of the drink.

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said flavoured water could lead to tooth decay and weight gain and should not be given to children.

“To pretend that sweetened water is as healthy as tap water is plain ridiculous. 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,” the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

“We are seeing children raised on sweetened drinks having their teeth extracted at age three, and it’s pernicious.” (ANI)