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. 2020 Jan 8;12(1):171.
doi: 10.3390/nu12010171.

Sugar Reduction in Yogurt Products Sold in the UK between 2016 and 2019

J Bernadette Moore  1 , Eiméar H Sutton  1 , Neil Hancock  1
Affiliations

Sugar Reduction in Yogurt Products Sold in the UK between 2016 and 2019

J Bernadette Moore et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The UK government has called for industry reformulation of foods that contribute most to sugar consumption in children's diets, including yogurts. The aim of this work was to comprehensively survey yogurt products available in UK supermarkets in 2019 to determine whether sugar contents had been reduced since our baseline survey in 2016. Product information was collected for 893 unique yogurt, fromage frais and dairy dessert products, and nutrient contents were analysed in comparison to those previously examined. Examining all products, there was a highly significant (p < 0.0001) reduction in the median total sugar contents in 2019 compared to those in 2016: median (interquartile range): 10.4 g/100 g (6.6, 13.0) versus 11.9 g/100 (8.8, 13.6). However, notable product turnover was evident; while 60% of the 2019 products surveyed could be matched by brand and name to 2016, 40% were new. In scrutinising paired products closely, only 32% (173 of 539) had reduced sugar contents with a smaller mean difference of -0.65 g/100 g (p < 0.0001), suggesting that the overall median had dropped as a result of higher sugar products being discontinued. Categories showing the most improvements were children's, drinks and fruit yogurts. Although only 15% of the 2019 products contained ≤5 g/100 g sugars, considered a 'low-sugar' product for labelling, this was an improvement over the 9% identified in 2016. Our results yield important insights into current market trends and demonstrate that the median sugar content of UK yogurt products has been reduced by 13% in two years. These data independently evidence modest, but encouraging changes in response to public policy initiatives aimed at preventing childhood obesity.

Keywords: childhood obesity; sugar; yogurt.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of total sugar content in yogurt products sold in 2016 and 2019. (a) Analysis of product names and brands identifies 539 products sold in both years. (b) Distribution of sugar content of all products from 2016 (n = 898) and 2019 (n = 893). Data were analysed using the Mann–Whitney test; black cross indicates median and interquartile range. (c) Difference plot of the change in sugar content between the products sold both in 2019 and 2016 (n = 539). Data were analysed using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test; solid black line indicates mean change (−0.6113) between 2016 and 2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Difference plots for each category showing the change in total sugar content between yogurt products sold both in 2019 and 2016. (a) Children’s (n = 46); (b) dairy alternatives (n = 39); (c) desserts (n = 77); (d) drinks (n = 40); (e) flavoured (n = 60); (f) fruit (n = 195); (g) natural/Greek (n = 47); (h) organic (n = 35). Data were analysed using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test; solid black line indicates mean change between 2016 and 2019.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Total sugar content of UK yogurt products across categories. Black cross indicates median and interquartile range. Data were tested for normality and analysed using the Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn’s multiple comparison tests; categories not assigned the same lettering (a–d) are significantly different. Dashed line indicates threshold defined by European Union (EU) regulations for low-sugar nutrition claim [17].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Sugar contents of organic yogurts subdivided by category in comparison to non-organic yogurts. (a) Fruit non-organic (n = 305) vs. organic (n = 56); (b) natural/Greek non-organic (n = 78) vs. organic (n = 14); (c) flavoured non-organic (n = 93) vs. organic (n = 15); (d) dessert non-organic (n = 150) vs. organic (n = 3). Data were tested for normality and analysed appropriately using either the Mann–Whitney or unpaired t-test. The black cross indicates median and interquartile range.
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