Declaration of free sugars from fruits on food labels: a scoping review

Abstract

Purpose

The World Health Organization recommends limiting the intake of free sugars, which can be added to packaged foods and may appear on labels under different terms. The aim of this research was to analyse the evidence related to the declaration of free sugars from fruits on packaged food labels.

Design/methodology/approach

A scoping review was conducted following the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI).

Findings

Ten eligible studies, conducted in seven countries, were included in this review. The percentage of packaged foods in which free sugars were identified ranged from 52.5 to 86.5%. In three studies, terms related to sugars were identified inductively by reading the entire ingredient list, whereas in the other studies sugars were identified by searching for a list of predefined terms. Studies differed in the definition of sugars and the terms used to identify them. Nine studies included fruit sugars within the terms used to identify free sugars. However, they lacked consistency in the types of fruit sugars considered and did not discuss their agreement with the adopted definitions of sugars.

Originality/value

As far as can be ascertained, this is the first review that addresses the declaration of free sugars from fruits on packaged food labels. Overall, there is a scarcity of literature focused on identifying and discussing the range of free sugars from fruits declared on food labels.

Citation

Padovan, M., Ares, G., Scapin, T., Kraemer, M.V.d.S., Chaddad, M.C.C., Fernandes, A.C., Bernardo, G.L., Uggioni, P.L., Pettigrew, S. and Proença, R.P.d.C. (2024), "Declaration of free sugars from fruits on food labels: a scoping review", British Food Journal, Vol. 126 No. 12, pp. 4342-4356. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-05-2024-0547