Cinema popcorn with 5 days’ worth of sugar
CINEMA popcorn can contain the equivalent of five days’ worth of sugar consumption in a single pack.
Other types are so salty that one pack will provide almost the entire daily consumption recommended for an adult.
The figures come from campaigners who say food companies have effectively hijacked what could be a healthy snack to create a junk food which fuels obesity and ill health.
A raft of brands has emerged in the past two years offering gourmet flavours and even boasting they are ‘skinny’ on the label. And while some may be healthier than a bag of crisps, the brands sold at cinema outlets are pumped with sugar, salt and calories.
A survey found seven in ten sweet popcorns sold in cinemas, stores and cafes would carry a red warning logo for high sugar based Food Standards Agency health measures. Similarly, one in four savoury popcorn packs contained dangerously high levels of salt.
Cineworld was the worst offender, with its 200g pack of Toffee Popcorn containing 121g of sugar – 30 teaspoons. That adds up to five days of sugar consumption for an adult based on guidelines developed by the World Health Organisation.
Cineworld’s large bucket of salted popcorn was also the salti- est option available. It contained 5g – just below the 6g recommended maximum for an entire day, and 1,213.8 calories, almost the half the daily total recommended for an adult man.
The figures were compiled by Consensus Action on Salt and Health ( CASH), who called on cinemas, retailers and manufacturers change their recipes. Excess sugar consumption has been linked to the rise in obesity and its associated health problems, while a diet high in salt is linked to raised blood pressure and risk of a stroke and premature death.
CASH chairman Graham MacGregor, who is professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Wolfson Institute in London, said: ‘This is a perfect example of the food industry taking something that is good for health and ruining it.’
Cineworld recently changed its recipe to reduce popcorn sugar levels. However, the new toffee popcorn still contains 108.2g of sugar per 200g portion, or 27 teaspoons. A spokesman said: ‘It’s important to stress the current product has 10per cent less sugar.’