Everyone can afford to be a little less sweet

Baseball player Chili Davis (a three-time all-star) had a sweet swing (three World Series rings) and good eye for a curveball (he’s now the hitting coach for the Boston Red Sox).

The South American country of Chile, on the other hand, has a sweet tooth and quite an eye for soda. From 2009-14, Chile experienced the fastest growth in sales of sugar-sweetened beverages. And according to the World Health Organization, they’re currently playing catch-up with North America, Latin America and western Europe — three regions of the world with the highest sugar consumption.

WHO also says the U.S. is the No. 1 consumer of sugar and 74 per cent of products in the country’s food supply contain sweeteners.

Did you know that some soft flour tortillas contain sugar? OK, less than two per cent, but it’s there. And 100 grams of iodized table salt can contain 40 milligrams of sugar (it helps stabilize iodide, so it has benefits); not much, but again, it’s there.

If you’re trying to eliminate added sugars and syrups from your diet, you need to read the ingredients list on each and every packaged food you consider buying. And don’t buy it if it contains any dextrose, brown sugar, cane crystals, cane sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, malt syrup, lactose and/ or maltose.

That way the next time you dish up a meal, just like Chili Davis, you won’t strike out at your home plate.