Flavoured water products sold as a healthy alternative to fizzy drinks can contain up to eight teaspoons of sugar.
A study has found that the average 500ml bottle contains more than 25g of sugar (that’s around six spoonfuls!) almost as much as a can of Coke.
Volvic’s Touch Of Fruit range, the UK’s best seller, contains 27.5g of sugar – a third of the guideline daily amount of sugar for adults. Buxton’s flavoured water, aimed at children, contains 12g of sugar, or three teaspoons.
Sales of flavoured water in the UK rose from 247 million litres in 2000 to 435 million litres in 2018 and now make up 17 per cent of the bottled water market.
Flavoured water drinks also contain preservatives such as potassium benzoate, which has been described by the independent food watchdog, the Food Commission, as “mildly irritant to the skin, eyes and mucous membranes.”
Experts have told people not to be fooled into thinking that flavoured water is a healthy alternative.
