Are you feeling virtuous about your healthy breakfast of wholegrain cereal washed down with a glass of orange juice?
After all, its better than an artery-clogging fry-up. In terms of fat, at least.
But few of us realise that a bowl of Bran Flakes plus juice will account for half our recommended daily amount of sugar.
We all know the dangers of too much salt, fat and calories in our diet, but health professionals warn that not enough of us stop to consider our sugar intake.
There are obvious sources of it such as the Easter eggs consumed in large quantities at the weekend.
But the problem, experts say, is that our everyday diets are packed with stealth sugar, sending our intake far above the recommended limits and placing us at risk of a range of diseases, including diabetes and heart disease.
Sugar is also found in surprisingly large amounts in many savoury foods such as sauces and ready meals.
In fact, its highly likely to be a much bigger part of your diet than you realise, as our investigation reveals. Ironically, healthier reduced-fat foods can actually contain more sugar.
Stripping out fat from processed foods makes them less appealing to our taste buds. The inevitable consequence is that manufacturers increase other ingredients, including sugar, to recreate taste and texture, says Tam Fry, of the National Obesity
Forum.We set out to find out how much sugar is lurking in our favourite foods and drinks including those many would consider healthy.
The results, shown below, were shocking.
UK guidelines recommend that added sugars those used to sweeten food, fizzy drinks, honeys, syrups and fruit juices shouldnt make up more than 10 per cent of the total energy we get from food.
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