A Health Risk Assessment of Soft Drinks According to Limits of the American Heart Association

Abstract

There is a growing trend in soft drinks consumption by young adults in Sri Lanka. However, the excessive added sugar in instant drinks results in health risks. Moreover, the upper and lower exposure limits of added sugar in soft drinks have not been scientifically assessed in comparison to the accepted limits of the American Heart Association (AHA). Thus, this study identifies the maximum and minimum exposure levels to added sugar from soft drinks within the accepted limits of AHA. According to AHA the maximum daily exposure to added sugar through soft drinks is 2.93 g/day for females and 4.23 g/day for males. This study consists of an online survey and a laboratory analysis. Stratified random sampling was employed in the selection of respondents for the study. Seven soft drinks were randomly purchased at the local market; the total and reducing sugar content were analyzed by the Lane-Eynon method. The results showed the male exposure range was 0.8 to 7 g/day whereas females were 0.8 to 12 g/day. In this population about 10% of women and 3% of men are at the risk from minimum exposure level while 51% of women and 22% of men are at risk from maximum exposure level. This selected population's exposure range is from 0.8 to 12 g/day of an overall value of 42% of people of the study. According to the results, there is a potential risk for enamel erosion because the observed pH levels were considerably below the threshold level of 5.5. To avoid the negative cumulative effects of added sugar on the body, it is preferable to teach young adults to be aware of excessive added sugar from fast drinks.