Sugar content of soft drinks, breakfast cereals, and yogurt: Results from the German product monitoring in the European context

INTRODUCTION: The German food reformulation initiative is guided by an annual monitoring of selected groups of packaged food. One selection criterion is a high contribution to sugar intake, as is the case for soft drinks, breakfast cereals, and yogurt. For these groups, the respective industry associations have self-committed to reduce sugar content by 15-20 % by 2025, largely focusing on products targeted at children (PTAC). METHODS: Labelled sugar content of soft drinks, breakfast cereals, and yogurt on the German market was assessed at group and subgroup level in 2016/2018, 2019, and 2022. Data were presented as mean, median, quartiles, and range. PTAC were analysed in separate subgroups. Welch's ANOVA with post-hoc test was used to examine significant changes over time. The results were compared to those of other European countries. RESULTS: In 2022, the monitoring included 2.579 soft drinks, 1.499 breakfast cereals, and 975 yogurts, with the share of PTAC ranging from 15 % in breakfast cereals to 5 % in soft drinks and yogurt. For soft drinks overall, median sugar content was 6.5 g/100 ml. At subgroup level, soft drinks showed significant sugar reductions as well as increases. For breakfast cereals, median sugar content was 15.1 g/100 g, with a 20.3 % drop from baseline and the highest reduction seen in PTAC (-38.4 %). For yogurt, median sugar content was 12.1 g/100 g, with a reduction of 12.7 % for the overall group and 20.2 % for PTAC. Compared to data of Portugal, Belgium, and UK, sugar reductions were in a similar range or higher for breakfast cereals and yogurt but lower for soft drinks. CONCLUSIONS: The monitoring shows significant sugar reductions for soft drinks, breakfast cereals, and yogurt. Judged against the WHO Europe nutrient profile model, however, further reduction efforts appear desirable for public health. Observed results were in a range similar to other European countries, but more harmonized monitoring methods would aid better comparability.