Knowledge gaps for recommended daily sugar intake and variations in McDonald’s Coca-Cola sugar levels

Lack of awareness of daily sugar limits may lead individuals to be ignorant of sugar levels in popular beverages and exceed their recommended daily sugar intake. Additionally, these beverages could exhibit variability in sugar content. Hence, we conducted a cross-sectional study to test two hypotheses: (i) people are not mindful of the daily limits for sugar intake, and (ii) the sugar levels of McDonald’s Coca-Cola at different outlets and time points show variability. A total of 97 people aged 11 – 72 years old were surveyed regarding their awareness for recommended limits on sugar consumption, intake of sugar drinks and taste preferences for Coca Cola drinks during Phase 1. Phase 2 included testing visit-to-visit and store-to-store variability in sugar levels for medium-sized McDonald’s Coca-Cola in four selected stores in East Auckland, New Zealand. The majority of the children (86.3%, n=51) were unaware of the recommended limits for daily sugar intake for their age group. Additionally, even some adults lacked clarity on the recommended sugar intakes for men (10.8%, n=46) and women (32.6%, n=46). We also identified statistically significant sugar content variations across most stores. Sugar levels varied on a visit-to-visit basis at the Botany store and exceeded the advertised level for the last two visits at the Ormiston store. Our findings suggest that limited public understanding of daily sugar recommendations and inconsistent sugar levels in commonly consumed beverages may hinder efforts to moderate sugar intake. Intersectoral collaboration across governments, educational institutions, community centers, and the food industry is required to improve awareness of recommended sugar intake and ensure consistent product formulations.