Terminology Food Available for Consumption

Consumption of added sugars in Canada is often reported to be higher than data suggest. Both popular and scientific articles often incorrectly report unadjusted national food supply (availability) data as actual consumption data. Additionally, when describing Canadian eating habits, US data is often cited. This does not provide an accurate reflection of Canadian consumption patterns, as Canadian intakes of many foods and beverages containing added sugars are substantially below US levels (1). Misinformation about added sugars consumption may be linked to complications associated with their estimation. Such difficulties include estimating waste adjustment factors to determine apparent consumption from food availability data; missing availability data for some sources of added sugars (notably corn sweeteners); and the lack of a comprehensive database of added sugars content in foods. In this article, the available literature and various reports are used to provide the best estimates of added sugars consumption in Canada. Estimates of added sugars intake from both Statistics Canada availability data and Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) nutrition survey data are explored in detail. Trends in added sugars consumption and body weight are also reviewed