Dear Reader,
I started Sugarwise probably for a similar reason to the reason you are looking at this website, I wanted to do something that would make a difference. I hope you are not feeling as desperate and hopeless as I was when in 2015 I learnt that my one and a half year old baby would, if we carry on as we are, be expected to live a shorter life than me. A WHO report was published that same year, telling us we should limit our intake of free sugars to no more than 5% of our daily calories.
Free sugars are sugars added to foods and also sugars naturally present in honey, fruit juice and syrups. Lots of things that are sold as healthy and sugar free are high in free sugars.
I noticed at the time that toddler and baby foods were high in free sugars. I also noticed that there were too few options low in free sugars so I set up Sugarwise to do something about it. Our mission is to open up more choices in food and drink low in free sugars. With a positive approach we will:
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- Increase the amount of low free sugar choices that people have available to them
- Raise awareness of and generate greater demand for lower sugar
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- Facilitate clarity and transparency in labelling so people know what they are buying
- Make it easier for people to make lower sugar choices by improving their environment
Through certification of products, ingredients, recipes, menu items and catering menus low in free sugars; and our campaigns.
Thank you so much for any time, effort and energy you can give to this, and please join me in thanking everyone else in the SUGARWISE community such as the manufacturers of SUGARWISE certified products.
These already meet very high standards, they are not just 20% better, but infinitely more so. As well as those food service outlets and catering companies who are offering better, healthier options.
We hope to see more of them in every day situations, the ice cream van, the school fair, the neighbourly cup of tea, and so on!
Thank you,
Rend Platings, Founder