“We need to better equip the population to understand packaging,” defends Professor Boris Hansel, nutritionist at Bichat hospital.

“We need to better equip the population to understand packaging” products, defends Tuesday March 19 on franceinfo Professor Boris Hansel, nutritionist, head of the Nutrition Prevention unit at Bichat hospital, coordinator of the PUMS Youtube channel and creator of the Docteur BH Youtube channel. L’National Food Safety Agency (Anses) publishes a study which shows that the majority (77%) of processed products contain sugar, whether sweet or savory, even if it notes an improvement since the 2010s.

“Today, it is clear that we have proof that sugar must be limited because it promotes weight gain, cardiovascular disease and possibly diabetes”recalls Professor Hansel. “We particularly have the relationship with sugary drinks, that’s a real disaster.” He recommends in particular choosing, if they cannot be replaced by water, a sweetened soda rather than a sugary soda, “We have less evidence of the harmful effects of sweeteners such as aspartame than we have with sugar”.

Fight against “misleading packaging”

“Adolescents are on the front line, it is estimated that a third of them have sugar intakes that far exceed recommendations”explains Boris Hansel, who calls for a “fight against misleading packaging”citing the case of yogurts in the United States, some of which display a label that suggests that they can limit diabetes, regardless of the amount of sugar present in the yogurt.

The nutritionist highlights the beneficial effects of the nutri-score, this tool which gives an indication of the the nutritional quality of foods thanks to a color system. This tool encouraged manufacturers to improve the quality of their ingredients. Another public prevention policy objective defended by Boris Hansel: “Eating behavior.” “We must teach the adult population to taste food” because “if you taste your food, you will reduce the quantity of all foods”particularly sweet and industrial.