Generally, white granulated sugar that we add into our foods and drinks is known as sucrose. Sucrose is a carbohydrate and consists of 2 components that are fructose (very sweet)-found naturally in plants & fruits and glucose – manufactured from whole foods.

There are different types of sugar in the market such as white sugar, brown sugar, sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, dextrose, honey, cane sugar, cane syrup, liquid sugar demin (demineralised), corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, hydrolysed starch, hydrolysed syrup, golden syrup, maple syrup, Demerara, muscovado, malasses, treacle and black treacle.

In Malaysia, sugar has become a necessity – It is a basic element found in starchy food such as rice, noodles, sweetened beverages and other processed food. Many of us crave for sweetness or have a “sweet tooth” without knowing that we may actually have a sugar addiction problem! Another shocking fact based on an official statistic, revealed that the average Malaysian consumes a whopping 26 teaspoons of sugar per day, and 1,000 canned drinks every minute! This also resulted in the highest number of overweight and obese people in Asia and ranking Malaysia as the 4th highest number of diabetics in Asia (CAP, 2012).