Rob: I’m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English
– we’ve got a sweet topic today, and six
tempting items of vocabulary.
Neil: Hello, I’m Neil. And we’re going
to be talking about sugar – which many
of us find tempting. But how much
is too much, Rob?
Rob: I don’t know, Neil, but hopefully
we’ll be finding that out. I must admit though –
I have a sweet tooth – and that means
I like sugary things!
Neil: Me too. But something I’m always
seeing in the news these days
is that we’re eating too much sugar.
And one important factor is that
sugars are sometimes hidden
in processed foods.
Rob: Processed food is any food that
has been changed in some way –
by freezing it or putting it in tins –
or by combining foods or adding chemicals.
In fact, some of the sugars we eat
are hidden in food that we think of
as healthy. Such as yoghurts,
low fat snacks, and fruit drinks.
Neil: Do you check the information
on the back of food packets, Rob? –
To see what’s in them?
Rob: Yes, I do. But it can be
very confusing – there’s so much information.
And I’m not always sure how much
of a certain thing is bad.
Neil: Well, that brings me onto today’s
quiz question. Can you tell me, if a food
contains 5% total sugars per 100g,
is it… a) high in sugar, b) low in sugar
or c) somewhere in the middle?
Rob: I’ll say low, Neil.
Neil: OK. Well, we'll find out later.
Some food products have colour coding
on the packaging to help you understand
the information, don’t they? –
red for high levels of sugar, salt
or fat – orange for medium,
and green for low.
Rob: That sounds helpful. Then you can
see at a glance what’s good
or bad for you.
Neil: At a glance means with a quick look.
OK, let’s listen now to BBC reporter
Rajeev Gupta interviewing a man in Chester,
in the UK. He’s asking him to guess
how much sugar there is in a pot
of fat-free yoghurt.
Reporter: I've actually got a pot of yoghurt
in front of me. This says 'fat-free' on it
and it's been marketed as being
quite healthy. If I was to say how much
sugar is in here, what would you say as…
say is the quantity of the tub?
Interviewee: I’d probably think maybe
a couple of teaspoonfuls, you know,
it’s quite surprising how much is sugars
in all these products, isn’t there?
Reporter: Well, there’s
about a third of this yoghurt pot
is actually sugar.
Interviewee: To be honest, that’s
quite amazing, that.
I would never have thought a third of that
would have been sugar
just by looking at it.
And it does say it’s fat-free.
Neil: So the yoghurt is fat-free,
which means it doesn’t contain any fat.
And the man guessed there might be
two teaspoons of sugar in the yoghurt.
Rob: That’s right. And if something
is sugar-free then it doesn’t contain
any sugar. But in this case,
a third of the yoghurt’s content
was sugar. That, to me, sounds like
an awful lot – even for someone
with a sweet tooth like me!
Neil: OK, well, let’s listen to
Dr Gunter Kuhnle.
He’s a Nutritional Biochemist at
Reading University.
Dr Gunter Kuhnle: One problem we see –
nutritionists – is sort of this focusing on
any individual foods –
at one time it was that fat
has to be avoided at all costs,
now it seems to go towards sugar
and sugar is demonised and
people link it to drugs and so on.
I think this is the wrong way forward.
Individuals, yes, you should have
a balanced diet. But it is important also
to enjoy your food and not really do this
extreme focusing on one side or
one aspect and individual nutrients.
Rob: So if you avoid something
at all costs you do everything you can
to avoid it. And demonise means
to make someone or something
seem very bad.
Neil: Dr Kuhnle thinks that
totally cutting out one type of food
like this – whether it’s fat or sugar –
is wrong. He thinks we should
eat a balanced diet – and enjoy
our food.
Rob: That sounds very sensible.
Now, how about telling us the answer
to today’s quiz question, Neil?
Neil: Thanks for reminding me, Rob. I asked
if food contains 5% total sugars per 100g,
is it… a) high in sugar, b) low in sugar
or c) somewhere in the middle?
You said low and you were…
right! Well done!
Rob: Thank you.
Neil: If foods contain more than 22.5% total
sugars per 100g they are classified as high.
Rob: And I guess that between 5 and 22.5%
they are somewhere in the middle.
Neil: Correct! OK, shall we go
over the words we heard today?
Rob: Yep. First up – if you have
a ‘sweet tooth’ it means you like sugary things.
For example, ‘My little nephew has
a sweet tooth. He eats far too many
biscuits and sweets.’
Neil: His dentist won’t be pleased!
Number two – ‘processed food’ is any food that
has been changed in some way – by freezing it
or putting it in tins – or by combining
foods or adding chemicals.
Rob: For example, ‘The meat in sausages
is highly processed.’
Neil: Oh dear, I didn’t know that.
I’m a big fan of sausages!
Rob: Number three – ‘at a glance’ –
means with a quick look.
Neil: For example, I could tell at a glance
that I wouldn’t like the food
at that restaurant.’
Rob: ‘Fat-free’ means without any
fat in it. For example, ‘I bought this yoghurt
because it says fat-free on the label.’
Neil: Aha – but did you realise that
a third of it was sugar! Moving on –
If you avoid something ‘at all costs’
you do everything you can to avoid it.
For example, ‘I wanted
to win the game at all costs.’
Rob: I didn’t know you were so competitive, Neil!
And finally – ‘demonise’ – means to make
someone or something seem very bad.
Neil: ‘Politicians shouldn’t demonise
their opponents.’
Rob: They often do though, don’t they?
OK. Well, that’s all we have time for on
today’s show. But please check out our
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Neil: Join us again soon! Meanwhile,
visit our website: bbclearningenglish.com,
where you'll find guides to grammar,
exercises, videos and articles to read
and improve your English.
Goodbye!
Rob: Bye!