People should cut their sugar intake to just six teaspoons a day

The number of obese British adults is expected to double from one in four to one in two by 2050 – at a cost to the economy of £50billion a year.

The UN’s World Health Organisation said the crisis was being fuelled by hidden sugar in processed food and drink such as yoghurts, muesli, sauces, fizzy drinks, juice and smoothies.

Last night it published the draft guidelines urging adults to eat no more than 12 teaspoons of sugar a day and to aim for six.

And it said children should try for less than six teaspoons and avoid cans of fizzy drink such as Coke, which contains seven spoons.

Francesco Branca, director for nutrition for health and development at WHO, said: ‘Obesity affects half a billion people in the world and it is on the rise.

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‘Sugar along with other risk factors might certainly become the new tobacco in terms of public health action. The consumption of a single serving of sugar sweetened soda might actually already exceed the limit for a child. So certainly the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages should be done with great care.

‘It actually is one of the elements that has been more constantly associated to increase weight gain particularly in children.’

The guidelines will now be discussed by academics and medical experts before a final version is published. But Dr Branca said food and drinks manufacturers should drastically alter their products.

A bowl of muesli contains two and a half teaspoons of sugar, a latte has five, a chocolate bar six or seven while some ready-meals have more than eight.

Labour’s health spokesman Andy Burnham said his party was considering setting a legal maximum on the amount of sugar, fat and salt in foods aimed at children. 

‘We have a big ambitious health policy coming out,’ he added. 

‘We feel the Government has lost its way completely on public health, there’s no leadership at all now.’

It is understood the policy would cover products such as Kellogg’s Frosties, which is 37 per cent sugar.

On Monday, Dame Sally told MPs that being overweight had become ‘normalised’.

But David Cameron’s official spokesman yesterday played down the need for a sugar tax and said ministers would rather encourage food and drinks firms to voluntarily make products healthier.