Perth Catering Tips: Reduce Your Sugar Intake
 

When we are providing our catering services for parties and other outdoor functions in and around Perth, we, as a firm of local caterers, are always mindful of the need to provide good, wholesome, healthy food and beverages. If we are called upon to do so, as sometimes happens, we are always happy to explain to our clients which foods are high in sugar content so that, if they wish, they can choose an alternative from our extensive selection of menus.

Instead of only providing this information on a selective basis, we felt that it would be of assistance to all of our clients if we listed the foods with the greatest sugar content in this short article. In this way, our clients will be able to maintain a ready reference of the foods that should either be consumed in moderation or, if they so choose, avoided altogether. We set out below our list of the ten most sugar-rich foods that you are likely to come across on any café, restaurant or catering menu.

1.  Sugar Based Additives

The human body assimilates all the sugar that it requires from natural foodstuffs, including vegetables, grains and wholemeal. There is no need to use sugar additives. Many people with a "sweet tooth", however, do add sugar in one form or another to their meals. Adding sugar, syrup and even some artificial sweeteners will inevitably result in a meal containing far more sugars that the body needs. If the body cannot metabolise these sugars, it will result in an increase in weight and will raise the possibility of health problems over time.

2.  Carbonated and Powdered Drinks

Whilst this type of drink can be refreshing, especially in the summer, their sugar content. can be astonishingly high. It can be difficult to persuade children that they should avoid fizzy, sugary drinks altogether but they should only be consumed on moderation.

3.   Sweets and Candy

The more obvious candidate for high sugar content. Once again, if it is impossible to avoid the consumption of sweets and candy products, it should be limited to treats rather than be allowed to become the norm.

4.  Dried Fruits

Most people would be surprised to know that fruit, which is generally considered to be healthy, can have massive sugar content when it is dried. Dried currents, dates, apricots, raisins and apple all have a high content of sugar and it is advisable to limit their consumption as much as possible, concentrating on eating fruits in their raw state.

5.  Biscuits, Cakes and Pies

These processed foods harbour significant amounts of sugar. Any form of "convenience" food is likely to be less healthy than foods that are cooked form fresh materials and the increase in the consumption of such foods has certainly contributed to the worldwide upsurge in obesity.

6.  Jams and Marmalade

Rich in sugar, the message to anyone who likes jam or marmalade on their breakfast toast is to spread it thinly!

7.  Processed Breakfast Cereals

Whilst natural cereals such as wheat, oats, rye and wholemeal are considered to be healthy, the same can not be said for processed breakfast cereals. The added sugar, which attracts many young people to them, places them firmly in the list of sugar-high foods.

8.  Tinned Fruits

Once again, although fruit is, on the face of it, a healthy dietary option, fruits that have been preserved in a tin usually swim in syrupy water, which infuses the fruit, making for a meal that is saturated in sugar and definitely to be avoided or consumed only infrequently and in modest helpings.

9.  Sauces

Tomato sauce, brown sauce, mayonnaise and salad creams all have high sugar content and should be used only sparingly, if at all.

10.  Ice Cream

Sadly, the favoured dessert of many of us finds its way to our list of sugary foods. There are reduced-sugar ice cream options, as there are too many otherwise sugary foods, which may be selected if the lure of an ice cream dessert becomes too great to withstand!

At All Seasons Catering, Perth, we don't want to spoil the party, of course, and would repeat that, as long as it is in moderation or only on special occasions, eating a sugar-high meal is unlikely to cause significant harm. The order of the day is, therefore, ignore the advice of Mary Poppins and take the medicine WITHOUT her "spoonful of sugar!"