A food industry insider who worked to promote new foods and drinks says one hugely popular drink in particular made her change careers. Suzy Glaskie worked in the food industry for more than 20 years but spoke out in in an interview on the BBC documentary Irresistible: Why We Can’t Stop Eating, saying: “Now I really want to lift the lid on how food industry marketing is robbing us of our health.”
The documentary was put together by Dr Chris van Tulleken, the doctor and author of best-selling book Ultra-Processed People.
She told interviewers about her shock when Sunny Delight was first launched in the UK and how despite it’s like of health benefits was marketed as something good for the whole family.
She added: “I realised this was a really cheap product which had been dressed up to be something healthy and I think that’s where I drew the line.”
The Sunny D website reads: “We’re supercharged with Vitamin C! Every 8 fl oz serving of Sunny D is only 60 calories and has 100% of your daily value of Vitamin C. Read that again, we’ll wait.”
However, it contains ingredients which many doctors and nutritionists would consider ultra-processed. The current ingredients list for Sunny D Tnagy Florida Citrus Fusion reads: “Water, fruite juices from concentrate (13%), acid (citric acid), vitamins (C, E and D), thickener (guar gum), sweeteners (sucralose, acesulfame K), flavouring, colour (beta carotene).
In 1998 the brand exploded onto the UK drink scene becoming the country’s third most popular drink in just 18 months, though an incident in Wales caused the drink to change.
Just before the millennium in December 1999, a young girl in the town of Rhyl in Wales reportedly turned yellow after drinking too much Sunny Delight. Being taken to hospital and under the care of Dr Duncan Cameron he told the Telegraph that the girl was drinking 1.5l of the drink every day.
It was thought the reason behind her orange skin tone was an overdose of beta-carotene, an additive that gave Sunny D its distinct orange colour. At the time, the BBC reported that every 100ml of Sunny Delight contained a small quantity – 120 microgrammes – of beta carotene, about 15% of the recommended daily intake for an adult. The drink’s manufacturer at the time, Procter and Gamble, said the child was drinking “too much” and would have suffered the same effects with carrot juice.
Nevertheless, Duane Stanford editor of Beverage Digest told The Hustle: “The company was creating an aura of a drink that parents could feel good about giving to their kids, that wasn’t always truly the case when you looked at the ingredients.”
The drink’s sales steadily declined over the next few years and underwent a major recipe change ahead of the UK relaunch in 2009, with the drink briefly containing 70pc fruit juice but a year later underwent another recipe change.
Refresco Beverages UK Limited the company that manufactures the drink in the UK was contacted for comment.
In response to the BBC documentary the Food and Drink Federation said: “Food and drink manufacturers take the issue of obesity and poor diets very seriously, and we know we have a key role to play in helping people to eat balanced diets. Our members continue to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in creating healthier products for shoppers.
“As a result UK shopping baskets now contain significantly less salt, sugar and calories than they did a decade ago. Companies are also working to raise the fibre fruit and vegetable content in their products.”
