Have you ever bought Genki Forest sparkling water because it’s advertised as “sugar-free”? The company recently said that they were sorry for a misleading advertisement.

The company said the drinks are “sucrose-free”, but this is not the same as “sugar-free”? Now the company has changed the word “sugar-free” to “low sugar” on the bottle.

In fact, there are many kinds of sugar, Sucrose is just one of them. Other kinds of sugar, such as Fructose and sugar alcohol, are still in Genki Forest drinks. These types of sugar are used as sweeteners. They offer little energy, but a small amount of them can make drinks taste sweet. That’s why low sugar drinks like Genki Forest are popular who want to lose weight. They believe that they can not only enjoy sweet drinks but also avoid taking in too much sugar.

However, studies find that the sweeteners might make people eat more. When you eat sweet-tasting things, they send your brain a “sweet signal”. Then your brain tells your body to prepare itself to take in energy. But since the low-sugar soft drink has little energy, the brain will not receive what it is expecting. At this time, you will feel hungry and start getting energy by eating more food.

According to China Daily, drinking too many low-sugar drinks might lead to fatness and many other diseases. It’s time for you to think twice when you want to keep up with the fashion.

Cartoon characters are usually seen on sweet food packaging (包装). However, according to the latest news, the candy and chocolate companies in the UK may have to stop using cartoon characters on their products. The health groups said many food companies used characters from Peppa Pig and Disney on their packaging. The companies use the characters to attract children to buy chocolate and candy. If children see their favourite cartoon characters, they will want to buy them.

The health groups said 51 percent of the products using cartoon characters were unhealthy for children, and the products didn’t have as much nutrition (营养) as they said on TV. The health groups said the products were very high in fat, sugar and salt. The groups are asking the government to give the order to stop using these characters to sell unhealthy products to children.

Some groups are trying to get a ban (禁令) on cartoon characters on chocolate and candy. They are Action on Sugar, Action on Salt and the Children’s Food Campaign. They looked at the nutrition content of 526 products that were aimed at children. The products’ packaging had colorful cartoon characters which most children like them very much. The Peppa Pig Candy Bites were among the worst products. These contained 99 percent sugar. Dr Kather Hashem, an expert from the Action on Sugar group, said, “It’s shocking that companies are exploiting (利用) the health of our children by using cartoon characters on their high sugar food and drink products, especially on chocolate and candy, which children love strongly.”