A major world-wide campaign is being launched today to highlight the link between sugar consumption and growing rates of obesity and diabetes.
Health experts are calling for food and drink manufacturers to cut the amount of sugar in their products by 30% in five years.
They say a similar objective has been achieved for salt, leading to a 15% cut in consumption in the last decade.
The campaigners say sugar "is a totally unnecessary source of calories, gives no feeling of fullness and is acknowledged to be a major factor in causing obesity and diabetes both in the UK and worldwide."
The campaign Action on Sugar, centred on the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, London, says even bread may have hidden sugar.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist and the group’s science director, said: "Aside from being a major cause of obesity, there is increasing evidence that added sugar increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver.
"We must particularly protect children from this public health hazard and the food industry needs to immediately reduce the amount of sugar that they are adding, particularly to children’s foods, and stop targeting children with massive advertising for high calorie snacks and soft drinks.”
Professor Robert Lustig, a paediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, said: "Children are the primary targets of marketing campaigns, and the least able to resist the messaging. That makes sugary drinks like the ‘alcohol of childhood’, which makes them obese."
The group’s chairman Professor Graham McGregor, who led the campaign for salt reduction, said voluntary efforts by the British government had had "no effect" on calorie intake.
He said: "We must particularly protect children from this public health hazard and the food industry needs to immediately reduce the amount of sugar that they are adding, particularly to children’s foods, and stop targeting children with massive advertising for high calorie snacks and soft drinks.”
The campaign won backing from the Royal College of Physicians of London, UK.
Registrar Dr Andrew Goddard said: "It is widely acknowledged that sugar is a major factor in both obesity and diabetes, and with many foods everyday foods such as bread and breakfast cereals containing high levels of added sugar, it can be difficult for consumers to make healthier choices."
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