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UPDATE your grocery list. Last week, US and UK health authorities released new recommendations on what we should be eating and drinking.

“One of the biggest changes is a recommendation to limit added sugar to 10 per cent of daily calories”

In the US, one of the biggest changes is a recommendation that people limit added sugar to 10 per cent of their daily calories. This advice, part of a five-year update of dietary guidelines, will be considered when designing school meals, and could sway future policy – perhaps encouraging the US Food and Drug Administration to go ahead with plans to distinguish between natural and added sugar when .

“Overall, this edition of dietary guidelines is a major improvement,” says , a specialist in epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard University.

Some scientists for leaving out specific limits on red meat. The American Institute for Cancer Research called the omission “a failure to embrace decades of research”.

In the UK, the advised limit for alcohol consumption dropped to 14 units, or about a bottle and a half of wine, per week. The change was prompted by recent research showing that the lifetime risks for breast, bowel and liver cancers doubled for those who drank more than 35 units per week.

“This may seem low to many people, but the level reflects the scientific evidence,” says Peter Anderson, who researches alcohol at Newcastle University, UK.

(Image: Martin Parr/Magnum)

This article appeared in print under the headline “Sugar and booze”