Sucrage des yaourts : diversité des comportements et impact sur les apports en sucres

In France, 50% of consumers sweeten plain yogurts. A first observational study focused on the identification of the diversity of behaviors related to the sugaring action of their yogurt (frequency of addition of sugar, number of spoons, movements…) in a real context of consumption of a meal taken in groups. Then, a second study aimed at measuring how much sugar consumers (individually) added to plain yogurt under contextualized testing conditions. For that, 199 French consumers of yogurts were given a plain yogurt (125 g) at the end of a full meal and were allowed to sweeten it with their usual sweetener (caster sugar, honey, or jam). The quantities of sweetener added were measured indirectly then expressed in equivalent added sugars. On average, participants added 13.6 g of sugars to their yogurts, which is higher than the 10.2 g of sugars contained in pre-sweetened commercial yogurts (125 g). More sugars were added when subjects used jam as compared to caster sugar or honey. Age, socio-professional category, and Body Mass Index (BMI) had a significant influence on added-sugar quantity. Based on behavior and attitude, participants could be separated into three evenly sized groups: “low sugar users”, who tended to control their food intake especially with sugar, “medium sugar users”, and “heavy sugar users” who sought immediate satisfaction. Our findings show that consumers underestimated by half the quantity of sweetener they added.