NMEs Non Milk Extrinsic Sugars

We had this question from a user of the program.

Does the Nutrition Program list the NMEs?  The answer is no, not yet, but it is in the pipeline.

Sugars are classified as intrinsic -contained in the cell walls of the food, or extrinsic – not in the cell structure. Non milk extrinsic sugars include table sugar, honey, glucose and glucose syrups, sugars added to food and sugars in fruit juices. They are thought to be a large contributor to dental caries.

The Food Standards Agency has also said ’sugars naturally present in fruit that are canned, stewed, dried or used in preserves are taken as half extrinisic and half intrinsic.

Breakfast cereals present a challenge as there is no agreed method for estimating the proportion of NMEs in these foods.

To work out the NMEs in a food product, the easiest way is to start with the basic recipe. This is something that we will be looking at in the future.

The food standards agency has data about NMEs which can be used to estimate NMEs in dietary surveys.

DRVs, RNIs and GDAs

We’ve created a Help sheet to explain the terms DRV, RNI and GDA which are also found in the Glossary section of the program.

Help sheet on DRV, RNI and GDA