Dr Nigel Carter Warns Against Eating Crisps
Dr Nigel Carter OBE, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, has warned against over indulging on crisps after a book suggested that they were addictive.
Dr Carter said that crisps were not an obvious danger to oral health as they do not contain the same amount of sugar as chocolate bars and sweets; however, they can actually be even more problematic because they tend to stick to the surfaces of the teeth and can remain there for several hours.
Dr Carter was speaking out after a book entitled ‘Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us’ claimed that food manufacturers have spent years making crisps addictive. The book’s author, Michael Moss, claims that the salt and sugar levels in crisps are perfectly balanced to make people crave them.
More than 6 billion packets of crisps are sold in theUKevery year and Moss claims that people are becoming addicted to processed foods, which are high in sugar and salt.
Dr Carter also said that eating crisps could potentially be harmful because people tend to look at labels for sugar content and ignore the carbohydrate content, which is broken down by the body into sugar. Dr Carter advised members of the public to brush their teeth twice a day and avoid snacking on sugary or starchy foods between meals to promote good oral health.
Mr Moss has called for tighter regulations of food processing and manufacture, as more and more people suffer from obesity and diet related illnesses. Ella Boger, a dietician at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, said that eating crisps and processed foods on a regular basis can increase the risk of a number of health conditions, from heart attacks and strokes to diabetes and high blood pressure.
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