The Children's Food AwardsSunny Delight was without a doubt the most unpopular product with the mums and dads on The Parents Jury. We received more critical comments about this Vitamin enriched citrus beverage with sweeteners than any other product. Sunny Delight was recently relaunched in the UK after scathing criticism from health campaigners led to a rapid decline in sales. This new version of Sunny Delight has done away with the high levels of added sugar and instead relies on artificial sweetening chemicals, Acesulfame K (E950) and Aspartame (E951), to boost its sweet taste. It has also upped its fruit juice content from a meagre 5% to a whopping 15%. Wow! Extensive advertising and the clever placement of Sunny Delight in chiller cabinets to imply freshness have ensured that Sunny D remains a money-spinner for manufacturers Proctor & Gamble. See what the members of The Parents Jury had to say about it, below: |
 |
Additive
Nightmare? Sunny Delight of course!
mother of one, from London
Sunny
Delight is disgusting! It's my pet hate because it's something totally adulterated
with additives that should be a basic, simple, pure drink of just fruit - at
worst fruit juice and water.
mother of one, from Redruth in Cornwall
I
fell for the marketing of it as a healthy drink until a friend showed me the
label. I normally check what is in a new product before buying. It made me realise
how powerful an advertising image can be - it's marketed as a drink given to
children by caring parents.
mother of two, from Bury in Lancashire
In
supermarkets it's promoted like fresh orange juice but contains loads of additives.
mother of one, from Radlett in Hertfordshire
Sunny
Delight promotes itself as healthy and is now available with reduced sugar,
but it's full of additives!
mother
of three, from Stone Cross in East Sussex
back
to top
It's
everywhere! All over the place! Heavy advertising on TV!
mother of two, from High Wycombe
It's
advertised on prime time (after school), and weekends between kids' programmes.
mother of two, from London
It's
on the television constantly!
mother of two, from Southampton
Sunny
Delight's marketing department should get an award for product placement and
market saturation.
mother of two, from Chichester in West Sussex
Now launched in new even more disgusting flavours and
colours - tastes awful, far too many additives.
mother of two, from Chelmsford in Essex
Sunny
Delight promotes itself as healthy - now with reduced sugar, but full
of additives.
mother of three, from Stone Cross in East Sussex
Placed
prominently in local Tescos,…Now in even more vivid colours.
mother of two, from Peterborough
This
is supposedly another healthy product but it's full of colours and who knows
what else!
mother of three, from Harpenden in Hertfordshire
It's
sugar free, so therefore it contains artificial sweeteners.
mother of two, from Chelmsford in Essex
It
feels like it's in every store and on every TV advert!
mother of two, from London
I
am concerned that the low sugar version simply substitutes sweeteners whose
safety isn't assured.
mother of four, from Haywards Heath in West Sussex
Sunny
Delight has been renamed Sunny Despise by my daughter!
mother of three, from Leamington Spa in the West Midlands
I
feel there's a lot of dishonesty in product promotion. Sunny Delight springs
to mind. 5% or 15% fruit juice is not enough.
mother of three, from London
I
feel manufacturers capitalise on parents' lack of time and knowledge to sell
poor quality, unhealthy, heavily advertised and poor value for money products
for them to feed their children. An example of this is Sunny Delight with only
15% juice.
mother of two, from London
Foods
and drinks such as Sunny Delight have 'healthy' advertising which fools not
only children ...but adults too.
mother of two, from London
The
Sunny Delight 'you'll be popular if you try it' style of marketing is terrible.
mother of two, from London
Advertising
on children's TV is directed at children and makes them desperately want this
(regardless of the taste!) The TV adverts generally imply that you will have
lots of friends if you drink Sunny Delight.
mother of two, from Cradley in Worcestershire
Children
are brainwashed, either through advertising or peer pressure to be consumers
of this over-priced, over-coloured junk.
mother of two, from Bromley in Kent
Like many children's drinks, Sunny Delight relies on food additives for its long shelf life, texture and flavour. Although many food additives are safe to consume in small quantities, they do encourage children (and adults) to consume processed foods and drinks that lead to an unhealthy diet in the long run. The main criticism which can be levelled against Sunny Delight is that even this relaunched version contains pitifully low levels of real fruit juice (just 15%). Sunny Delight has little to offer from a nutritional point of view - which isn't surprising as, fruit juice aside, it is largely thickened, artificially sweetened, expensive water.
Water (over 80%), Fruit Juice (15% - Orange, Lime, Mandarin and Grapefruit juice), Citric Acid, Vegetable Oil, Preservative: Polyphosphate (E452) Modified Starch, Natural Flavourings, Vitamin C, Thickener: Guar Gum (E412), Preservative: Potassium Sorbate (E202), Sweeteners: Acesulfame K (E950) and Aspartame (E951), Thickeners: Xanthan Gum (E415) and Gellan Gum (418), Beta-Carotene (Pro-Vitamin A), Vitamin B6, Thiamin (Vitamin B1).
Government research shows that some food additives can cause temper tantrums and disruptive behaviour in up to 25% of toddlers. The tested food additives are not found in Sunny Delight, but are found in hundreds of other children's foods and drinks. If you would like more information, check out the facts on our Food Additives page
The Children's Food Awards 2002
The Children's Food Awards 2003