You know, we Malaysians like things sweet. Whether it be our ice kacang, our kuih lapis, or even our sambal, the sweeter the better. It’s no surprise then, that we were recently rated the 8th largest consumers of sugars in the world. Yes, you read it right, the world!
The World Health Organisation recommends a maximum of 50g sugar intake per day. That translates to about 12 teaspoons. Sounds like a lot, yes? Not when you include all the hidden sugar in everything from your ayam masak merah to your Ipoh hor fun.
There are even recent reports stating that the WHO is planning to lower that recommendation by half – which means you should consume only 6 teaspoons per day. That’s pretty easy for Malaysians to exceed in a jiffy.
Let’s take a look at drinks at our favourite hangout – the mamak stall. How many teaspoons of sugar are in ONE drink at the mamak stall?
Shocking, isn’t it? Limau ais itself contains a whopping six teaspoons of sugar, and if you have 3 glasses of that during your nightly mamak session, you’re already way past your sugar limit. What about the rest of the food and drinks you’ve been eating throughout the day?
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How the heck does teh ais contain more sugar content than a regular teh tarik. Dilution from the ice itself would already prove the opposite no? Being a mamak enthusiast for about 20 years now, and I don’t think any mamak would use more condensed milk to compensate for the ice that’s added along. Also, for most of the mamak I’ve been to and observed, this is definitely an overshoot of the sugar count. A can of Red Bull (250ml) contains 27g of sugar. I highly HIGHLY doubt that the sugar content in Limau Ais/Panas is more than a can of Red Bull.