Fruit juice has too much sugar and should not be one of our 'five-a-day' health foods, according to research. Academics at Bangor University in North Wales say their study has shown for the first time that overweight and obese people have a 'dulled' sensitivity to the drinks, but enhanced 'subconscious liking' of the sweet taste. Hans-Peter Kubis, of the university's School of Sport, Health & Exercise Sciences, has called for sugar to be taxed to stop an impending health 'disaster', and for fruit juice to be taken out of the 'five-a-day' health message. He said: 'This has serious implications for public health. This research shows how little sweet food stuffs are required to actually change your taste perceptions and how powerful sweet tasting products are. 'We are headed for a multi-level health disaster with rising obesity levels and the increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes. 'From our research it's clear to see how this situation may have created a cycle of sweet food and drink consumption. As taste satisfaction levels drop, the more sweet foods are consumed, contributing to these problems.' Researchers are encouraging parents to give their children water instead of 'healthy' fruit drinks. Natural fruit juice, as well as carbonated drinks and cordials, are all 'too high in sugar and too sweet', according to the findings. Dr Kubis said: 'My reaction would be to encourage the Government to consider taxing sugar that is added to food stuffs - and have that tax ring-fenced for the health budget. 'I'd also question the wisdom of including fruit juice in the five-a-day message. Fruit juice is higher in sugars than people realise.' In the trial, lean and obese people were asked to rate their perception of and enjoyment of sweet and salty tastes. The initial trial showed that overweight and obese participants rated drinks as being less sweet than the lean participants. In further experiments the subconscious preference for sweet food underwent a computer-based test finding that overweight and obese participants had a stronger preference for sweet. The conclusion was that overweight and obese participants had a 'reduced sensitivity' to sweetness but an 'enhanced subconscious preference' for sweet food. To test whether sweet food consumption may be responsible for these findings and to see if it was possible to recreate the taste perception of obese people in those of a 'normal' weight, people who did not usually consume sugary drinks were recruited for a second experiment. Researchers found that in as little as four weeks it was possible to replicate the dulling of the 'sweetness' of sugary drinks and lessen the enjoyment, just by repeated consumption. Twelve people who did not usually drink sweet drinks and were lean were recruited for the sugary drink study. The taste perception study involved 33 people - 22 'normal' and 11 overweight or obese people. Source: DailyMail.com