Increasing the pH level of water could help tackle health problems caused by high sugar content in drinks.

To try and reduce sugar levels in drinks, researchers have looked at why sugar is added to drinks in the first place and found that the water purification process known as Reverse Osmosis (RO) can reduce the liquid’s pH level to values of 6.1 or lower – compared to water’s neutral pH level of 7.

RO removes dissolved salts (ions) and unwanted bacteria from drinking water by pushing it under pressure through a semi-permeable, thin membrane with tiny pores that restrict larger molecules and impurities from getting through.

However, researchers found that this process causes the liquid to become more acidic through uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide, leaving a salty, bitter taste. As a result, sugar is added to drinks to cover up this adverse flavour.

“Our study shows that in order to reduce the amount of sugar in drinks, we need to look at the way we treat the water beforehand.

“Sugar is being used to disguise the acidity in drinks, rather than improve the flavour, and actually adding sugar causes the pH value of water to decrease even further – we found some drinks had a highly acidic pH level of 2.5,” said Professor Martin Grootveld, professor of Bio-analytical Chemistry and Chemical Pathology at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU). 

With these new findings, companies now have the opportunity to reduce sugar levels in drinks through innovative new methods.

“With a rapidly growing global population, there is an increasing need for innovation if we are to meet the demand for more efficiently produced, healthier and traceable food,” added Kathryn Miller, Innovation Lead – Food and Nutrition, Innovate UK.

By New Food Magazine

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