Sugar and inorganic anions content in mineral and spring water-based beverages.

BACKGROUND Carbonated and non-carbonated beverages manufactured based on mineral and spring waters have been present at the Polish market shortly, and their production and sales are regularly growing. The products have become commonly known as flavoured waters. OBJECTIVE The aim of the work was to identify and assess the content of carbohydrates used for sweetening mineral and spring water-based beverages and to estimate a concentration of inorganic anions. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was undertaken for 15 mineral and spring water-based beverages subject to an analysis contents of fructose, glucose and sucrose with the high-performance liquid chromatography method with ELSD detection) and chlorides, nitrates and sulphates contents using the ion chromatography method. RESULTS A chromatographic analysis has confirmed the total contents of sugar declared by the manufacturers. The carbohydrates identified included fructose, glucose and sucrose (added sugar). Chlorides and sulphates were found in the content of all the analysed beverages while nitrates were not determined in only one of the 15 examined beverages. CONCLUSIONS Mass consumption of mineral and spring water-based beverages should be considered as an important source of sugar and their excessive consumption may be disadvantageous for human health. A consumer should be informed by a manufacturer about a daily dose of sugar in a portion of a drink in per cents, and the easiest way to do it is to provide GDA marks on the label. Mineral and spring water-based beverages do not pose threats to consumer health in terms of their contents of inorganic ions: chlorides, nitrates and sulphates.