Nutrition experts propose new class of low-sugar drinks to help stem obesity and diabetes...(sugar expectations. We need to retr...)

"We need to retrain American tastes away from super-sweet drinks," said Lilian Cheung, lecturer in the Department of Nutrition and editorial director of The Nutrition Source website. "If we can shift the present American norm back to a lower expectation of sweetness, people will adjust their palates, particularly the younger population."

To do this will require concerted action from the following:

Beverage manufacturers: Create reduced-calorie beverages with no more than 1 gram of sugar per ounce and that are free of non-caloric sweeteners, such as aspartame, sucralose or stevia. That's about 3 teaspoons per 12 ounces and about 50 calories. Manufacturers should also offer smaller (8-ounce) bottles of sugary drinks.

Individuals: Choose beverages with few or no calories; water is best. Call manufacturers' customer service numbers and ask them to make sugar-reduced drinks.

Food shoppers: Purchase less juice and cross the soda off your home shopping list. Skip the "fruit drinks" too, since these are basically flavored sugar water.

Schools and workplaces: Offer several healthy beverage choices and smaller serving sizes. Also make sure water is freely available.

Government: The FDA should require companies to list the number of calories per bottle or cannot per servingon the front of beverage containers.

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