Smoothies are BAD for you: Fruit juices are packed with sugar and we would be better off having vegetable drinks, say scientists Smoothies contain 'same amount of sugar as a large coke,' says duo So called healthy drinks are continuing to fuel the obesity crisis Coca Cola and Pepsi have been buying up juice and smoothie firms People urged to drink vegetable juice instead to cut down sugar intake Danger: Smoothies and juices contain deceptively high amounts of sugar Smoothies and fruit juices have been branded the 'new danger' in the battle against obesity. The two scientists who blew the lid on the corn syrup in soft drinks scandal described claims that smoothies are good for us as 'deceiving', arguing they contain the same amount of sugar as a large coke. And Barry Popkin and George Bray say that while smoothies are lauded for containing the equivalent of six oranges, they actually provide none of the health benefits received by simply eating an orange instead. In an interview with The Guardian, Popkin said: 'Smoothies and fruit juices are the new danger. 'It's kind of the next step in the evolution of the battle. 'And it's a really big part of it because in every country they've been replacing soft drinks with fruit juice and smoothies as the new healthy beverage.' Popkin, a professor at the department of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, added that in recent years soft drinks firms such as Coca Cola and Pepsi had been buying up juice and smoothie rivals around the world. In the UK, Coca Cola owns Innocent and Pepsi, Tropicana. He explained that Pepsi in particular had marketed a 250ml portion of its smoothies as providing two of the nation's five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Prof Popkin is pushing for the five-a-day advice to change as drinking a smoothie does not affect our overall food intake, whereas eating just one orange does. He added: 'So pulped up smoothies do nothing good for us, but do give us the same amount of sugar as four to six oranges or a large coke. It is deceiving. In 2004 Popkin and Bray exposed the dangers posed by soft drinks, which contained high levels of fructose added to soft drinks in the form of corn syrup. They identified these types of sugar-sweetened drinks, which are loaded with calories and consumed between meals, as a major reason for soaring obesity levels in developed countries. Fructose: Naturally occurring sugars in fruit juices and smoothies are continuing to fuel the obesity crisis But as people have changed their drinking habits to avoid fizzy drinks, the damage caused from naturally occurring fructose in juices and smoothies is continuing to fuel the problem. They say all sugars are equally bad in the effect they can have on our health. China has created a huge supply of apple juice concentrate, which they claim is the cheapest sweetener on the market and is being used to get around the sugar quotas that many countries now have. Tax: Campaigners say 20p on a litre of soft drink would raise £1billion In 2012 Popkin published data that identified fruit juice concentrate as being the second most common sweetener in soft drinks and babies formula milk, after corn syrup. Last week, in a report by the British Medical Association, found those who drank fruit juice were more at risk of developing the obesity related type two diabetes than those who ate whole fruit. According to the British Soft Drinks Association, the consumption of soft drinks containing added sugar has fallen by nine per cent in the last 10 years, while the incidence of obesity has increased by 15 per cent. It said: 'Obesity is a serious and complex problem requiring concerted action by a wide range of organisations as well as by people themselves. Soft drinks companies recognise the role they have to play. Health campaigners have made calls for the introduction of a soft drinks tax. Sustain claimed by placing a 20p tax on a litre of soft drink, it would raise £1billion, which could be ring-fenced and invested in children's health initiatives. Director of the British Heart Foundation research group at Oxford University, Mike Rayner, believes introducing the tax would reduce consumption of soft drinks. Speaking to The Guardian, he said: 'The problem with sugar is its calories really and it's easily digestible. 'And it tends not to come with anything particularly useful, so sugary drinks are problematic because they are an easy way of getting calories - not because it's sugar, but because it's calories.' In a statement, Innocent defended its products, claiming people with juice drinks in their diet tended to have lower rates of obesity than others. The company added: 'Smoothies are made entirely from fruit and therefore contain the same amount of sugars that you would find in an equivalent amount of whole fruit.' Defence: Innocent, owned by Coca Cola, claims smoothies contain the same amount of sugar as whole fruit