Key Points from Mother Jones Article on Sugar
The following are some of the main points I came across while reading a Mother Jones article titled "Sweet Little Lies". This article breaks down how America's sugar industry poured vast sums of money and intense efforts into covering up evidence linking sugar consumption to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
. "The Sugar Association's winning campaign (Silver Anvil award for excellence in "the forging of public opinion") had been prompted by a poll showing that consumers had come to see sugar as fattening, and that most doctors suspected it might exacerbate, if not cause, heart disease and diabetes".
. "With an initial annual budget of nearly $800,000 ($3.4 million today) collected from the makers of Dixie Crystals, Domino, C&H, Great Western, and other sugar brands, the association recruited a stable of medical and nutritional professionals to allay the public's fears, brought snack and beverage companies into the fold, and bankrolled scientific papers that contributed to a "highly supportive" FDA ruling, which, the Silver Anvil application boasted, made it "unlikely that sugar will be subject to any legislative restriction in coming years".
. "Research on the suspected links between sugar and chronic disease largely ground to a halt by the late 1980s, and scientists came to view such pursuits as a career dead end. So effective were the Sugar Association's efforts that, to this day, no consensus exists about sugar's potential dangers."
. "Robert Lustig, a leading authority on pediatric obesity at the University of California-San Francisco wrote an article last February in the prestigious Nature journal titled "The Toxic Truth About Sugar". Lustig and two colleagues observed that sucrose and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are addictive in much the same way as cigarettes and alcohol, and that over-consumption of them is driving worldwide epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes (the type associated with obesity). Sugar-related diseases are costing America around $150 billion a year, the authors estimated, so federal health officials need to step up and consider regulating the stuff.
. "The Sugar Association said that the Lustig paper "lacks the scientific evidence or consensus" to support its claims, and its authors were irresponsible not to point out that the full body of science "is inconclusive at best". This inconclusiveness, of course, is precisely what the Sugar Association has worked so assiduously to maintain."
. "Added sugars (including sugars, corn sweeteners, honey and syrups) has rose from 120 lbs in 1980 to 132 lbs in 2010."
. "The % of Americans with diabetes has rose from 2.5% in 1980 to 6.8% in 2010."
. "The % of US children who are obese has rose from 5.5% in 1980 to 16.9% in 2010."
. "The % of US Adults who are obese has rose from 15% in 1980 to 35.7% in 2010."
Here one can clearly witness how deceptive and greedy the Sugar Association, and all its allies have become. Why should consumers continue to support the very corporations that are contributing to widespread adverse health effects? New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg needs much more political support in a ban on oversized sugary drinks that passed in September. We, as consumers, need to invest in food and beverage companies which are making a noticeable effort in promoting and protecting the health of the general population. This might mean looking in areas of the supermarket that where previously alienated. We must turn this alienation on the fast food and junk food industries. It may mean growing more food oneself or using non-caloric natural sweeteners such as stevia when cooking meals in place of sugar. We must turn this alienation on the fast food and junk food industries. Just ask this question: "Who do you want to see go first?"
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. "The Sugar Association's winning campaign (Silver Anvil award for excellence in "the forging of public opinion") had been prompted by a poll showing that consumers had come to see sugar as fattening, and that most doctors suspected it might exacerbate, if not cause, heart disease and diabetes".
. "With an initial annual budget of nearly $800,000 ($3.4 million today) collected from the makers of Dixie Crystals, Domino, C&H, Great Western, and other sugar brands, the association recruited a stable of medical and nutritional professionals to allay the public's fears, brought snack and beverage companies into the fold, and bankrolled scientific papers that contributed to a "highly supportive" FDA ruling, which, the Silver Anvil application boasted, made it "unlikely that sugar will be subject to any legislative restriction in coming years".
. "Research on the suspected links between sugar and chronic disease largely ground to a halt by the late 1980s, and scientists came to view such pursuits as a career dead end. So effective were the Sugar Association's efforts that, to this day, no consensus exists about sugar's potential dangers."
. "Robert Lustig, a leading authority on pediatric obesity at the University of California-San Francisco wrote an article last February in the prestigious Nature journal titled "The Toxic Truth About Sugar". Lustig and two colleagues observed that sucrose and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are addictive in much the same way as cigarettes and alcohol, and that over-consumption of them is driving worldwide epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes (the type associated with obesity). Sugar-related diseases are costing America around $150 billion a year, the authors estimated, so federal health officials need to step up and consider regulating the stuff.
. "The Sugar Association said that the Lustig paper "lacks the scientific evidence or consensus" to support its claims, and its authors were irresponsible not to point out that the full body of science "is inconclusive at best". This inconclusiveness, of course, is precisely what the Sugar Association has worked so assiduously to maintain."
. "Added sugars (including sugars, corn sweeteners, honey and syrups) has rose from 120 lbs in 1980 to 132 lbs in 2010."
. "The % of Americans with diabetes has rose from 2.5% in 1980 to 6.8% in 2010."
. "The % of US children who are obese has rose from 5.5% in 1980 to 16.9% in 2010."
. "The % of US Adults who are obese has rose from 15% in 1980 to 35.7% in 2010."
Here one can clearly witness how deceptive and greedy the Sugar Association, and all its allies have become. Why should consumers continue to support the very corporations that are contributing to widespread adverse health effects? New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg needs much more political support in a ban on oversized sugary drinks that passed in September. We, as consumers, need to invest in food and beverage companies which are making a noticeable effort in promoting and protecting the health of the general population. This might mean looking in areas of the supermarket that where previously alienated. We must turn this alienation on the fast food and junk food industries. It may mean growing more food oneself or using non-caloric natural sweeteners such as stevia when cooking meals in place of sugar. We must turn this alienation on the fast food and junk food industries. Just ask this question: "Who do you want to see go first?"
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