Admit it. A lot of us have been raised on the artificially sweetened delights of the American pantry: Soda. Candy. Donuts. Health advocates have sounded the alarm for years (sugar-coating?), but with obesity rates on the rise among the youth, the issue is getting down right controversial.
The latest and most powerful volley comes from a trio of scientists that say the sweet stuff should be regulated just like alcohol and tobacco. In a new and controversial study published in the February 4 issue of Nature magazine, health experts Laura Schmidt, Claire Brindis and Robert Lustig say it’s time to wage war on sugar addiction and the perception of “empty calories.”
But the food industry is ready for the fight. The Sugar Association, in a statement on its website, rebuffed several assertions in the study.
"We consider it irresponsible when health professionals use their platforms to instill fear by using words like 'diabetes,' 'cancer,' and even 'death,' without so much as one disclaimer about the fact that the incomplete science being referenced is inconclusive at best," the association said.
In a press release on the the University of California, San Francisco website, where Lustig serves as pediatrics professor and director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health Program, he counters, “As long as the public thinks that sugar is just ‘empty calories,’ we have no chance in solving this.” He continued: “Sugar is toxic beyond its calories.”
Schmidt, in an opinion piece on CNN.com, says, “Many of the health hazards of drinking too much alcohol, such as high blood pressure and fatty liver, are the same as those for eating too much sugar. When you think about it, this actually makes a lot of sense. Alcohol, after all, is simply the distillation of sugar. Where does vodka come from? Sugar.”
Along with the high fructose-producing Corn Refiners Association, the American Beverage Association has lobbed a missile as well. In a blog post titled "Watch Out for the Food Police!” the group castigates the group's research with a tongue-in-cheek intro: “Put down that pudding pop. And drop your peanut butter! Step away from the jelly – slowly.”
“We’re not talking prohibition,” Schmidt said in the release. “We’re not advocating a major imposition of the government into people’s lives. We’re talking about gentle ways to make sugar consumption slightly less convenient."
HLN readers, what do you think? Is regulation of sugar the answer to control public health?
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