Marketing Scoops

Illustration by Sam Taylor

A few months ago, I was in a cinema queue behind a man whose two sons were asking if they could have Tango Ice Blasts – bright blue frozen slushy drinks – to go with their tubs of sweet popcorn. The father stalled for a moment. They’d already had too much sugary stuff that day, he said. “But it’s sugar-free,” replied one of the boys. That sealed the deal. The boys walked off happily into the cinema holding their drinks…….Continue reading….

By Bee Wilson

Source: The Guardian

Critics:

Sugar refiners and manufacturers of sugary foods and drinks have sought to influence medical research and public health recommendations, with substantial and largely clandestine spending documented from the 1960s to 2016. The results of research on the health effects of sugary food and drink differ significantly, depending on whether the researcher has financial ties to the food and drink industry.

A 2013 medical review concluded that “unhealthy commodity industries should have no role in the formation of national or international NCD [non-communicable disease] policy”. Similar efforts to steer coverage of sugar-related health information have been made in popular media, including news media and social media. A 2003 technical report by the World Health Organization (WHO) provides evidence that high intake of sugary drinks (including fruit juice) increases the risk of obesity by adding to overall energy intake.

By itself, sugar is doubtfully a factor causing obesity and metabolic syndrome. Meta-analysis showed that excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages increased the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome – including weight gain and obesity – in adults and children. Sugar consumption does not directly cause cancer. Cancer Council Australia have stated that “there is no evidence that consuming sugar makes cancer cells grow faster or cause cancer”.

There is an indirect relationship between sugar consumption and obesity-related cancers through increased risk of excess body weight. The American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund recommend that people limit sugar consumption. There is a popular misconception that cancer can be treated by reducing sugar and carbohydrate intake to supposedly “starve” tumours. In reality, the health of people with cancer is best served by maintaining a healthy diet.

Despite some studies suggesting that sugar consumption causes hyperactivity, the quality of evidence is low and it is generally accepted within the scientific community that the notion of children’s ‘sugar rush’ is a myth. A 2019 meta-analysis found that sugar consumption does not improve mood, but can lower alertness and increase fatigue within an hour of consumption.

One review of low-quality studies of children consuming high amounts of energy drinks showed association with higher rates of unhealthy behaviors, including smoking and excessive alcohol use, and with hyperactivity and insomnia, although such effects could not be specifically attributed to sugar over other components of those drinks such as caffeine.

The WHO, Action on Sugar and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) consider free sugars an essential dietary factor in the development of dental caries. WHO have stated that “dental caries can be prevented by avoiding dietary free sugars”. A review of human studies showed that the incidence of caries is lower when sugar intake is less than 10% of total energy consumed. Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is associated with an increased risk of tooth decay.

The “empty calories” argument states that a diet high in added (or ‘free’) sugars will reduce consumption of foods that contain essential nutrients. This nutrient displacement occurs if sugar makes up more than 25% of daily energy intake, a proportion associated with poor diet quality and risk of obesity. Displacement may occur at lower levels of consumption. The WHO recommends that both adults and children reduce the intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake, and suggests a reduction to below 5%.

“Free sugars” include monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods, and sugars found in fruit juice and concentrates, as well as in honey and syrups. According to the WHO, “[t]hese recommendations were based on the totality of available evidence reviewed regarding the relationship between free sugars intake and body weight (low and moderate quality evidence) and dental caries (very low and moderate quality evidence).”

On 20 May 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced changes to the Nutrition Facts panel displayed on all foods, to be effective by July 2018. New to the panel is a requirement to list “added sugars” by weight and as a percent of Daily Value (DV). For vitamins and minerals, the intent of DVs is to indicate how much should be consumed. For added sugars, the guidance is that 100% DV should not be exceeded. 100% DV is defined as 50 grams.

For a person consuming 2000 calories a day, 50 grams is equal to 200 calories and thus 10% of total calories—the same guidance as the WHO.^[151] To put this in context, most 12-US-fluid-ounce (355 ml) cans of soda contain 39 grams of sugar. In the United States, a government survey on food consumption in 2013–2014 reported that, for men and women aged 20 and older, the average total sugar intakes—naturally occurring in foods and added—were, respectively, 125 and 99 g/day.

Manufacturers of sugary products, such as soft drinks and candy, and the Sugar Research Foundation have been accused of trying to influence consumers and medical associations in the 1960s and 1970s by creating doubt about the potential health hazards of sucrose overconsumption, while promoting saturated fat as the main dietary risk factor in cardiovascular diseases.

In 2016, the criticism led to recommendations that diet policymakers emphasize the need for high-quality research that accounts for multiple biomarkers on development of cardiovascular diseases.

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