UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour A Sugar Company Fights Back

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour

A Sugar Company Fights Back

The BBC have reported that a sugar company is fighting back against the perceived demonisation of sugar by the media, saying that it is being disproportionately blamed for causing obesity, writes Tom Heyden.

It is true that it has not been a happy couple of years for anybody selling refined sugar. The American doctor Robert Lustig has caught the attention of the international community by suggesting that too much fructose sugar in the diet equates to "poison".

“Sugar is often portrayed as public enemy number one in newspaper headlines and market researchers Mintel have given the deomonisation of sugar as the main reason for a rise in artificial sweeteners used in drinks. It's been implanted in many people's minds that added sugar is behind the obesity epidemic as well as other health problems.

Now sugar producer AB Sugar is fed up with the media's attack. It has launched a campaign called "Making Sense of Sugar", aiming to improve understanding of its product. "Obesity is a complex issue that has no single cause," writes chief executive Mark Carr in an article in the magazine ‘Grocer’.  Sugar has been given "more than its fair share of the blame", he says, considering other factors such as exercise levels and overall consumption of calories. Carr criticises the media's "alarming headlines and confusing advice".

By sugar, health campaigners don't mean the sugar found naturally in complex carbohydrates or fruits. They mean refined sugars, sometimes known as "free sugars", that are added artificially. And there's no doubt that there is serious and growing concern over consumption levels of this type of sugar. The new target set by the World Health Organisation is that sugars added to food and drink, as well as some natural ones - should account for no more than 5% of energy intake – and that is a figure down from 10%. Some nutrition scientists, however, say that isn't far enough and want to see a figure of less than 3%.  

The 5% figure represents 25g of sugar a day. Bearing in mind that a can of Coca Cola contains 35g and that sugar is added to a host of cereals, breads, sauces and ready meals, such a target means big changes in Western diets.

Amanda Thomas

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour

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