What's the deal with sugar?

DMcF

I was raised to regard sweet foods as “treats” rather than as “snacks”; and neither “treats” nor “snacks” were regarded as “real food”. I was lucky enough to be relatively unaffected by what I ate, until I turned 60 years old – then my waist filled out much more than I ever wanted. Limiting my sugar & other calories and fats intake has not been particuarly successful in reducing my waistline.

The govt involvement with sugar and any other processed foods ingredients should be to ensure highly visible & complete & EASILY UNDERSTOOD ingredients & nutritional information (like stating “this packet/bottle contains the equivilant of 20 teaspoons of sugar from a variety of ingredients”) – not hidden in an obscure place on the packet in the smallest print they can get away with.

Additionally, part of the school curriculum should include health & nutrition & exercise for a healthy life, as much as having reading, writing & math for basic work skills, and relationships-citizenship-social studies for cooperative communities. However, BOTH parents and schools have rolls to fulfill in all of these, not just one or the other.

If/when the addictive-harmful affects of too much sugar consumption are scientifically validated, as has been shown for tobacco consumption, then govt has a role to implement the control of non-essential use of sugar.

Rather than banning or severely regulating the use of sugar, a more effective strategy might be to create more economic demand for unsweetened or naturally sweetened foods (no added natural sugars nor concentrated product to up the sugar level) – eg: bread without added corn syrup or honey or dextrose or fructose beyond what is minimally necessary for the yeast to rise; sauces without any added sweetening from any source (natural or artifical); peanut butter & hazelnut butter without any added sugars; etc.