How much fucking sugar is enough?

[mhendo]

Before i get to the point, let me say this: i am one of the world’s great sweet-tooth people. If it’s sweet and/or full of sugar, chances are pretty good that i’ll like it and eat plenty of it. Chocotate, candy, ice-cream, cakes, desserts, you name it.

That said, i’m aware that eating too much sugar is not the healthiest thing in the world to do. And that’s why i take issue with the sugar industry’s latest lobbying push.

The sugar industry in the United States is threatening to bring the World Health Organisation to its knees by asking Congress to stop funding the body unless it scraps guidelines on healthy eating due to be published tomorrow.

The threat is described by WHO insiders as tantamount to blackmail and worse than any pressure by the tobacco lobby.

In a letter to the WHO director-general, Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Sugar Association says it will “exercise every avenue available to expose the dubious nature” of the WHO’s report on diet and nutrition. This includes a challenge to its $US406 million ($660 million) funding from the US.

“Taxpayers’ dollars should not be used to support misguided, non-science-based reports which do not add to the health and wellbeing of Americans, much less the rest of the world,” the letter says. The association and six other food industry groups have written to the US Health Secretary, Tommy Thompson, asking him to use his influence to get the WHO report withdrawn. The coalition includes the US Council for International Business, comprising more than 300 companies, including Coca-Cola and Pepsico.

<snip>

The WHO rejects the sugar lobby’s criticisms. An official said a team of 30 independent experts had considered the scientific evidence and its conclusions were in line with the findings of 23 national reports.

A sidebar to the article has the following to say about the WHO’s position on healthy levels of sugar, and the sugar lobby’s figures.

*The WHO guidelines say sugar should account for no more than 10 per cent of a healthy diet.

*The sugar industry claims the limit is scientifically flawed. It insists that a quarter of our food and drink intake can safely consist of sugar.

A quarter? What the fuck? Even as a hardened sweet food consumer, i was surprised at the 10% level approved by the WHO, because i don’t think that sugar would make up more than 10% of my daily food intake (although it probably represents more than 10% of the calories). But 25% ? I’m no nutritionist, but that seems pretty damned crazy to me.

[Maximum_C]

What, dont you have a sugar lick where you work?

-C

[Ike_Witt]

In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power and then you get the women.

[Eonwe]

If John Entwistle were still around he would never have let the WHO stoop to this.
Seriously, that peeves me too. Just another reason to make me jaded at the way our government works. The sugar lobby wants the US to stop funding the World Health Organization because of something it said about sugar? WTF! I guess this means the WHO is an evil evil body that deserves to stop functioning because they said that too much sugar isn’t good for you. People can be such short-sighted, money-grubbing pricks sometimes.

[scout1222]

What saddens me is that our national dietary guidelines are the way they are precisely for these same reasons.

The food producers, agribusiness, etc. have such clout, that the government can’t seem to make any kind of commonsense guideline that doesn’t piss someone off.

So unfortunately I’m not at all surprised.

[Avalonian]

Jeez… does the sugar industry really think this political grandstanding is necessary? Are they hurting these days?

Seems to me that Americans consume plenty of sugar as it is, most likely more than they should, and this already in the face of what’s advised to them almost daily from their dentists, their doctors, nutritionists, and on Oprah. Is the sugar industry really this concerned with the WHO report?

I guess me going on a diet hit them harder than they expected.

[pZott]

<Dr. Nick>
“…and instead using bread for a sandwich, use Pop-Tarts!!”

</Dr. Nick>

[purgepro]

If we dig deep enough we’ll find that Willy Wonka’s evil genius is behind the whole thing. Poor uumpa loompas.

[Ego_Mk2]

Too bad the sugar lobby can’t halt funding to the IMF or the World Bank, but that’s the subject of another pit thread!

PS I eat too much salt, not too much sugar. Unfortunately for me hot sauce/mustard/condiments in general usually contain obscene amounts of salt.

[Swampwolf]

*Originally posted by Eonwe *
If John Entwistle were still around he would never have let the WHO stoop to this.

Perhaps…but Pete keeps trying to give lots and lots of candy to little girls.

[Mr.Cynical]

I don’t know about Sugar, but my wife uses so much Equal in her coffee, they had to start calling it Greater Than.

[Nanoda]

I’ve got granulated sugar… and icing sugar… but I think I’m all out of fucking sugar.

I can’t believe there’s a sugar lobby. And whats with the threats? Sugar doesn’t seem to have made them sweet. Exactly how many senators are under the sticky thumb of Big Sugar?

[LouisB]

The sugar cane growers in Florida are largely responsible for seriously damaging the Everglades. Now they are trying very hard to extend the deadline on a Glades clean-up project. Responding to charges that they are trying to renege on the project, they respond by saying they contribute more money to the fund than anyone else—problem is, they are required by law to be the major contributors to the fund, since they are the major polluters. For some reason, they neglect to mention this. These growers are, by all accounts, some of the wealthiest people in the country and have acheived their exalted status by virtue of government subsidies and by the ruthless exploitation of imported labor.

As to the OP, there is no such thing as enough sugar, fucking or otherwise. I personally believe that sugar could account for a minimum of 50% of my diet–who needs teeth when they can have sugar?