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EDITOR'S COMMENT:

The following post is very long, but contains a wealth of information on all
aspects of refined sugar and why it is so bad for our health. The first
article provides a simple analogy concerning how sugars are processed by the
body; the second article discusses the effect of refined sugar in detail;
the third article provides practical advice for avoiding refined sugar when
purchasing food; and the fourth article discusses how monetary influences
conspire to promote the refined sugar industry while ignoring the growing
evidence that their product is exceedingly harmful to human health.

All four articles come from News Target, which provides "daily news and
commentary on natural health, wellness, planetary health and medicine." They
also publish a very informative newsletter, free of charge:

http://www.newstarget.com/

All four articles are full of links to source documents, news reports, and
related websites and information. Visit the links to the original articles
to view this exhaustive reference material.

--- David Sunfellow

------------

Q&A: WHAT'S THE REAL STORY ABOUT SUGAR?
DOES IT TURN INTO BODY FAT?
HOW DOES IT AFFECT HEALTH?
By Mike Adams
News Target
October 24, 2004

http://www.newstarget.com/002038.html

A reader asks, "What's the real story on using sugar? What does it do to our
body? Does it get turned into fat?"

This is an excellent question, and one that I think applies to almost
everyone. In answering it, I'm going to give you a brief description of the
biochemical events that take place when a person consumes sugar.

In explaining this subject to many people over a period of several years, I
found the most useful metaphor to be that of an automobile engine. Let's
take a Toyota Corolla, one of the most popular cars on the street today. The
Toyota Corolla has an engine that's designed to burn a certain type of fuel.
That fuel, gasoline, has a certain flash point and a given output of power
per gallon of gasoline. There are other fuels that power other types of
vehicles -- for example, jets run on a high-octane petroleum product that
has far more energy per gallon than automobile gasoline. Diesel fuel, on the
other hand, burns more slowly.

So you have different types of fuels for different vehicles. Most people
understand the idea that if you took your Toyota Corolla, drove it down to
the airport, and filled it up on jet fuel, you wouldn't get a faster Toyota
Corolla. Instead, you would get a critically damaged Toyota Corolla engine,
because the fuel would burn too hot, too fast, and it would overpower the
design of the engine. In fact, you probably wouldn't drive more than 10
miles before the engine burned up, and you would have to overhaul the entire
engine in order to drive your car again.

This is sort of what goes on when it comes to the human digestive system and
sugars. The human digestive system was designed to consume foods that are
readily available in the natural surrounding environment. These foods can be
compared to certain types of fuels because each food releases energy at a
given rate during digestion (primarily based on fiber and fructose content).

As an example, let's take a look at an apple. It contains fiber, vitamins
and minerals, and lots of carbohydrates. The carbohydrates are the fuel. But
the carbohydrates are bound up in the fiber of the apple so that it takes
your body a fair amount of time and effort to release those carbohydrates
and convert them into fuel. So you could call the apple a medium-burning
carbohydrate, or in medical terms, it has a lower glycemic index than
straight sugar.

But if you take straight sugar, that is, refined white sugar, which is
something that does not occur naturally in the environment, and you put that
in your mouth, then your body converts that into blood sugar very rapidly.
It's like pouring jet fuel down your throat. This is the same as filling up
your Toyota gas tank with jet fuel and trying to drive away. When you eat
sugar you consume soft drinks (see related ebook on soft drinks) -- which
are even worse because they are liquid sugar -- you are trying to run your
metabolic engine on jet fuel, and the human metabolic engine was not
designed to run on jet fuel.

So what happens? When you first consume any sort of refined sugars or
refined carbohydrates (like white flour), the digestion process begins
immediately -- in fact, it begins even before you swallow the foods. There
are digestive enzymes in your saliva that go to work on these sugars and
start converting them into blood sugar, even before they hit your stomach.
Once they're in your stomach, they are mixed with acidic digestive juices
and physically churned through stomach muscle contractions so that it
creates a liquid paste. This liquid, sugary paste is then very easily
absorbed through the intestinal walls, causing a rapid spike in blood sugar
levels.

So your blood sugar, which might have been around 80 or 90 before you drank
the soft drink or ate that candy bar, now suddenly starts spiking up to 150
or 200, or perhaps even higher. This creates an emergency situation in your
body. High blood sugar is very dangerous for human beings. If it is allowed
to continue, it will cause symptoms that are more classically known as
diabetic neuropathy, which means the nerves that feed various limbs in your
body (feet, mostly) start to die. Diabetics who maintain high blood sugar
over a long period of time often have to have their feet amputated because
the nerves in their feet are wasting away.

------------

SUGAR, HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP AND TYPE II DIABETES
By Jessica Fraser
News Target
July 7, 2005

http://www.newstarget.com/009333.html

Sugar and refined carbohydrates are undeniably linked to diabetes.
Researchers around the world have come to the conclusion that the
consumption of refined sugar is detrimental to the health of people without
diabetes and disastrous for those with it. Furthermore, excess sugar in the
blood can cause the onset of type 2 diabetes. First, however, what exactly
is diabetes?

According to Bruce Fife ND, "Diabetes is all about sugar -- the sugar in our
bodies known as blood sugar or blood glucose. Every cell in our bodies must
have a constant source of glucose in order to fuel metabolism. Our cells use
glucose to power processes such as growth and repair. When we eat a meal the
digestive system converts much of our food into glucose, which is released
into the bloodstream. The hormone insulin, which is secreted by the pancreas
gland, moves glucose from the blood and funnels it into the cells so it can
be used as fuel. If the cells are unable to get adequate amounts of glucose,
they can literally starve to death. As they do, tissues and organs begin to
degenerate. This is what happens in diabetes."

Obesity largely contributes to the inability of cells to obtain sufficient
amounts of glucose, according to "Green Tea" author Nadine Taylor. Taylor
writes that too many fat cells crowd the other cells in the body and make it
difficult for insulin to reach its destination. According to Ralph T. Golan,
90 percent of type 2 diabetes sufferers are obese, a result directly linked
to poor dietary choices and a sedentary lifestyle. Michael Castleman, author
of "Blended Medicine," says, "Type 2 diabetes is strongly associated with a
lack of exercise and a poor diet -- one that's low in fiber and high in
sugar, fat and animal products. It develops slowly, usually over several
years, and rarely produces dramatic symptoms. For this reason, many people
with type 2 diabetes have no idea that they are sick. In fact, the American
Diabetes Association estimates that only half of Americans with type 2
diabetes have been diagnosed."

Sugar is so detrimental to human health that many believe it would fail the
FDA approval process if such a hypothetical attempt were made. Refined white
flour would fare no better. Both are nutritionally empty substances.
According to Dr. Robert C. Atkins, founder of the popular Atkins diet,
"Sugar has no nutritional value and is directly harmful to your health.
Despite vociferous attempts to defend it, there are studies that clearly
show how harmful (and even deadly in the case of diabetics) its effects can
be." According to Nancy Appleton, PhD, author of "Lick the Sugar Habit,"
there are 78 metabolic consequences of consuming sugar. Since the Life
Extension Foundation estimates that the average American consumes more than
150 pounds of sugar per year, those 78 metabolic consequences can be
considerable.

Phyllis A. Balch, author of "Prescription for Dietary Wellness," says this
excessive consumption of sugar, especially by today's youth, has experts
calling the recent dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes among adolescents an
"emerging epidemic." In Balch's book, sports nutritionist Bill Misner says
that sugar is "devoid of vitamins, minerals and fiber." Furthermore, as a
result of its deterioration of the endocrine system, "major researchers and
major health organizations agree that sugar consumption in America is one of
the three major causes of degenerative disease."

This is not surprising, considering that 150 pounds of sugar per year breaks
down to the intake of 550 to 650 calories a day in sugar alone, according to
Balch. In fact, the Tufts University Health and Nutrition (see related ebook
on nutrition) Letter states that Americans spent $21 billion on candy alone
in 2001, which is more than the gross national products of Lithuania, Costa
Rica, and Mozambique combined. That amount of money can buy unimaginable
amounts of sugar, which in turn does unimaginable harm to the people who
consume it.

Balch goes on to say, "One in twenty of the world's adult population now has
some form of diabetes, a disease associated with obesity, poor eating habits
and a sedentary lifestyle. More than half of American adults are overweight.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relates that the
incidence of Type 2 diabetes has risen by 33 percent in the past decade and
three out of every 50 American adults currently have this diet-related
condition. Complications related to diabetes are the sixth-leading cause of
death in the United States."

Diabetes, however, is really only one of the numerous consequences of
over-consuming sugar. Dr. John Yudkin, a leading authority on dietary
sugars, says that the detrimental effects of excess sugar in the diet go far
beyond rotting teeth and obesity. "For example," Yudkin says, "Sugar causes
irregularities in the insulin response; Sugar causes diabetes-like damage to
the kidneys; it contributes to degeneration of the retina; it raises blood
fat levels and it increases the stickiness of the blood platelets, a common
precursor of heart trouble."

"Alternative Cures" author Bill Gottlieb writes, "Excess sugar in the blood
damages the arteries and veins and can lead to fatal heart disease and
stroke. The death rate for middle-aged people with type 2 diabetes is twice
that of middle-aged people who do not have it." Gottlieb adds, "The glut of
sugar can also cause kidney disease, eye problems, and severe nerve damage
to the lower limbs and other parts of the body."

Heart and kidney diseases indicate a weakened immune system, which is
damaged by excessive sugar intake. The damage doesn't stop at the immune
system. The negative effects of a sugar-filled diet spread to the nervous
system as well. "Food Swings" author Barnet Meltzer says, "White refined
sugar is also a culprit in everything from common colds and flu, bronchitis,
sinus infections and digestive difficulties to breast cancer, Alzheimer's
disease and Candida. By weakening the immune system, it increases the risk
of degenerative illnesses and infections. In addition to imbalancing the
pancreas and liver, it also attacks the central nervous system. It kills
brain cells."

While heart trouble, kidney disease, and the flu are bad enough conditions
to suffer through, far more dire consequences await diabetics who do nothing
to control their disease. "Fat Land" author Greg Crister explains, "The
obese diabetic may first notice strange things happening to his or her feet;
they may tingle, or they may be numb. When they are bruised or scratched,
they may take a long time to heal. This is because excess sugar in the blood
has damaged vital nerve endings and, in the worst case, caused
atherosclerosis, leading to reduced blood flow to the limbs. The consequent
numbness can mask a severe injury, which can become infected, eventually
leading to gangrene and amputation." Gottlieb writes in "Alternative Cures"
that more than 50 percent of the lower limb amputations in the United States
each year are performed on people with diabetes.

On a somewhat different end of the spectrum of health matters implicitly
associated with diabetes are sexual drive and performance. In "Food and
Healing," author Anne Marie Colbin states, "There is some evidence that a
high consumption of sugar-sweetened foods may lead not only to impotence and
premature ejaculation, but to unrealistic sexual attitudes and expectations,
strong urges, strange fantasies and even crimes of sexual violence."

Since the tendency to consume sweet, sugary foods in large quantities is so
deeply ingrained in the eating habits of Americans, a quick answer for
diabetics and those at risk of developing the disease seems to be sugar-free
artificial sweeteners, such as NutraSweet or Equal. However, the Life
Extension Foundation states in "Disease Prevention and Treatment" that
consuming aspartame poses a potential health hazard, although the matter is
highly debated. "Sugar-sweetened soft drinks and confections are not
permissible for prediabetic or diabetic patients, but the alternative,
artificially sweetened beverages and foodstuffs, may not be either.
Allegations have implicated aspartame as a potential risk factor for several
disordersŠMany artificial sweeteners marketed as a sugar substitute may
actually contain sugar, masquerading as dextrose and maltodextrin."

Today, while products containing artificial sweeteners touted as
"sugar-free" line U.S. grocery shelves, the problem in the 1980s and 1990s
came in the form of "fat-free" and "low-fat" products. Atkins says that
because the fat had been either completely or partially removed from the
products, they no longer tasted good. To compensate for the lack of fat,
companies packed their "fat-free" or "low-fat" products full of sugar. Where
sugar is consumed, obesity is soon to follow, and diabetes will be on
obesity's heels. "The United States has 'low-fatted' and 'dieted' itself to
a raging epidemic of obesity and diabetes," said Atkins. Joseph L. Pizzorno
and Michael T. Murray, authors of "The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine,"
sum the problem up nicely: "The human body was not designed to handle the
amount of refined sugar, salt, saturated fats, and other harmful food
compounds that many people in the United States and other Western countries
feed it."

You might wonder how people can possibly consume so much sugar, but it's not
difficult, according to William Duffy, author of "Sugar Blues." Duffy says,
"Man-refined sugar is eight times as concentrated as flour, and eight times
as unnatural -- perhaps eight times as dangerous. It is the unnaturalness
that deceives the tongue and appetite, leading to over-consumption. Who
would eat five pounds of sugar beets a day? Yet the equivalent in refined
sugar is a mere five ounces."

If refined sugar is so dangerous, even in small amounts, what can diabetics
and obese people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes do to avoid it?
First, turn to natural sweets like fruit. The natural sugar found in fruit
and honey is fructose, which is much healthier than refined white sugar.
However, commercially sold fructose, better known as high-fructose corn
syrup, should be avoided, as it can contain up to 55 percent sucrose, which
requires insulin to metabolize.

Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins, authors of "Prescription Alternatives,"
blame our nation's sharp rise in diabetes on increased consumption of
high-fructose corn syrup and the resulting depletion of chromium in the
body. Chromium is important in helping glucose pass from the bloodstream
into the cells. Mindell and Hopkins say that studies done at the US
Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Resource Center reveal that
consuming fructose in this form causes chromium levels to drop, in turn
raising LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and impairing immune system
function. "As our consumption of high fructose corn syrup has risen 250
percent in the past 15 years, our rate of diabetes has increased
approximately 45 percent in about the same time period," said Mindell.

"Reversing Diabetes" author Julian Whitaker warns that consuming some
natural sweeteners still poses a threat to diabetics. "You might think that
replacing white sugar with honey, molasses, and other 'healthy' sweeteners
is the way to go. Unfortunately, just like refined white sugar, almost all
natural sweeteners have a high glycemic index and provoke a sharp glucose
release. The one 'natural' sweetener that is low on the glycemic index is
fructose." Unfortunately for diabetics, sugar in almost all its forms can
pose problems. Balch offers the following advice in "Prescription for
Dietary Wellness": "The risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer
can be reduced through the simple act of substituting whole grains for
refined grains. Refined foods such as white flour and white rice are
stripped of the fiber and nutrients that whole grains still possess. The
first word on the label must be whole -- don't be fooled by artificial brown
or caramel coloring."

In addition to avoiding all refined sugars and flours, "Graedons Best
Medicine" authors Joe and Dr. Terasa Graedon recommend that diabetics and
obese people avoid fats. "Fat, especially saturated fat, may be as dangerous
for diabetics as sugar. Frequent small meals and the use of olive oil
instead of butter or cheese may help control blood sugar and cholesterol
levels." Laurie Deutsch Mozian recommends in "Foods That Fight Disease" that
diabetics and obese dieters eat small, healthy meals more frequently.
"People with diabetes should eat at least three meals a day at regular
intervals to keep their blood sugar levels within normal range. Meals and
snacks that combine carbohydrates with proteins or fats will have the
longest-lasting effects on blood sugar levels because protein and fat take
longer to raise blood sugar than carbohydrates do."

According to James Howenstein, author of "A Physician's Guide to Natural
Health Products that Work," "Diabetes was a very rare illness in the United
States in 1880, with only 2.8 persons out of every 100,000 having diabetes.
Now at least 10 percent of the populace has diabetes, and when you look for
early signs of diabetes, that number is certain to be much higher." Mindell
and Hopkins illustrate America's problem with obesity and diabetes by
comparing the U.S. to countries that rely on natural, unrefined food
sources. "In countries where people eat a diet low in fat and sugar and high
in whole foods such as unrefined grains and fresh fruits and vegetables,
diabetes is almost nonexistent. When they move to the U.S., their diabetes
risk skyrockets. Tragically, as Western "nutrition free" processed and fast
foodsŠare introduced to Third World countries, their rates of diabetes are
rapidly rising. It is estimated that by the year 2010, some 40 percent of
Americans 65 or older will have adult-onset diabetes (type 2 diabetes)."

To attain enhanced states of health, diabetics and people at risk of
developing it must learn to drastically cut back, or completely eliminate,
their sugar and refined white flour intake by being conscious of the
ingredients in the products they consume and knowing how those ingredients
effect their bodies.

------------

ATKINS TRIES TO EDUCATE CONSUMERS ABOUT ADDED SUGARS
News Target
September 26, 2005

http://www.newstarget.com/011879.html

Given that the average individual consumes 158 pounds of sugar a year, many
health proponents at Atkins are educating the population to read the labels
on their power bars and energy drinks. Often, "energy" and "health" bars are
twice as sugary as donuts and include dangerous processed (white) sugars. If
you enjoy this article, you may also be interested in an article entitled
'American Diabetes Association peddling nutritional nonsense while accepting
money from manufacturer of candy and sodas.'

See more articles like this one at:
http://www.PoisonPantry.org

Original news summary:
http://sheknows.com/about/look/5426.htm

- The next time you seek an "energy boost" from one of your favorite
nutrition bars, think about this fact: a chocolate peanut butter PowerBar
Performance bar is packed with 20 grams of sugars (contributing to this are
the added sugars high fructose corn syrup with grape and pear juice
concentrate).

- Nutritionist Colette Heimowitz, MSc, vice president of education and
research for Atkins Health & Medical Information Services, believes
consumers need to consider whether the consumption of added sugars is really
good for them.

- Heimowitz has very clear advice on this matter for consumers -- know what
is in the foods you are eating and don't rely on marketing slogans.

- "We believe, and emerging science confirms, a high refined carbohydrate
diet, particularly one that includes a significant amount of added sugars,
in a variety of forms, contributes to many health-related concerns. Thus,
it's crucial to read the labels on all packaged foods," she says.

- Many Americans believe that if a product is labeled "low-fat" or
"low-carb" or includes the words "health" or "healthy," it must be good for
them.

- However, this conclusion is not always true and with just the slightest
bit of effort, consumers can begin to make wise food choices.

- Consumers must read both the Nutrition Facts label and the list of
ingredients to find added sugars.

- If the product is labeled "low-carb," be sure there are no added sugars;
moreover, if it contains sugar alcohols, be sure they don't exceed 20 grams,
which can cause some people gastrointestinal discomfort.

- Identifying added sugar The Nutrition Facts panel will tell you whether
there are sugar grams in a product, but it does not separate added sugars
from those that are naturally occurring and integral to the product.

------------

THE POLITICS OF SUGAR:
WHY YOUR GOVERNMENT LIES TO YOU ABOUT THIS DISEASE-PROMOTING INGREDIENT
By Dani Veracity
July 21, 2005

http://www.newstarget.com/009797.html

Most people know about the massive sugar intake in the United States.
Despite the warnings of dental and healthcare professionals, the average
American consumes 150 pounds of sugar per year. However, not everyone knows
about the hand the sugar industry, or "Big Sugar," has in nutrition
guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Fewer still know of
sugar companies' stronghold on U.S. import taxes, which puts $1 billion in
excess profits into the pockets of American sugar barons. While the white
stuff doesn't seem as dangerous as tobacco, the two industries employ
similar political and research tactics to keep the dangers of their products
out of the minds of the public.

Obesity claims more lives and drains more of the healthcare budget than
smoking. Obesity is linked to diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, stroke and
certain cancers. It inflates healthcare costs by 36 percent and medication
costs by 77 percent. Not only are people suffering from the negative effects
of sugar; they're paying big money to be treated for these debilitating
diseases that result from it.

Given the obvious stress on hospitals, the U.S. Surgeon General has urged
the nation to cut back on sugar and fats. Dr. Meir Stampfer, professor of
epidemiology and nutrition (see related ebook on nutrition) at the Harvard
School of Public Health insists that "any plan dealing with obesity has to
take on sugar."

What are the major corroborators in America's sugar consumption? Sweet
drinks and sodas. One study noted that soft drink consumption has risen by
61 percent in adults from 1977 to 1997, while it has more than doubled in
children and adolescents from 1977­1978 to 1994­1998. As a result, many
parents are trying to get soft drink machines taken out of public and
private schools. In fact, New Jersey recently prohibited snack and soda
vendors from all school grounds.

What has the sugar industry done in response to the obvious dangers their
product poses? They do what any industry does: Hide the facts, then
fabricate their own. One trick up Big Sugar's sleeve is hiding nutritional
information on food and drink packages. In order to consume 150 pounds of
sugar per year, Americans have to eat a teaspoon of sugar per hour every 24
hours, seven days a week. Obviously, we don't actually chew on teaspoons of
sugar. Instead, many people unknowingly consume food and drinks containing
ridiculous amounts of sugar. But don't expect labels to help you determine
how much sugar is added. Sugar has all sorts of names: dextrose, glucose,
fructose, lactose, corn syrup, maple sugar, honey, invert sugar or malt. In
2002, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) petitioned the
FDA to require food manufacturers to clearly label the amount of added
sugar. The petition failed. Michael Jacobson, director of CSPI, attributes
this to the powerful sugar lobby.

Big Sugar not only hides the real amount of sugar in foods, they also use
their influence to mask the health dangers of sugar in dietary guidelines.
Marion Nestle in Food Politics describes how vulnerable dietary guidelines
are to the sugar industry's political maneuverings. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) 2005 Guidelines were recently rephrased from "limit your
intake of added sugars" -- a guideline that has been in place for the past
five years -- to "moderate your intake of sugars."

While this change appears harmless at first, a closer look at the
definitions of the words "limit" and "moderate" explains why Big Sugar
invested so much money into the USDA amendment. "Moderate" denotatively
means "not excessive or extreme" or "of medium quality." The revised wording
suggests that we should eat some sugar -- that a medium amount of sugar is
good for you -- but beware of over-indulgence. "Limit," on the other hand,
is a much more decisive word. To limit sugar intake implies that we're
already eating too much and we need to cut it out of our diet. These slight
rhetorical nuances aren't a mistake. Big Sugar poured big money into masking
the dangers of American sugar intake.

How did Big Sugar engineer this change? The rich sugar barons certainly
weren't knocking on the doors of USDA scientists. They accomplished all of
this with sizable political donations. Between 1997 and 1999, The Flo-Sun
sugar company made 21 donations ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 to
congressional campaign committees. That's a total of $202,500 to Democrats
and $147,500 to Republicans. Those numbers have only gone up in the last
five years. During the 2004 election cycle, two Florida sugar companies gave
a total of $925,000 to election coffers. With so much money pouring into the
hands of lawmakers, it's no wonder they're willing to overlook a little word
change in USDA regulations.

Another powerful tool wielded by Big Sugar: Skewed science. The World Sugar
Research Organization and the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI)
are just two sugar-funded science institutes that stand by their claim that
sugar is good for you. Last year these organizations were charged with
paying off the Expert Consultation on Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition,
effectively botching the World Health Organization's research on sugar and
its health effects.

It seems the sugar lobby has much more political clout than most are willing
to admit. But how exactly did they become so powerful? Their pervasive
influence could be explained by the inflated prices Americans pay for sugar.
The government restricts cheap sugar imports into the United States, thereby
tripling the price of sugar to US consumers. As a result, Big Sugar earns $1
billion a year in excess profits they otherwise would not have. Where does
that money go? I can assure you that it's not paying for America's growing
healthcare burden.

............

THE EXPERTS SPEAK ON THE POLITICS OF SUGAR

"Dietary guidelines necessarily are political compromises between what
science tells us about nutrition and health and what is good for the food
industry."

Food Politics by Marion Nestle, page 441

...

"More recently, a study of the connection between PAC contributions and
congressional votes on sugar subsidies indicated that the largest
contributions from sugar PACs had gone to members who voted for the
subsidies and that the larger the PAC contribution, the more likely the
members were to support industry positions. Month-by-month analyses of the
history of legislation on sugar and peanut subsidies demonstrate an increase
in contributions to both parties just prior to votes. Because PACs give more
money to legislators who are more likely to vote for their interests,
researchers conclude that PACŠ"

Food Politics by Marion Nestle, page 105

...

"Even consumers who read food labels may not realize when sugar is added to
products because it comes in forms like high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose,
and maltose. Three years ago, the Center for Science in the Public Interest
(CSPI) petitioned the FDA to require food manufacturers to clearly label the
amount of added sugar, but no action has been taken. Michael Jacobson,
director of CSPI, attributes the delay to lobbying by the powerful sugar and
sweetener industries. The sugar Association lobbied the USDA to change the
wording of the current dietary guidelines on sugar, hence consumers are
asked to use 'moderation' rather than "limit" their sugar intake."

Food Fight by Kelly Brownell and Katherine Battle Horgen, page 31

..

"The 1996 law attempted to bar elected officials and their staff from
accepting vacations paid for by special-interest groups, but loopholes
remained: members of Congress could take trips paid for by corporate
lobbyists if the event was sponsored by a political party, was a
fact-finding mission, or was a conference at which the member was an invited
speaker. In 1996-1997, 87 senators, 356 representatives, and 2,020 of their
staff employees took paid trips worth about $8.6 million. The leading
recipient of trips paid for by the meat industry, for example, had gone on
26 of them worth $18,550. Two agriculture concerns -- the Florida sugar Cane
League and the sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida -- were ranked 9th
(44 trips) and 12th (39 trips), respectively, among the 20 leading sponsors
of congressional travel that year."

Food Politics by Marion Nestle, page 108

...

"In these two instances, financial contributions bought access to government
officials and resulted in policies favorable to donors. Given that level of
connection, it is understandable that agency officials would not want to do
battle over a matter so seemingly trivial as the use of the verb moderate
rather than limit in guidelines about sugar consumption. The job of food
lobbyists is to make sure that the government (1) does nothing to impede
clients from selling more of their products and (2) does as much as possible
to create a supportive sales environment. We have seen that they accomplish
this goal most effectively through personal contacts established through the
revolving door, as well as through financial contributions. In the next
chapter, we will see how food companies engage food and nutrition
professionals in marketing campaigns by encouraging them to emphasize the
health benefits of products or to minimize potentially adverse effects."

Food Politics by Marion Nestle, page 435

------------

RELATED NHNE NEWS LIST ARTICLES:

STUDY LINKS ASPARTAME WITH CANCERS (10/4/2005):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/10081

SUGARY SOFT DRINKS RAISE RISK OF DIABETES (9/6/2004):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/7831

ASPARTAME FOLLOW UP (2/11/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/2694

THE DARK SIDE OF ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS (2/11/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/2690

THE DARK SIDE OF PROCESSED FOODS (1/18/2001):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/1055

------------

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Published by David Sunfellow
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Sedona, AZ 86339