Health Concerns Lead to Sugar Regulations in the Food Industry

JOYCE LAM
Editor in Chief

Each day, many food products are consumed, but consumers do not realize the high levels of sugars found in them. High sugar intake is one of the leading causes of obesity, which can also lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes.
At the end of January, health journal Nature published an article titled “Public health: The toxic truth about sugar.” The authors of the article argue that all forms of added sugar, including table sugar and high fructose corn syrup, are just as harmful to human health as alcohol and tobacco. These need to be regulated in order to decrease the risk of chronic illnesses.
According to the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 25.8 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes. These statistics show that a little over eight percent of our population has diabetes.
Moreover, about one in every 400 children and adolescents has diabetes. Diabetes has proven to be a chronic illness in America. In addition to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 33.3 percent of Americans are considered to be obese, and approximately 17 percent of children ages 2-19 are obese. Diabetes and obesity may have some correlation in regards to health factors, and both are gradually increasing in rates.
The need for regulation comes from sugars found in cakes, cookies and regular soda. Natural sugars, found in fruit and milk, are not considered to be a health risk.
“Excess sugars should be regulated because people need to know if there is way too much [in what they are consuming],” senior Eva Moc said. “Though metabolism and genetics play a role in obesity, sugars play a part because [they] may be calories that we do not need.”
Robert H. Lustig, MD, the primary author of the Nature study, argues that excessive consumption of sugar can be linked to health problems, affecting those who are at a healthy weight.
Sugar consumption is a growing issue in America. In conjunction, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that approximately $192 billion will be used for diabetes treatment by 2020.