How Sweet Are You?

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Americans are drowning in sugar.

In August, 1999 (CSPI) and many other leading health experts and organizations signed and submitted a petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), requiring that food labels declare how much sugar is added to soft drinks, ice cream and other foods.

The petition also asks the FDA to set a maximum recommended daily allowance (RDA) for added sugars and require labels to disclose the percentage of the RDA that a particular food provides.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of CSPI, said in a Washington press conference, "Sugar consumption has been going through the roof. It has increased by 28 percent since 1983, fueling soaring obesity rates and other health problems. It’s vital that the FDA require labels that would enable consumers to monitor?and reduce?their sugar intake."

Marion Nestle, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University, said, "Because sugary foods often replace more healthful foods, diets high in sugar are almost certainly contributing to osteoporosis, cancer, and heart disease."

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) surveys indicate that sugar consumption has steadily increased almost every year since 1982; most of the sugar came from cane/beet sugar and corn syrup/sugar. A large portion of the increase was due to a large consumption of soft drinks.

The USDA advises those on a 2,000-calorie, healthy diet to limit themselves to about 10 teaspoons of added sugars per day. Currently, the average American consumes about 20 teaspoons of added sugars each day and does not eat a healthy diet.