How ‘toxic’ is sugar?

10 years ago | Posted in: Health | 910 Views

Emerging research suggests that sugar may be linked to deadly diseases, but Health Canada’s current food labelling regulations make it tough for Canadians to get an easy picture of how much of the sweet substance they are consuming — and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon.

The groundbreaking and controversial research explored by the CBC’sthe fifth estate in its season premiere tonight links sugar to diseases ranging from diabetes to cancer and Alzheimer’s.

“Sugar is toxic beyond its calories,” Dr. Robert Lustig, an expert on childhood obesity at the University of California, San Francisco, told the fifth estate’s Gillian Findlay.

While Canadians have become used to warnings about the dangers of consuming too much fat or salt, nutrition labels on food have never included recommended daily limits specifically for sugar.

Health Canada does not have a recommended limit for how much sugar Canadians should consume in a day.

A representative of Food and Consumer Products of Canada, an industry organization that represents the largest food companies in the country, says it sees “no need” for a recommended daily limit on sugar intake.

Health Canada declined numerous requests by the fifth estate for an interview, but former Health Canada employees did speak off the record, and said the department does not think that sugar should be singled out as a major culprit behind chronic diseases. see more

source: cbcnews

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