Sugar Is Safe and Useful Part of Balanced Diet

In a 15-page letter to the Secretaries of the the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, The Sugar Association supports its view that sugar in moderation is “a safe and useful part of a balanced diet and healthful lifestyle.”

The letter – authored by Andy Briscoe, president and CEO of The Sugar Association – draws its conclusions from a “preponderance of scientific evidence” and the organization’s ongoing work monitoring nutrition science and educating consumers about sugar’s role in a healthy diet. It will be used to help determine the “2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”

Andy Briscoe, president and CEO of The Sugar Association.

Briscoe contends that dietary advice that says food is less healthy just because it contains sugar is misleading and not science based.

“All-natural sugar/sucrose is a valuable ingredient worldwide,” says Briscoe. “Sugar is used in food not only because it provides sweet taste, but sugar also provides essential functional properties required in food formulation, especially the microbiological safety required in today’s global food supply.”

The Sugar Association’s message comes at an important time, when awareness and concern over obesity grow. Briscoe says that according to scientific literature, there is no causal link between sugar intake and obesity.

Here are some key findings submitted by The Sugar Association to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC), as well as comments on the DGAC’s preliminary report:

• Every comprehensive review of the scientific literature concludes that, with the exception of dental caries, no causal link can be established between the intake of sugars and lifestyle diseases, including obesity.
• The DGAC cited no scientific evidence proving a verifiable correlation between amounts of sugars consumed and a verifiable negative health impact.
• Scientific evidence finds no direct inverse association between micronutrient intake and sugars content because sugars make many healthy foods palatable, which increases intakes of many of the essential micronutrients whose intakes the public is advised to increase and, more importantly, discounts the fundamental influence of total diet.
• Intake, as well as food supply data, confirms sugars intake is not a major contributing factor to increased caloric intakes.

The letter goes on to point out that added sugars are shown to contribute significantly less to total food supply calories in 2007 than in 1970. Trend data also show there has been a nearly 10 percent decline in per capita consumption from total sugars since 1999, whereas per capita energy supply has risen to an unprecedented 4,000 calories per day, with a significant contribution from fat.

In moderation, sugar is an important part of a healthy diet.

According to USDA research, “More calories are available for consumption—and Americans are consuming more calories than they did 10 years ago. The increase in the amount of calories available for consumption is due mainly to a 28-percent increase in the amount of fat contributing to caloric levels, from 148 to 190 grams per day during this period.” (USDA, CNPP, Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply, 2005, Home Economics Research Report No. 58)

Briscoe sums up the Association’s perspective, saying: “Clearly, sugars intake is not a major contributing factor to increased rates of U.S. obesity. Americans need to understand that if they consume too many calories – no matter the source – weight gain is inevitable. Obesity is the result of consistently eating too much and sedentary lifestyles, not sugars intake.”

The Sugar Association, founded in 1943, represents United States sugar cane growers and refiners and sugar beet growers and processors. Association members account for more than 90 percent of sugar production in the United States.