Sugar: is it as bad as it seems?

Sugar: what’s the story? Among health junkies, it’s considered on par with heroin, but guidelines for sugar consumption vary between health organisations, leading to confusion about what’s healthy and what’s not. But it’s not just consumers who are confused: contradictory studies leave experts scratching their heads, too.

According to a panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo, experts are confused about the role sugar plays in the diet and what the dietary recommendations for sugar intake should be. Government and health organisations’ recommendations for sugar intake have varied significantly based on different studies and the different methodologies used to evaluate those studies.

Here’s a brief history of sugar intake recommendations in the 21st century:

• In 2002, for instance, the National Academy of Sciences recommended that added sugars constitute no more than 25% of daily calorie intake - the highest ever recommended sugar limit.
• In 2009, the American Heart Association recommended that women should consume no more than 100 calories a day as sugar; for men, the recommendation was 150 calories.
• In 2010, the European Food Safety Agency determined that there was not enough data to set a recommendation for sugar intake.
• In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that sugars not exceed 10% of daily calories and suggested a further reduction to less than 5% of daily calories.

Interestingly, while sugar intake in the US has decreased over the last 10-15 years, obesity has continued to increase.

“The latest WHO recommendations are based mainly on efforts to reduce dental caries, not reduce weight,” said Roger Clemens PhD, chief scientific officer of ET Horn and part-time faculty member within the University of Southern California Regulatory Science Program.

“Moreover, efforts to reduce exposure to added sugar through taxation and production elimination have yielded inconsistent results.

“Sugar intake has become a dominant health issue, but we should be cautious when making dietary recommendations when data are not available.”