Underhand Tactics: Sugar Overload

Every year, the average person in France eats 34 kg of sugar – twice as much as 15 years ago. 80% of the sugar we consume is hidden in everyday foods, like ‘healthy’ breakfast cereals, yoghurts or ready meals. For the past decades, the sugar lobby has been on the offensive. Not only are consumers being misled about the quantity and form of sugar in their diets, but the effects of sugar on our body are being downplayed. According to some doctors, sugar is not just an empty calorie, it’s a ‘poison’, just as dangerous as cigarettes, and a leading cause of a number of serious illnesses. As well as the epidemic in child obesity, sugar has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and many common cancers. In this investigation, we examine the sugar industry.

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