A World Health Organization report says that adults should confine their sugar intake to 25 grams per day. That news has sent health hysterics into a frenzy, noting how much "hidden" sugar is in a variety of food items, making it difficult to keep within the 25 gram limit.
Leaving aside the matter of how the sugar is hidden when both the amount of sugar and carbohydrates are clearly marked on virtually all packaged food in North America, this whole business has a sour note in store. Soon we'll see the usual nanny-statist politicians, who presume to be health experts despite the irony of many of them being morbidly obese, calling for legislation to restrict the amount of sugar in food.
Sugar is a naturally occurring substance in many foods, like fruits such as apples and pears. It's a necessary component of a health diet, and if anything, there is probably less sugar in packaged food now than there was three decades ago. The "obesity crisis" is one of those manufactered outrage issues that crappy politicians and dumb journalists come up with periodically to find ways of trying to be relevant and to tell other people how to live their lives.
I live in a city with millions of people and I haven't noticed the population of Toronto looking any fatter than they did when I was a kid. Back then, there were always one or two fat kids in a class at school, and these days, at least in the schools my son has attended, the ratio seems to be exactly the same, despite the hysteria about childhood obesity.
So if sugar and weight are a huge concern, there's a very simple remedy. Get off your ass and do a little exercise, and stop shoving so much food down your throat.
But I suppose some people find that more difficult than imposing legislation that aims to overhaul the food manufacturing industry at enormous cost to the public.
With U.S. food production, Sugar isn't really sugar anymore. It is grounded down (often GMO treated) corn substitute.
ReplyDeleteOne example: that is why so many of their major soda pop brands, temporarily issue Kosher versions each year - with actual sugar.
Some of Canada's long standing food approval rules, including dairy products, haven't been identically altered so far.
Spend some time in the US, where everyone is a titanic fatass.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I don't think it's any of the government's fucking business.
I guess it depends where in America you're hangin', Skip. In West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, they look thinner than here.
ReplyDeleteSugar is not an enemy of the human body - every major function requires it, including the brain, which functions exclusively on glucose, a simple sugar. The enemy is processed sugar - in fact, if sugar were to be introduced into the marketplace today, it would need to be classified as a pharmaceutical, because it is crystalline pure and has addictive properties. The process to turn the beet or the cane into sugar mirrors the process to turn poppies into heroine.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I agree that government intervention will be just as useless or detrimental here as anywhere else - the solution lies in common sense and proper education.
Additionally, the principles surrounding processed sugar can be applied universally - the further removed the food from its natural state, the more useless and/or toxic it becomes. The end.