Sugar Industry Hid Health Research Findings Half a Century Ago

The sugar industry has been under scrutiny following a recent investigation by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The industry's actions, revealed in documents uncovered by UCSF, have been linked to the rise of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

In the late 1960s, the Sugar Research Foundation (now known as the Sugar Association) funded research that linked sugar consumption to heart disease and bladder cancer in laboratory rats. The project, known as Project 259, was abruptly terminated, with the sugar industry citing budget constraints and administrative reorganization as the reasons.

The suppression of Project 259 occurred during a critical turning point in America's nutritional policies and public health messaging in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This suppression allowed the sugar industry to continue promoting sugar as a harmless ingredient while vilifying fat instead.

The average American now consumes about 17 teaspoons of sugar daily, more than triple the recommended amount for women and double the recommended amount for men. This high sugar intake has contributed to a food environment that promotes chronic disease while making it extraordinarily difficult for consumers to make truly healthy choices.

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in America, killing approximately 655,000 people annually. Heart disease costs another $219 billion, while healthcare expenditures related to diabetes alone exceed $327 billion annually in the United States. More than 34 million Americans have diabetes, with another 88 million having prediabetes.

Cancer rates have increased for many forms potentially linked to diet, including pancreatic and colorectal cancers. The sugar industry has extensively funded research designed to produce favorable results while maintaining the appearance of scientific objectivity. Influential Harvard scientists were even paid by the sugar industry to publish a review in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine that downplayed sugar's role in heart disease while emphasizing the dangers of dietary fat.

When negative evidence emerges from independent research, industry groups work to create the impression of scientific controversy where none actually exists. The sugar industry's response to new research follows the same pattern established back in the 1960s, attacking the methodology, questioning the relevance to humans, and emphasizing that isolated studies shouldn't change dietary recommendations.

However, consumers should be skeptical of industry claims and look to independent science for guidance. Nutrition label changes will require all nutrition labels to include the percent daily value of added sugars for the first time, while the "calories from fat" column will be removed by 2021. Consumers should read ingredient lists, not just nutrition facts, as added sugar appears under dozens of different names.

Cities like Berkeley, Philadelphia, and Seattle have implemented taxes on sugary beverages, with early evidence suggesting they reduce consumption. Facing changing consumer demands, food manufacturers have begun reducing added sugars in many products. Medical professionals increasingly recognize sugar's role in metabolic disease and are advising patients to reduce consumption.

The true cost of Big Sugar's scientific deception becomes painfully clear in the context of epidemics of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer potentially linked to dietary choices influenced by industry manipulation. Organizations with scientific-sounding names but industry-backing help promote industry messages while appearing independent.

After decades of growth, soda consumption in America has declined for 12 consecutive years as consumers become more health-conscious. The sugar industry continues to dispute research linking their product to disease. Despite this, the documents analyzed by UCSF researchers help explain public uncertainty about sugar's health impacts, revealing that it's the product of decades of deliberate industry efforts to undermine inconvenient science.