A ‘’sweet’’ addiction?

The Dominating Presence of Sugar

• Sugar satisfies a desire for a sweet taste

• Sugar is conveniently stored

• Sugar is cheap

• Sugar gives texture to food

• Sugar is addictive

Our consumption of refined sugars and syrups has increased by thirty percent since 1970. No other food ingredients have found their way into more foods so consistently and increasingly than the refined sugars and syrups. These products continually make their way into our foods because of our wide acceptance of prepared meals and our craving for sweet tasting substances.

Our present sugar consumption is now accepted as an addiction. The dictionary defines addiction as the surrender of oneself to a habitual or compulsive desire for something. But sugar addiction is not an affliction of a few people. It is also not just an addiction afflicting obese people only. Sugar addiction is afflicting our entire population from infancy to old age. This fact truly situates sugar consumption as a most serious affliction of pandemic proportions.