Sugar Rush: FDA Urged by Advocates to Set Sweetener Limits in Soft Drinks

Too much sweet isn't safe

The Food and Drug administration is being asked to regulate the amount of caloric sweeteners in sodas and other beverages. Public health departments from Boston to Los Angeles say the FDA is "obligated" to act because they pledged in 1982 and in 1988 to reassess the safety of sweeteners if consumption increased or if new research indicated that ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and sucrose were a public health hazard. Both conditions have since been met. The FDA is also being asked to set limits on sweeteners in packaged goods, like cereals and snacks, and to mount an educational campaign to help consumers reduce added sugars in their diet. Caloric sweeteners in beverages are the biggest source of sugars in the American diet. A typical 20-ounce bottle of soda contains an amount of high fructose corn syrup equivalent to roughly 16 teaspoons of sugar, yet the American Heart Association recommends that we consume no more than six to nine teaspoons of added sugar a day. (NY Times)

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