Freudenberg Talks Sugar Policy

City University of New York School of Public Health Professor Nicholas Freudenberg authored a July 8, 2014, article for Corporations & Health Watch, offering eight policy approaches for reducing added sugar consumption. Titled “Time to Talk on Added Sugar Policy,” the article recommends that, in light of New York City’s failure to implement soda-size limitations, new policies should strive to (i) educate the public about the purported risks of excess sugar consumption; (ii) enact regulations requiring companies to reduce the amount of sugar in food and beverages; (iii) use public benefits and nutrition assistance programs to limit the purchase of sugary foods and beverages; (iv) implement taxation schemes targeting specific products and manufacturers; (v) lower dietary guidelines for sugar consumption; (vi) increase the price of sugar by ending sugar subsidies; (vii) encourage institutions to divest from industries that promote sugar consumption; and (viii) launch community-based campaigns to cut sugar.

“First, there is no magic bullet,” opines Freudenberg, the author of Lethal but Legal: Corporations, Consumption, and Protecting Public Health. “Second, we need to re-frame the debate from the rights of individuals to choose whatever products they want to the right of corporations to profit at the expense of public health… [W]e need to focus public attention on corporate obfuscation of science, manipulations of democracy, and deceptive marketing.” Additional details about Freudenberg’s work appear in Issues 515, 518 and 523 of this Update.

Issue 529