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Food companies use misleading marketing and front group campaigns to obscure the health consequences of added sugar in their products, according to a new report,
Sugar-Coating Science: How the Food Industry Misleads Consumers on Sugar, from the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

Medical researchers have linked sugar overconsumption to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Despite these dangers, companies advertise products with added sugar using healthy-sounding language. For instance, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios are marketed as “whole grain,” which they are, but the product also contains 10 grams of sugar-10 times the amount in General Mills’ regular Cheerios.

“Companies are going out of their way to promote products with added sugar in them as healthier than they really are,” said Deborah Bailin, an analyst with the center and the report’s lead author. “In many cases, they’re adding sugar to otherwise healthy foods and misleading customers about it. It’s not just soda and snacks, either. Added sugar is in everything from bread to salad dressing and even frozen dinners.”        

Since 1970, average daily U.S. sugar consumption has increased from 74.7 grams to 82.1 grams (20 teaspoons). That is more than double the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s dietary guideline recommendation of no more than 42 grams of sugar a day. The report documents that eating just a few sugar-added products during the day could easily cause someone to exceed the recommendation level. As Bailin notes in a blog post and via a supporting graphic based on the report, consuming just three General Mills products could exceed the daily sugar cap. Specifically, a Nature Valley Oats ‘n Honey granola bar contains 12 grams of sugar, while it is promoted as high in whole grain. Similarly, one serving of Fiber One “Protein” Cranberry Almond cereal contains 16 grams of sugar. Finally, a serving of Yoplait strawberry Greek yogurt contains a whopping 18 grams of sugar, while the packaging emphasizes the yogurt’s protein content.