October 2, 2000

Additional food labeling requirements proposed by an activist group would mislead consumers into believing there is a difference between naturally occurring sugars and sugar added to food products, according to the Grocery Manufacturers of America. In comments filed with the Food and Drug Administration, GMA urged the agency to deny a petition by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) calling for the phrase "added sugars" to be listed on product labels.

"Added sugars and naturally-occurring sugars are indistinguishable to the body. Special labeling requirements for added sugars would lead consumers to falsely believe that added sugars are different from and worse than naturally occurring sugars in foods and beverages," said Lisa Katic, R.D., GMA director, scientific and nutrition policy. She rejected CSPI's assertion that added sugars are detrimental to one's health.

"Decades of scientific research have shown that there is no underlying link between sugars or added sugars and disease," she said. "Therefore, there is no public health need for added sugars labeling.

"Nutrition labeling should provide information that is material and useful to consumers when making food choices. Added sugars labeling would be inconsistent with that objective."

Katic noted that added sugars labeling would impose an unnecessary record-keeping burden on food manufacturers and potentially increase the cost of food products.

"In the absence of any public health rationale, this added regulatory and enforcement burden is unnecessary."

CSPI says that Americans are eating 30% more cane, beet, corn, and other added sugars than in 1983. And in May, the latest edition of the federal government's "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" recognized that many consumers are eating too many sugar-rich foods and urged people to "...limit your intake of beverages and foods that are high in added sugars." However, the language was milder than initial proposals.

Soaring sugar consumption contributes to soaring obesity rates, says CSPI. "And, according to a study by the USDA, people who eat diets high in added sugars get less calcium, fiber, folate, vitamins (A, C, and E), zinc, magnesium, iron, and other nutrients than people whose diets contain less added sugar. They also consume fewer fruits and vegetables," says CSPI. Last year, CSPI petitioned the FDA to adopt 10 teaspoons (40 grams) as the daily value (DV) for added sugars. Food labels use DVs to tell people how much of a day's worth of a nutrient (fat, sodium, etc.) the foods contain.

Using 40 grams as the DV for added sugars would expose "the shocking levels in many foods," CSPI says, adding that, for example, "a cup of regular ice cream contains 60% of our proposed DV, a typical cup of fruit-flavored yogurt contains 70% and a 12-ounce Pepsi or quarter-cup of pancake syrup contains 100%.