Tag: sugar
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NBC’s Open Channel Blog Documents Chronic Kidney Disease in Sugarcane Workers
NBC’s Open Channel blog has reported “an inexplicable epidemic in Central America, where more than 16,000 people—mostly sugarcane workers— have died from incurable chronic kidney disease [CKD].” According to Open Channel, “hundreds, if not thousands” of people in the sugar-producing city of Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, have allegedly contracted CKD, which has apparently increased “five-fold in the…
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Study Allegedly Links Simple Sugar to Fatty Liver Disease
A recent study has purportedly found “for the first time a link between excess dietary sugar and the accumulation of liver fat by DNL [de novo lipogenesis],” the process by which simple sugars like fructose or glucose are converted in the liver into SFA palmitate. Ksenia Sevastianova, et al., “Effect of short-term carbohydrate overfeeding and…
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Public Health Law Conference to Address “Addiction,” Preemption and FSMA Issues
The American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics will sponsor a conference in Atlanta, Georgia, October 10-12, 2012, that will focus in part on food-related issues. The “Public Health law Conference 2012: Practical Approaches to Critical Challenges,” event will include concurrent sessions titled (i) “If Sugar Is Addictive, What Does It Mean for the Law?,”…
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PLoS Medicine Kicks Off Series on “Big Food,” Calls for Investigation
The journal PLoS Medicine has published two articles and an editorial in a “major new series” on “Big Food” in this week’s issue, and will publish five additional related articles over the next two weeks. The editorial notes that the articles, focusing on “the role in health of Big Food, which we define as the…
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FDA Rejects “Corn Sugar” Petition
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected a Corn Refiners Association (CRA) petition urging the authorization of “corn sugar” as an alternate name for high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). According to FDA’s May 30, 2012, response, CRA had asked the agency (i) “to amend the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) affirmation regulation for HFCS (21…
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Jennifer L. Pomeranz, “The Bittersweet Truth About Sugar Labeling Regulations: They Are Achievable and Overdue,” American Journal of Public Health, May 17, 2012
“There are no longer any viable reasons to maintain outdated nutrition labeling standards for sugar,” opines Jennifer Pomeranz, director of legal initiatives at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, in this article urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revise sugar labeling regulations to better inform and protect consumers. Citing recent…
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UCLA Researchers Suggest Fructose Impairs Brain Function
A recent study has claimed that rats fed a diet high in fructose had more difficulty navigating a maze than those that also consumed omega-3 fatty acids, thereby raising questions about the impact of sugar consumption on cognition. Rahul Agrawal and Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, “’Metabolic Syndrome’ in the brain: deficiency in omega-3 fatty acid exacerbates dysfunctions…
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Margo Wootan & David Ludwig, “Sugary Cereal: Breakfast Candy or Obesity Cure?,” The Atlantic, April 24, 2012
“Ready-to-eat cereals are the fourth biggest source of added sugars in Americans’ diets, behind sugary drinks, desserts, and candy,” opine Center for Science in the Public Interest Director of Nutrition Policy Margo Wootan and New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Director David Ludwig in this article, disputing claims that children who eat sugary cereals for…