US sugar barons 'block global war on obesity'

WHO official fires back...

Jo Revill and Paul Harris in New York
Sunday January 18, 2004

Leading scientists accused the Bush administration last night of putting the interests of powerful American sugar barons ahead of the global fight against obesity.

Professor Kaare Norum, leader of the World Health Organisation's fight to prevent millions developing diet-related diseases, has sparked an international war of words with a highly critical letter to US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson. In it he tells of his grave concern over American opposition to the WHO's blueprint to combat obesity. He accuses the US of making the health of millions of young Americans 'a hostage to fortune' because it has failed to take action over the fat epidemic as a result of its business interests, particularly the sugar lobby.

<snip>

Norum's letter is an angry response to the Americans' decision to submit a 30-page report, criticising the WHO strategy for its lack of sound scientific evidence. It will be discussed at a key meeting of its executive board in Geneva on Tuesday.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1125730,00.html

Let's just hurt the Bushie's contributors where it counts.

God, I am so sick of this administrations' bastardization of science. I'm sorry, world. We're working to get him out of office, I promise!

All in the name of fighting Castro.

The Sugar Roulette
http://www.thegully.com/essays/cuba/000305roulette.html

SUGAR-COATING THE FACTS......
http://www.delanet.com/~skiph/sugar.htm


Sugar:
Long-Term Contribution Trends
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.asp?ind=A1200

1990-2004

To Dems - 56%
To Repugs - 44%



The Economic and Political Factors Affecting the U.S. Sugar Subsidy Program
http://titan.iwu.edu/~polysci/res_publica/peterson.html

Pretty much any time you want to see who is driving policy considerations, just hop over to Open Secrets and dig away! Looking through their various breakdowns of who is receiving most of the money and who is receiving most of the PAC money you can go through and check off the names: Committee, committee, district, state, etc.

Follow the money and you'll find the cause.

too.

what a nasty bunch they are - not sweet at all.

They take the wrong position on every issue. These creeps don't think sugar contributes to obesity -- what planet have they been living on. They really think it's ok to recommend that people get no more than 25% of their daily calories from 'added' empty sugar instead of the 10% WHO recommends as a target. From a health point of view I would suggest even fewer calories come from added sugar. But these Bushits obviously don't mind further jeopardizing Americans' health in order to guarantee a healthy bottom line for their fundraising buddies in the sugar industry. Lord -- how much longer do we have to suffer these assholes?

ho ho ho....

I see that someone forgot to mention this to the eternally-in-need-of-a-cause crusaders.

We now return to your regularly-scheduled life, already in progess.

To those of you without cable or network access, please get a life a grow up.

The Romans had lead and they must have enjoyed it!

So if one were to stop the consumption of refined sweets then after that it would turn to what?....Maybe hamburgers?
So ... maybe lead would be better? Maybe the populace wouldn't realize what is happening!

From the article:

(snip) The Bush administration, which receives millions in funding from the sugar industry, argues there is little robust evidence to show that drinking sugary drinks or eating too much sugar is a direct cause of obesity. It particularly opposes a recommendation that just 10 per cent of people's energy intake should come from added sugar. The US has a 25 per cent guideline.

Thompson's representative at Tuesday's meeting will be Bill Steiger, godson of George Bush Sr. He will argue there is no evidence that selling junk food to children increases overweight.

Another leading obesity expert supported Norum, describing America's position as a scandal. Professor Philip James, head of the International Obesity Task Force, a thinktank for experts worldwide said: 'People are far more tuned into what is now a much bigger obesity crisis and are more aware of some of the dangers such as diabetes. When they begin to see children developing these severe health problems, it brings home to people that this is not some vague risk in the future - it is happening here and now.'

Thompson is also due to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, where he is expected to have a private meeting with Douglas Daft, president of The Coca-Cola Company, one of the major users of American cane sugar and sweeteners. (snip/)

Thanks, pinto.

Abajo los Fanjul!

I'm sorry, but I've had it up to my ears with people -- especially outside the U.S. -- telling me how to live my life. If I am fat (I'm not, but I could afford to lose a few), it is MY responsibility. Not my government's. Certainly not the WHO.

Don't listen, eat sugar, keep your "few".

You're missing the point. It isn't about you, or your fat kids. It's about an administration that is willing to corrupt science so that it or it's friends could make a buck, or a few billion bucks, as the case may be.

Yes, * and his idiot gang will do just about anything. Occasionally, like pigs with head colds, they still find the truffle. This is one case. We all need to accept that bad eating habits start with each of us.

perception that a difference of opinion (recommended sugar levels in a "healthy diet") is seen as a threat to be denounced. And to attack the science without any clear refutation is counter to basic research.

But most folks realize, I assume, that much of diet is by choice and , for kids, by parental choice. Fast foods are often parental choices.

The US sugar industry has been buying protection from foreign competition for a long time now. That's why the candy biz has been fleeing to Canada.