Sugar, Not Such a Sweet Treat After All

he headlines have been full of warnings on the dangers of eating of sugar; all set to shift drugs and alcohol off their perch as leaders in the addiction stakes.

Apparently the average Briton consumes 238 teaspoons of sugar each week. Hardly surprising given that the drink of choice for most is a can of fizzy drink.

I cannot deny feeling smug that my preferred beverage is wine, preferably dry, and that according to statistics I consume less than 3 spoonfuls of sugar a day when indulging in a glass or two.

What I mind about is that the food police seem to be out in force as sugar has become the latest target in the firing line of their increasing attempts to control our lives. This effort to avoid the obesity crisis hitting the NHS smacks too much of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

I suppose it had to come sooner or later, as we’ve long since had the war on wine, red meat, salt, fat, butter; anything enjoyable really. I’m certain there must be a whole army of do-gooders, lurking in the background, ready to pounce, courtesy of tax payers’ money, finding new dangers to highlight in order to keep themselves in cosy jobs, and using their usual big stick approach.

Obesity is certainly an increasing problem, as my own expanding waistline shows, but I suggest that sugar is being unfairly targeted as the culprit of the crime.

As a substance sugar has been around for a long time, but we’ve not always been fat.

First discovered by crusaders in the 11^th century, sugar indeed changed our eating habits, as we began to enjoy, and yearn for, the feel good factor. In the past, before commercial manufacturers got involved, sugar consumption was confined to the odd treat in the form of a freshly baked cake for tea, a scone with homemade jam or a stick of rock at the seaside; many’s the time I recall a visit to the local corner sweet shop, pocket money in hand, to buy a bar of chocolate, a sherbet dip or a few jelly babies. Those days are long since gone, as we have allowed ourselves to be manipulated into thinking that more is better.

With the demise of independent retailers we have little alternative but to buy the super-sized bars and multi-packs on offer, of everything from doughnuts to Dairy Milk; often manufactured with cheap ingredients, with only shareholder profits in mind.

It is, however, our own fault. Over a long period of time, and with increasingly stressful lives, we have allowed ourselves to ruled by life on the run (I’m just as guilty here), and are paying the price for it. We barely have time to think about what we’re eating in our haste to move onto the next activity or, in my case, meeting.

The nanny state approach towards changing our eating habits has failed, largely because the real issue is our reliance on cheap factory produced foods. I try not to eat ready meals, but resort to them on occasion, and am horrified to find that meals such as shepherd’s pie, macaroni cheese or chicken curry, have sugar in them. Sugar has no place in these foods. It is this that needs to change, as at present we are being conned into consuming ‘hidden sugars’.

I am also concerned about the call for increased use of artificial sweeteners as a substitute for sugar. It is when we start messing around with our food that we store up trouble for the future.