Sweet distraction: The sugar industry has been hiding evidence of its health effects for nearly 50 years, researchers discover

It’s something everyone knows, but not everyone is willing to talk about it: Sugar kills. Consumers know it, although many prefer not to believe it so they can keep eating their favorite candies and cakes. Doctors know it, but not all of them tell their patients, whether it’s for self-serving reasons or just part of the general lack of focus on nutrition many doctors exhibit. Pharmaceutical companies know it, but they, too, are happy to keep quiet about it as they collect their diabetes drug profits. Most of all, however, the sugar industry knows it – and it’s something they’ve been covering up for half a century.

Study co-author Stanton Glantz said: “The kind of manipulation of research is similar [to] what the tobacco industry does. This kind of behavior calls into question sugar industry-funded studies as a reliable source of information for public policy making.”

Unfortunately, as the researchers point out, it’s just one of many pieces of proof that industries manipulate science to serve their own commercial interests, and it’s a practice that is unlikely to stop any time soon. Whether we’re talking about cigarettes, vaccines, antidepressants, pesticides, or something as basic as sugar, those who stand to profit from something will always do their best to make it seem like a product that helps instead of harms despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

DYI