Consumer Group Wants Limits on Sugar in Soda, Petition to FDA

Sugar can be deadly--at least according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, it can. The Washington-based nutrition group has filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that urges the agency to regulate the amount of sugar found in soda and other sweetened beverages.

The obesity epidemic in the U.S. continues to be a growing problem. Just over the past 50 years, Americans have dramatically increased their intake of sugary liquids, and research suggests that this in particular has helped contribute to the epidemic and related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and a variety of cancers.

This petition comes hard on the heels of an earlier decision by New York City aimed at regulating the size of sodas that can be purchased.

"The FDA considers sugar to be a safe food at the recommended level of consumption, but Americans are consuming two to three times that much," said Michael Jacobson, executive director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in a press briefing according to the Boston Globe. In fact, the average American consumes about 78 pounds of added sugars each year, mostly from the high fructose corn syrup that can be found in sugary drinks.

The petition was signed by 10 local public health departments, medical organizations and 42 nutrition researchers. However, it did not specify what the recommended limit for added sugars should be in soda.

It's unlikely that the FDA will limit the amount of sugar in drinks successfully. Companies such as PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola would no doubt raise their opposition against such measures. Just recently in California, El Monte voters turned down a measure that would have taxed soft drinks; beverage makers were vehemently against the measure. In addition, sugar itself is not inherently dangerous, which makes it difficult for the FDA to rationalize setting limits.

In the past, the nutrition group has filed similar petitions urging the FDA to regulate the use of salt and hydrogenated vegetable oils.