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APPENDIX A SWEETENERS: NO UNCERTAINTIES Robert B. Choate As the National Academy of Sciences Academy Forum considers the issues and uncertainties of sugar and other sweeteners, it needs to address some facts about which there are no uncertainties. l. Dental caries are so numerous among children in the United States as to suggest that the situation is pandemic. 2. One major factor causing cavities in children is the continuing presence of sucrose in close proximity to their dental surfaces. 3. Cavities among poor children receive less corrective treatment, leaving long-term effects upon their dental and general health. 4. Children who are moderate television watchers see approximately 22,000 commercials each year. As many as l4,000 of those messages may be for food and beverage products. 5. A large number of such commercials promote products with a high, but unascertainable, sugar content. The sugar content of these products is kept secret from the public, while competitors have the facilities to examine the ingredients. In l972 we asked the major cereal companies to tell us the percent- age content of each of the three major ingredients, by weight, for each of their products. General Foods and Quaker Oats responded promptly. General Mills, Kellogg, Nabisco, and Ralston Purina chose not to answer our request for ingredient disclosure. We nevertheless calculated the percentage of sugar in many popular cereals: Product Cereal Grains Sugar Kellogg Cocoa Krispies Kellogg Sugar Frosted Flakes Kellogg Special K 45-50% 55-60% 60-70% 40-45%* 30-35%* 30-35%* 24l
