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Sweeteners: Issues and Uncertainties (1975)

Chapter: Appendix A

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A." National Academy of Sciences. 1975. Sweeteners: Issues and Uncertainties. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18498.
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Page 241
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A." National Academy of Sciences. 1975. Sweeteners: Issues and Uncertainties. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18498.
×
Page 242
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A." National Academy of Sciences. 1975. Sweeteners: Issues and Uncertainties. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18498.
×
Page 243

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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

242 Product Cereal Grains Sugar General Mills Trix 50-60% 30-35%* General Mills Frosty O's 40-45% 40-45%* General Mills Count Chocula 35-40% over 40%* General Mills Total 80-85% 8-l0%* Quaker Oats Captain Crunch 49% 4l% Quaker Oats Quangaroos 43% 43% Quaker Oats King Vitamin 33% 47% Quaker Oats Puffed Wheat 99% -- Quaker Oats Life 70% l8% General Foods Fruity Pebbles 48% 47% General Foods Cocoa Pebbles 46% 46% General Foods Alpha Bits 44% 42% General Foods Super Sugar Crisp 42% 43% General Foods Post Toasties 85% 8% General Foods Fortified Oat Flakes 50% 2l% Calculated values. Figures not provided by the companies. One indication of the volume of this advertising is to look at the dollars spent on advertising edible products during those hours when children constitute the primary viewing audience. Desserts Hunt Foods Snack Paks Ice Cream Meals Chef Boyardee Beefaroni Chef Boyardee Ravioli Drinks $ Spent (OOO)' 323 l48 Gums Adams Beechnut Cereals $ Spent (OO0) 478 3l0 Funny Face Tang Sunkist Quik Hawaiian Punch Kool Aid Borden's Wyler Snacks Pop Tarts Life Savers 2l4 28l 407 66l 308 375 l0l 63l 245 290 320 Crunch Berry Peanut Butter Crunch Captain Crunch Cheerios Cocoa Puffs Cinnamon Crunch Apple Jacks Cocoa Krisp Froot Loops Raisin Bran Rice Krispies Sugar Frosted Flakes Sugar Pops Sugar Smacks Lucky Charms Honey Crunch 207 26O 437 406 l45 349 l7l 52l 33l 329 568 734 305 283 4l8 l26

243 Snacks $ Spent (000)* Cereals $ Spent (000)* Candies Crackerjacks Popcorn ll82 24l 232 Alpha Bits Honeycombs Pebbles Raisin Bran Super Sugar Crisp Trix 562 7l5 396 296 9l2 458 Cookies Keebler Nabisco Sunshine 253 870 439 *Figures in hundreds of thousands of dollars for network ads in first six months of l974. A large number of the commercials for foods and beverages use the sweetness of the product as a part of the sales message. For children, this reinforces the existing predisposition to seek out sweeter foods. The public's ignorance about the sugar content of these products can only be corrected if the manufacturers declare that information on their labels and in their advertisements. Without such information, parents are unable to make intelligent decisions about their children's food- consumption patterns. They are unable to defend their child's teeth and health against the profit motives of those who want to increase the consumption of sweetened products. Manufacturers are selling children a cavity-prone product while hiding that fact from consumers. Adver- tising to children should occur only under the highest ethical con- siderations; their health interests should be supreme. There are no uncertainties about cavities in children or about the connection between their incidence and the consumption by children of products with a high sugar content. There can be no justification for withholding information concerning the hazards that lurk within the products children consume. The uncertainties of sugar content must be erased. We need vigorous labeling and advertising standards that make information about sugar content available to everyone.

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