Researchers: Sugar should be regulated like alcohol or tobacco

In an opinion piece published this week in the journal Nature, scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, argue that sugar is toxic and should be taxed and controlled just like alcohol and tobacco (Source: “Should Sugar Be Regulated like Alcohol and Tobacco?” Time Healthland blog, Feb. 3, 2012).

In an article titled “The Toxic Truth About Sugar," (subscription required) the researchers aregue that, “A growing body of scientific evidence is showing that fructose can trigger processes that lead to liver toxicity and a host of other chronic diseases. A little is not a problem, but a lot kills — slowly.”

To reduce consumption of sugar, the authors propose taxing sugary foods and controlling sales to children under 17.