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How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

corporateeurope.org

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Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#11

Post by baddox »

yodsanklai wrote: post #3
Jan_jw wrote: post #2

It's "interesting" to see the same methods that the tabacco lobby used are used again. We as a society haven't spent the past time in defending ourselves or our institutions any better then back in those days. Sad Indeed...

I wonder what point of view libertarians have on issues like this one. How can we regulate this without government intervention? what can we do to counter-balance the marketing power of those corporations?

The concept of a "lobby" wouldn't make very much sense in a world with little or no government regulation.

Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#12

Post by finid »

zajd wrote: post #10
meira wrote: post #7

I don't feel very comfortable with this "anti-sugar" campaign. In a recent past, the villain was fat, now is sugar. I don't think both of them is the problem, the problem is a life without sports and workout. And sugar is the best energy source for the brain, as far as I know.

The funny part is the best dietary advice is just "eat a good variety of things and don't eat too much". Going in to Whole Foods makes me want to blow my brains out.

How come? Food is too expensive?

Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#13

Post by coldcode »

I despise the corn lobby more. They ensure the high tariffs on imported sugar in order to protect the corn prices to produce corn syrup instead of using raw sugar. Only the US has soft drinks made with HFCS simply because of the tariff on imported sugar.

Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#14

Post by clort »

meira wrote: post #7

I don't feel very comfortable with this "anti-sugar" campaign. In a recent past, the villain was fat, now is sugar. I don't think both of them is the problem, the problem is a life without sports and workout. And sugar is the best energy source for the brain, as far as I know.

You know, even oxygen in excess quantities is poisonous to us.

I wouldn't say that sugar is a bad thing on its own, but the people who use it to enhance their products are not doing so to help our brains work better. They are doing that because they know that our species has an appreciation for this stuff and in their quest for short term profits they can externalize the long term costs associated with the effects of sugar overload which we ourselves do not have a way of detecting until it is too late.

Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#15

Post by noir_lord »

mpg33 wrote: post #6

I'm not sure if there should be a tax on sugar. But I definitely think that products should have a large visible colorful graphic on the front showing the amount of sugar content.. separate from the basic black and white nutritional info label.

We have that in the UK.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/18/article-2344177-1A...

Also have a standard more detailed breakdown on the back.

It works well.

Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#16

Post by superswordfish »

zajd wrote: post #10
meira wrote: post #7

I don't feel very comfortable with this "anti-sugar" campaign. In a recent past, the villain was fat, now is sugar. I don't think both of them is the problem, the problem is a life without sports and workout. And sugar is the best energy source for the brain, as far as I know.

The funny part is the best dietary advice is just "eat a good variety of things and don't eat too much". Going in to Whole Foods makes me want to blow my brains out.

There are many upsetting things about Whole Foods, but the food there is pretty varied, no?

Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#17

Post by zajd »

finid wrote: post #12
zajd wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny part is the best dietary advice is just "eat a good variety of things and don't eat too much". Going in to Whole Foods makes me want to blow my brains out.

How come? Food is too expensive?

The amount of marketing designed to just confuse people about what's good for them. Organic, non-gmo, gluten-free, all natural, it's like a temple for upper middle class white people to reject 50 years of food science.

Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#18

Post by superswordfish »

mpg33 wrote: post #6

I'm not sure if there should be a tax on sugar. But I definitely think that products should have a large visible colorful graphic on the front showing the amount of sugar content.. separate from the basic black and white nutritional info label.

In the US sugar is listed without a DV% as well. People might reconsider a Milky Way if they knew it had 70% of your daily recommended added sugar intake (per the article's 45g).

I LOLed at https://www.milkywaybar.com/nutrition

> MILKY WAY® is a delicious and indulgent treat that can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle.

Why lie? It's heavily-processed, high-fat, high-sugar candy. Of course it's unhealthy, there's nothing inherently wrong with that.

Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#19

Post by rayiner »

zajd wrote: post #10
meira wrote: post #7

I don't feel very comfortable with this "anti-sugar" campaign. In a recent past, the villain was fat, now is sugar. I don't think both of them is the problem, the problem is a life without sports and workout. And sugar is the best energy source for the brain, as far as I know.

The funny part is the best dietary advice is just "eat a good variety of things and don't eat too much". Going in to Whole Foods makes me want to blow my brains out.

Why? Whole Foods is great. For example, if you're too busy to pack your lunch, there is a great cafeteria where you can get simple food with lots of veggie options at whatever portions you want. The quality of the meat, bread, and produce is a cut above (though I hear it's just par for course in terms of what you can get in "normal" EuropeN grocery stores).

Re: How the food lobby fights sugar regulation in the EU [pdf]

#20

Post by yodsanklai »

baddox wrote: post #11
yodsanklai wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what point of view libertarians have on issues like this one. How can we regulate this without government intervention? what can we do to counter-balance the marketing power of those corporations?

The concept of a "lobby" wouldn't make very much sense in a world with little or no government regulation.

no, but the concept of marketing still makes sense. We know that corporations devote a lot of resources in marketing. Is it ok to "brainwash" people into buying stuff that harm them?
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