December 10, 2024 (Washington, D.C.) – Americans feel more confident about managing their sugar intake when they know the Dietary Guidelines recommendation to limit added sugars to less than 10% of their total calories, and the Sugar Association welcomes the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) reaffirmation of that guideline. The added sugars guideline is a reasonable target for Americans to be able to balance nutrient intake within calorie needs.
We do have concerns with the way the text of the report overstates and extrapolates the actual science. The DGAC only conducted evidence reviews of the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and various health outcomes. They did not look at evidence related to added sugars in foods, citing there was not enough. While the scientific conclusions themselves reflect the science, the text of the report fails to acknowledge the known scientific differences across liquid and food sources of added sugars. Rather than specify “sugar-sweetened beverages”, the DGAC uses the misleading term of “added sugars” throughout the report. Evidence about sugar-sweetened beverages does not apply to sugar in food, and the agencies should be responsible in how the final DGA communicates the important differences between different sources of added sugars.
It is also a miss that the DGAC did not address the ubiquity of low- and no-calorie sweeteners in food – including food for children – which has gone well beyond these sweeteners’ well-known and easily identifiable role in beverages. Most Americans prefer to avoid low- and no-calorie sweeteners in food, and health organizations have repeatedly raised concerns about their widespread use. At some point, some agency needs to acknowledge that we don’t have a good grasp on how pervasive these sweeteners have become in our food supply, unknowingly to most Americans.
###
The Sugar Association, founded in 1943, is the scientific voice of the U.S. sugar industry. The association is committed to making a difference by continuously supporting scientific research and sharing its knowledge that there’s more to sugar by increasing consumer understanding of and confidence in the role that real sugar plays in a nutritious, balanced and enjoyable diet. The Sugar Association represents nearly 11,000 beet and cane sugar growers, as well as processors and refiners of sugar. The U.S. sugar industry generates 151,000 jobs in more than two dozen states and contributes $23.3 billion to the economy annually. For more information, visit sugar.ahsanalikhan.top/, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and connect with us on Facebook.