According to an official report from the United States Department of Agriculture, the amount of sugar in some of our favorite foods has dropped so much that it is now at the same level as it was in the 1970s.
While the numbers aren’t a direct reflection of the amount of sugar Americans consume, they do indicate how much of the sweet stuff we get in processed foods.
The report, which details how much sugar is sent to food manufacturers to use, attributes the decline to “changing consumer preferences” that have caused manufacturers to revise their recipes.
Eating too much sugar is a major risk factor for tooth decay, as well as obesity, which is linked to a host of diseases, including obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The ingredient has been vilified in recent years, with leading global health officials labeling it as the leading cause of America’s obesity crisis. Dr. Robert Lustig, an influential neuroendocrinologist from the University of California, San Francisco, called it “a poison.”
But the latest data from the USDA suggests that sugar may not play such a significant role in America’s obesity epidemic, which affects nearly four in 10 Americans.
The total amount of sugar supplied to food and drink manufacturers is approaching 1970s levels. Yet millions of Americans still consume about 300 percent of the recommended amount of sugar
The USDA report shows that between 1999 and 2021, the total amount of all types of sweeteners used by U.S. food manufacturers decreased by 17 percent.
The availability of all sugars has fallen sharply since 1999, eventually falling to levels not seen since 1970.
The USDA said the overall decline was caused by “a reduction in the availability” of all the different types of sugars manufacturers use.
This includes high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, dextrose and table sugar, also known as refined sugar.
The availability of table sugar began to increase again in 2010, surpassing corn sweeteners in 2011.
USDA said: ‘Shifting preferences among consumers and food producers, high corn prices and competition with refined cane and beet sugars and other caloric sweeteners have contributed to this decline.’
Katie Lopez, a registered dietitian and diabetes specialist in New Hampshire, said, “I believe the decline in HFCS consumption is largely due to a trend and preference for diet sodas over sugar-sweetened sodas.”
Table sugar, meanwhile, is processed from sugar cane or sugar beets.
Natural and added sugars are metabolized in the body in the same way. But unlike naturally occurring sugars like fructose in fruit, which come with fiber that takes longer to digest, added sugars are broken down quickly, raising insulin and blood sugar levels.
Highly processed foods are packed with refined sugars, which comes at a high cost to health.
A sweeping meta-analysis of more than 8,600 studies Published last year, it found that added sugar was linked to significantly higher chances of 45 negative health outcomes, including diabetes, gout, obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, cancer, asthma, tooth decay, depression and early death.
Another study on the effects of too much sugar, conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford. They followed the eating habits of 116,000 people for fifteen years and checked whether they had been hospitalized or died.
The study population that ate mainly foods with processed sugars, including soft drinks, fruit juices and table sugar, while avoiding fatty cheese and butter, had a four percent greater risk of cardiovascular disease in middle age.
However, scientists say the increased risk of health damage is most likely due to the fact that sugary foods are high in calories and highly palatable, leading to overeating and weight gain.
Overall, the overall availability of sugar for use by food manufacturers remains high and ultra-processed foods are as popular as ever.
The average American eats about 68 grams, or 17 teaspoons, of sugar per day. That is approximately 300 percent of the recommended amount.
But there is good news. The consumption of added sugars has been declining for twenty years, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands Sugar Associationa trade group for the sugar industry.
In the two decades since the year 2000, individuals across different age groups have shown a notable reduction in their consumption of added sugars, with average daily intake falling by 30 percent.
Average sugar intake fell from just over 24 teaspoons to around 17 teaspoon equivalents per day, reflecting a significant shift in dietary habits.