Bitter battle over sugar findings

THE US sugar industry has been accused of blackmailing the World Health Organisation by threatening to withdraw funding if healthy-eating guidelines, due to be published tomorrow, are not scrapped.

Members of the Sugar Association were incensed by a WHO report, Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases, stating that sugar should account for no more than 10 per cent of a balanced diet.

They have described the findings as dubious and their political muscle-flexing could cost the WHO a staggering $406 million (£260 million). Industry executives have exerted intense pressure on the US Congress to block the organisation’s funding unless the report’s guidelines are retracted.

Full article: The Scotsman