Aug. 03--A quick history lesson: In 1764, the British Parliament decided to update its Sugar Act. The law, which put a tax on sugar and molasses imported from the French and Dutch West Indies, was meant to promote British sugar in the American colonies. Instead, it ticked off the colonists, hurt trade and was one of three despised laws that tipped the colonies into revolt.
The moral of the story? Sugar and government don't mix well.
Our modern governments have been trying to dip their spoons in the sugar bowl as well -- with about the same amount of success.
Recently, Chicago Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, revived a proposed sugary drink tax, an idea that fizzed out three years ago. The ordinance, if passed, would add a penny-per-ounce tax to any soda, energy or other sugar-heavy drink.
The Food and Drug Administration also rolled out a proposal to update packaged food nutritional labels so they include added sugars -- any type of sweetener that is added during the manufacturing process -- and their percentage of the recommended number of calories a person should have in a day.
And, as the buttercream frosting on top of our sugar-filled cake, San Francisco raised eyebrows last month when its Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that requires all advertisements for sugary drinks to include a health warning. San Francisco is now being sued by the beverage industry, which says the city violated its First Amendment right of free speech.
So yes, health nuts, we hear you: Our sweet tooth is killing us. A 2014 study by the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found that more than 71 percent of Americans get more than the recommended amount of sugar a day, which increases the risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease. More than a third of American adults are considered obese.
We know; we have an epidemic. But these government efforts are akin to Mom putting the cookie jar on top of the fridge after little Jimmy ate all the cookies.
After all, the number of calories Americans consume daily has been on the decline since peaking in 2003, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Obesity rates have pretty much plateaued since then as well, and sugar consumption has actually gone down in the last 15 years.
Americans are finally getting the message: We consume too many calories. That doesn't mean the obesity epidemic has ended, but it shows there is hope for the future. America may already have passed the sugar-frosted tipping point -- without the help of widespread new regulations and consumption taxes.
Besides, the beef here (sorry) isn't with sugar in general. We need the sugar from fruits, starchy vegetables, grains. These complex sugars give us the energy to get through the day. And while food manufacturers sometimes add sugar to seemingly healthy foods too, the target here isn't our yogurts, breads and Clif Bars.
Instead, governments are railing against foods that are clearly loaded with added sugar, such as soda, candy and pastries. And hey -- give us some credit -- none of us is surprised to learn that cherry pie has sugar in it.
Remember the flap a decade or so ago about high-fructose corn syrup? In the early 2000s, it made up nearly half of all sugar in the American diet. The sweetener became so vilified in the public's eyes over the last few years, though, that we're consuming less of it now than we did 23 years ago. Major soda manufacturers such as Pepsi began offering products with more "natural" sweeteners such as cane and beet sugar -- just because the public wanted that.
So if regulators and politicians want sugar to go out of fashion, well, it's happening. The point isn't to let consumers know how much sugar they're consuming -- they know. It's to get the food industry to stop adding extra sugar and consumers to stop eating so darn much of it.
Another regulatory hoop isn't going to do that. Americans throwing out -- not just relocating -- Mom's cookie jar will.
