THE SECRETS OF SUGAR AIRS FRIDAY, OCT. 4 AT 9 P.M. (9:30 NT) ON CBC-TV
We’ve heard for years about the dangers of eating too much fat or salt. But there have never been recommended limits for sugar on Canadian food labels, despite emerging research that suggests the sweet stuff may be making more of us fat and sick. In the fifth estate‘s season premiere, Gillian Findlay digs into the surprising science—and the reaction from the food industry—to reveal The Secrets of Sugar. Has the sugar industry been hiding an unsavoury truth from consumers?
The Secrets of Sugar airs on the fifth estate, Friday, Oct. 4 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC-TV.
A small but influential group of medical researchers is stirring up the health debate, linking sugar not just to rising obesity rates but also to a host of diseases including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. “Sugar is toxic beyond its calories,” says Dr. Robert Lustig, an expert on childhood obesity at the University of California, San Francisco. The Secrets of Sugar reports there is evidence the food industry knew about the potential risks of sugar decades ago, but fought any regulation that might reduce our sugar intake, with tactics echoing those of Big Tobacco.
DID YOU KNOW?
- The American Heart Association recommends six to nine teaspoons of sugar a day.
Canadians consume 26 teaspoons - three to four times that amount.
- On average, we consume 40 kilos of sugar a year, the equivalent of 20 bags of sugar at the grocery store.
- Most of the sugar we consume isn’t what we may add in our coffee, but hidden in the processed foods we eat every day. Did you know that in some brands of tomato soup there are more than seven teaspoons of sugar per can?
For almost four decades, the fifth estate has been Canada’s premier investigative documentary program, acquainting viewers with a dazzling parade of political leaders, shady characters and ordinary people whose lives were touched by triumph or tragedy. The tradition of provocative and courageous journalism which began with Adrienne Clarkson, Warner Troyer and Peter Reilly on Sept. 16, 1975 continues unabated with our current team of Linden MacIntyre, Bob McKeown, Gillian Findlay and Mark Kelley.
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