San Francisco's War on Sugar
There's a steep price to pay for living in the beautiful City by the Bay. You've either got to learn to coexist with the nanny statists, or else be driven to madness until you leave the city. Most days I cope just fine. But I don't want to make peace with this:
Like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is a toxic, addictive substance that should be highly regulated with taxes, laws on where and to whom it can be advertised, and even age-restricted sales, says a team of UCSF scientists.
A sin tax on sugar?! Why, yes, says an approving neighbor in Berkeley. She argues on Facebook:
How are we supposed to regulate our own intake of these substances when we don't even know half the [expletive] that's being put into our food? "...most people aren't even aware of the various ways sugars sneak into their diets, often via breads and cereals and processed foods." Nobody but health gurus realistically read every label or even understand what the hell is written there.
Got that? It's simply outrageous for people to be permitted to make their own decisions about what to eat because they don't—and can't—know what's good for them. The government needs to step in to help us out. A fellow San Franciscan concurs:
Exactly! And they are not trying to BAN sugar, just REGULATE it. Which they really, really should.
Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig of UCSF, one of those championing this new war on sugar tells the San Francisco Chronicle that he expects resistance from the plebs.
"Everybody yells, 'Nanny state, this guy is trying to control our food,' " Lustig said. "But it's already being controlled. It limits consumer choice when so much of our food is controlled by these industries. I'm actually trying to undo the nanny state."
(NB: Pictured above is the most supremely delicious sugary pastry I've ever had the pleasure of eating. If ever you find yourself in San Francisco, do yourself a favor and pick up a Morning Bun or three from Tartine Bakery.)
- Comment (51)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments :
Oct '10
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
I am a flaming libertarian, and as such would oppose any attempt to restrict what people choose to eat or otherwise ingest.
At the same time, I wonder how aware folks are of how much sugar (or equivalent) is included in products they'd never consider to be “sweets”. For example, I have here in my hand a jar of “essential Waitrose hot horseradish sauce”. So, as I peruse the ingredients, I see: “Water, rapeseed oil, spirit vinegar, maize dextrose,…” and only then do I get to the horseradish. There is more (corn) sugar in it than horseradish, and once you've been paleo for a few months, you'll immediately taste it and realise how pernicious it is in glycemic index.
I don't want to regulate, restrict, forbid, or impose labelling requirements on anything. Current product labels have all the information one needs to sort out the healthy from the harmful. I'll trust the market to select those best oriented to customers' wishes.
But here's a prediction: forget sugar—they're going to take another run at alcohol prohibition within the next decade, not constitutionally but by the nibbling away at rights they do so well.
Jul '10
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
I remember when many smokers warned of the coming tsunami of additional bans and regulated usage, but no one listened. (Nowadays, 2nd, 3rd, , even 5th hand smoke is as dangerous as taking a long drag on an unfiltered Camel, never mind the ppb particulate concentration in the open air…) The ‘ban’ list continues to grow. For the sake of the women and children. For the sake of the earth. For the sake of the entire universe. Actually, for the sake of a continuing stream of research dollars at the behest of a growing number of ‘nursemaid nosewipers.’*
Note to Misthiocracy: Nature decided to discard any nod to the scientific method sometime ago when subscription revenues showed AGW to be a hot, hot topic.
*h/t – Jonah
May '10
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
― C.S Lewis
Sep '10
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
Sugar banned--women and children hardest hit
Aug '10
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
San Francisco......built dormitory / shooting galleries for heroin addicts. Clean syringes always available, safe place to shoot up without the threat of violence.
Smoking was forbidden.
well, at least tobacco.
Gotta love it.
Oct '10
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
They will have to pry the Hershey bar from my cold, dead, diabetic fingers!
Oct '10
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
I'm not as dead set against municipal food regulation as others here. Given the sheer impossibility of buying healthy food in America, I don't have a problem with local governments regulating the food industry. They have access to local knowledge, and are closer to the people.
Naturally, state or federal regulations are totally inappropriate. But you have no idea how hard it is to buy healthy food--even making stuff from scratch can be hard, since even supposedly "fresh" ingredients are often processed in some way.
I almost moved to Europe because of their better food (I have food sensitivities), and I still might be compelled to do so in the future. It's frustrating.
Dec '11
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
so free market is the nanny state (according to the "specialists" last quote)... interesting. Actually all of the whole grain bull that is being marketing as "health food" by the government is pretty quickly converted into sugar by your body. So should be ban that too? Like all things I think the government should stay out of food and diet. Just keep the poison, and bacteria out and I am good.
Apr '11
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
You know what's even more addictive than sugar? Water. Deprive most people of it for a day and they start behaving like a junkie. It's time to regulate it's consumption. Think of the children.
Aug '10
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
I'm so gonna do some baking tonight...
Re: San Francisco's War on Sugar
― C.S Lewis · 22 hours ago
Thanks for reminding me of this quote. It's a great one.