Chris Mooney argues (in Mother Jones) that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is trying to get the World Health Organization (WHO) to modify a report tying sugar consumption to obesity and obesity related diseases such as Type II diabetes. The motive: to be responsive to sugar interests with administration ties. "Eating Away at Science"
"...The final WHO guidelines are scheduled to be approved this summer, and before drafting them the WHO produced a summary of the scientific research, which finds a connection between obesity and unhealthy diets, including too much consumption of sugar and fatty foods. In April 2003, after this report was released, the Sugar Association and the Corn Refiners Association (which makes high-fructose corn syrup, the leading soft-drink sweetener) mobilized to have the findings revised. Not only did they call on HHS to take action, but the Sugar Association also wrote to the WHO threatening to have its allies in Congress eliminate the organization's U.S. funding if the WHO didn't rethink its anti-obesity work.
The industry's leaders and representatives are certainly well positioned to make their views known in Washington, particularly to the president and his top advisers. The Bush campaign acknowledges, for instance, that its "Rangers"?fundraisers who bundle at least $200,000 in donations?include the sugar magnate Jose "Pepe" Fanjul Jr.; Richard F. Hohlt, a 2003 lobbyist for Altria, which owns Kraft Foods; and Robert Leebern Jr., a lobbyist who last year represented Coca-Cola. And in the campaign's class of "Pioneers"--bundlers of a minimum of $100,000; there's Robert A. Coker, a United States Sugar Corp. senior vice president; Barclay Resler, Coca-Cola's vice president of Government Relations; and Joe Weller, the chairman and CEO of Nestl� USA..."
The government is providing this service to the industry in addition to jacking its profits up at the expense of U.S. consumers by protecting it from international competition. (Given the health problems associated with sugar consumption, higher prices and reduced consumption may have a positive health benefit.)
Recent posts on "big sugar"
"Trade Protection Can Cost Jobs"
"Cooperation, makes it happen..."
"Candy makers fleeing the country"
"Doha round maneuvers; European sugar"
(I'm taking advantage of Blogger's new search function.)
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