Is Sugar the New Fat?

Gr 9 Up—New Zealand psychologist and television host Nigel Latta asks pointed questions about dietary sugar, which is added to our food in the manufacturing process. His inquiry serves as an indictment of the processed food industry. Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist and professor from the University of Southern California, compares added sugar with tobacco and says that sugar is designed to make money for food producers. Lustig states that there is no need for any kind of added sugar and that when it is consumed, it overwhelms the liver's capacity to process toxins and leads to all kinds of illnesses—diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and obesity. Latta talks with food industry spokespeople, physicians, and families who have cut sugar out of their diets, providing an eye-opening, although somewhat biased, view of the respective roles the industry, the government, and individuals play in bringing about a positive resolution to this public health crisis. The program was made in New Zealand, and many of the references to common foods there will be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience. Viewers may not recognize a number of phrases Latta uses (e.g., a "growling," means being yelled at by parents).