In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that manufacturers would be required to mention added-sugar content on their nutrition labels. When the agency did that, the researchers at Tufts University started identifying the potential impact of sugar on the overall health of the consumers.
According to findings published Monday in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, the researchers found a significant decrease in type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease cases over the next 20 years.
People in the U.S. get over 300 calories of added sugar every day, especially through sugary drinks, and desserts such as cookies, ice cream, and candy.
Nutritionist at Tufts University Dr. Renata Micha said, “The purpose of our study was to estimate the impact of the FDA’s added sugars label on reducing sugar intake and preventing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Our results indicate that timely implementation of the added sugars label could reduce consumption of foods and beverages with added sugars, which could then lead to an improvement in health and a reduction in health care spending.”
The researchers opine that the proposed sugar label would prevent over 354,000 new cases of cardiovascular disease and 600,000 fewer cases of type 2 diabetes between 2018 and 2037. And this could save U.S health care more than $31 billion.
The FDA also ordered that food manufacturers should clearly mention the amount of trans fats in their products. This proposal drove many manufacturers to reformulate their products to have less or no trans fats to meet new consumer demands. Dr. Micha said, “It suggests that mandated labeling of added sugars content would stimulate the food industry to reduce sugar in their products.”
If this calculation proves true, researchers anticipate a greater impact from the added-sugar label, with a dramatic decrease in cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, estimating a saving of more than $57 billion. Dr. Micha noted, “Our findings may be conservative and underestimate the full health and economic impacts. The model only evaluated health benefits and cost-savings from diabetes and cardiovascular disease outcomes.” The nutritionist added, “The label mandate could have a positive impact on a variety of other health concerns.”
