Study calls for new sugar regulations

SAN FRANCISCO (WPRI) - A new study suggests sugary foods and drinks carry health risks similar to those of alcohol, and should be regulated as such.

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco found that sugar consumption has tripled worldwide over the past fifty years, and that sugar is responsible for high rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and liver problems.

"Because of the way sugar is metabolized in the liver, the liver will turn sugar into fat causing insulin resistance all of the diseases of metabolic syndrome," says Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the UCSF Center for Obesity Assessment, Study, and Treatment.

The authors of the study say it is time to put restrictions on sugar similar to the ones on tobacco and alcohol.

"What if we had an age limit to purchase soda for instance?" asked Dr. Lustig. "Carding kids for coke. I think it's a great idea."

Another proposal, besides setting age limits, is adding a tax to sugary foods and drinks, similar to the cigarette tax.

Some consumers, like Pat Dixon, think the idea is ridiculous.

"You don't have a car accident because you've had too many popsicles," Dixon says. "You don't wake up with the wrong people because you had chocolate cake for dessert. I mean, the government should stay out of the sugar business."

The study was published in the weekly science journal Nature .