Sugar-labeling delay jeopardizes millions

The Cleveland Browns are sweet on their first-round draft pick quarterback Baker Mayfield from Oklahoma, but they may have learned a thing or two from their past two disastrous seasons (1-15 in 2016 and 0-16 in 2017).

Instead of pushing the rookie onto the field, they’re sticking with Tyrod Taylor as starting quarterback and Drew Stanton as backup. Top-notch athletes like Mayfield need bench time even if they have a sweet deal, like a $22 million signing bonus. Unfortunately, the Food and Drug Administration seems to have forgotten that lesson and has given an unfettered sweet deal to packaged food manufacturers.

Companies initially were told that by July 2018 they would have to put added sugar content on nutritional labels. Now the deadline is pushed to 2020 for big companies; 2021 for smaller ones.

Why This Matters

A study published in Diabetologia found a strong link between elevated glucose levels and cognitive decline – even if your blood sugar level isn’t high enough to qualify you for a diagnosis of diabetes. And added sugars in packaged foods damage your gut biome and promote inflammation that leads to elevated blood glucose. That means the 86 million Americans with prediabetes are at risk for cognitive problems!

What YOU Can Do

Read ingredients labels, and avoid any food containing: dextrose; brown sugar; confectioners’ or powdered sugar; corn syrup; fructose; high-fructose corn syrup; invert sugar; lactose; malt syrup; maltose; molasses; nectars; raw sugar; sucrose; sugar.