FIGHT AGAINST SUGAR

THERE SHOULD BE NO SPACE FOR FLAVOUR, COLOUR, DYES OR OTHER ADDITIVES TO FOOD

- Jagdish Rattanani

The wild run of the Donald Trump brigade in the United States is already bringing negative fallouts: the US economy contracted in the first quarter of 2025, tourist arrivals are reported dramatically down, and Elon Musk's chainsaw has effectively crippled many wings of the US government as more departments are downsized or eliminated.

But amid this whirlwind not seen in 100 years, something good appears to have emerged from the controversial US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Last fortnight, Kennedy uttered three simple words: "sugar is poison." And he set out his agenda to check its use in products sold by big food companies. "Four years from now, we are going to have most of these products off the market, or you will know about them when you go to the grocery store," the Health Secretary said.

This is a dramatic and significant change, wholly positive and clearly the right step but it comes from a "wrong" person -- one who is otherwise a conspiracy theorist, is known for anti-scientific beliefs and rants against vaccines. Kennedy also has a large and positive agenda against 'Big Food' (and 'Big Pharma') companies selling sodas and sweetened packaged products that are known to be addictive and responsible for the obesity and diabetes epidemic in America, where 38% of children, he says, are already diabetic or pre-diabetic.

There are many aspects to this change, but the notable one is that most of the sugar infusion in food stuff has spread across the globe and certainly into India, from its roots in American food design, packaging and marketing.