Not long ago there was a serious conflict between the tobacco lobby and the US government because of the statutory warning on packets of cigarettes. In India the warning states that tobacco causes cancer. Now the same controversy has arisen over sugar. Opinion seems to differ on whether a low-carb or a low-fat diet is healthier. The food industry majors are doing their best to bend research their own way, disregarding the truth about what is healthy and what is not. It seems a proven fact that the American sugar lobby paid scientists in the 1960s to play down the deleterious effect of sugar in causing heart disease. Now there is evidence that a trade group called Sugar Research Foundation which at present calls itself the Sugar Association has gone the tobacco road. Three Harvard scientists have been paid to publish a handpicked 1967 review of research on sugar, fat and heart disease. It negates the common belief to serve the interests of the sugar industry.
There is ample evidence that research on the food industry influences governmental nutritional guidelines. The objective is to augment the profit of the industry. The recent wrangling over a Nestle product is a case in point. What is most alarming is the effect motivated guidance has on children. Parents have been increasingly induced to go for junk food for their children resulting in childhood obesity and growing lifestyle diseases. Diabetes is a serious threat. It is necessary to ensure that food research is funded by the right sources. There may be cynics of course who say that if the environment is unhealthy, there is no point in being cautious eaters. Eat whatever is tasty.