As healthcare, dietetic, and dental professionals - including physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, registered dieticians/licensed nutritionists, dentists, dental hygienists, and others - we call on the New York City Council to pass
Int. 687 to ensure that sugar warning labels are required on all chain restaurant menu items that contain more than a day’s worth (50g, equal to 12.5 teaspoons) of added sugars, including fountain drinks.
In our practices, we see the multiple, often devastating, health impacts of excessive consumption of added sugars on our patients and clients. These impacts include type 2 diabetes (1), heart disease (2), liver disease (3), several forms of cancer (4), overweight/obesity (5), and tooth decay (6). Many of these same conditions also greatly increase the risk for hospitalization and death from severe COVID-19 (7).
Moreover, high consumption of added sugars can contribute to health disparities, with Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific Islander New Yorkers suffering from higher rates of type 2 diabetes than non-Hispanic whites (8), and Black and Latino having higher rates of obesity (9). Sadly, the poorest NYC neighborhoods have the highest rates of many of these deadly conditions (10).
The need to address this health crisis is all the more urgent given recent increases in diabetes-related deaths in NYC (11), and the growth in incidence and severity of child obesity nationally over the last twelve years (12).
To help counter these trends, Warning labels on menu items with high levels of added sugars are a powerful intervention strategy that can help counter these trends, providing transparent, accurate information to consumers, especially for parents and other adult caretakers of children. A survey conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that 85% of New York City residents are in favor of such a common-sense measure (13).
New York City has a well-earned reputation for public health innovation, especially when it protects our most vulnerable residents.
It is time for the City Council to act on this and pass Int. 687,
the Sweet Truth Act.
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References:
(1) Malik, V. S., & Hu, F. B. (2019). Sugar-sweetened beverages and cardiometabolic health: An update of the evidence. Nutrients, 11(8), 1840.
Schwingshackl, L., Hoffmann, G., Lampousi, A. M., Knüppel, S., Iqbal, K., Schwedhelm, C., et al. (2017). Food groups and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.
European Journal of Epidemiology, 32(5), 363–375.
(2) Malik & Hu (2019)
Pacheco, L. S., Lacey Jr, J. V., Martinez, M. E., Lemus, H., Araneta, M. R. G., Sears, D. D., et al. (2020). Sugar-sweetened beverage intake and cardiovascular disease risk in the California Teachers Study.
Journal of the American Heart Association, 9(10), e014883.
(3) Wijarnpreecha, K., Thongprayoon, C., Edmonds, P. J., & Cheungpasitporn, W. (2016). Associations of sugar-and artificially sweetened soda with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, 109(7), 461-466.
Chen, H., Wang, J., Li, Z., Lam, C. W. K., Xiao, Y., Wu, Q., & Zhang, W. (2019). Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has a dose-dependent effect on the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: An updated systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(12), 2192.
Hydes, T. J., Ravi, S., Loomba, R., & E Gray, M. (2020). Evidence-based clinical advice for nutrition and dietary weight loss strategies for the management of NAFLD and NASH.
Clinical and Molecular Hepatology, 26(4), 383–400.
(5) de Ruyter, J. C., Olthof, M. R., Seidell, J. C., & Katan, M. B. (2012). A trial of sugar-free or sugar-sweetened beverages and body weight in children. New England Journal of Medicine, 367(15), 1397-1406.
Sigala, D. M., & Stanhope, K. L. (2021). An exploration of the role of sugar-sweetened beverage in promoting obesity and health disparities.
Current Obesity Reports, 10(1), 39-52.
Deal, B. J., Huffman, M. D., Binns, H., & Stone, N. J. (2020). Perspective: Childhood obesity requires new strategies for prevention. Advances in Nutrition, 11(5), 1071–1078.
(6) Chi, D. L., & Scott, J. M. (2019). Added sugar and dental caries in children: A scientific update and future steps. Dental Clinics of North America, 63(1), 17–33.
Moynihan P. (2016). Sugars and dental caries: Evidence for setting a recommended threshold for intake.
Advances in Nutrition,
7(1), 149–156.
(8) New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. EpiQuery - Community Health Survey 2017. Accessed on 8/19/2022 at
https://nyc.gov/health/epiquery
Sigala, D. M., & Stanhope, K. L. (2021). An exploration of the role of sugar-sweetened beverage in promoting obesity and health disparities. Current Obesity Reports, 10(1), 39-52.
(9)
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. EpiQuery -
Community Health Survey 2017.
Accessed on 8/19/2022 at https://nyc.gov/health/epiquery
(10) ibid.
(11) Woolf, S.H., Chapman, D.A., Sabo, R.T., Weinberger, D.M., & Hill, L. (2020). Excess deaths from COVID-19 and other causes. JAMA, 324(5), 510–513.
(12) Cunningham, S. A., Hardy, S. T., Jones, R., Ng, C., Kramer, M. R., & Narayan, K. M. (2022). Changes in the incidence of childhood obesity.
Pediatrics,
150(2).
(13) Center for Science in the Public Interest (2021). “New York added sugars warning label poll.” Accessed on 8/19/2022 at
https://www.cspinet.org/resource/new-york-added-sugars-warning-label-poll
