REAL SUGAR

When studies came out pointing to a correlation between high fructose corn syrup consumption and obesity, consumers had a dramatic response.

Overall sugar consumption has dropped by 20% in the past 20 years, even as the population has grown, said Nicholas Fereday, executive director of Rabobank said during the American Sugarbeet Growers Association annual meeting on Jan. 31.

Corn sweetener consumption dropped 37% in that time, and high fructose corn syrup consumption dropped by 42%. Those drops largely have come from declines in the beverage industry, Fereday said. Refined sugar consumption actually increased by 3%, but that could not make up for the overall decrease.

“The only safe conclusion we can say … is consumption is on a downward trend,” said Fereday, who joined the meeting by Zoom.

That would sound like a public health success story, Fereday said, but obesity has continued to increase.

“Somehow, our waistlines did not get the memo on this,” he said.

Obesity, Fereday said, is complicated. And with the big cut in sugar consumption and no cut in weight, consumers may be seeking answers.

“Perhaps it isn’t sugar at the root of this problem,” he said.

The demonization of “sugar” in general presents both challenges and opportunities for sugarbeet producers, Courtney Gaine, president and CEO of The Sugar Association, told the ASGA. While the challenge of overcoming consumer perceptions remains, the solution and opportunity may be as simple as getting people to see “real sugar” for what it really is — a plantbased substance with a proper place in a balanced diet.

Sugar Consumption Is Down But Opportunity Exists In Changing Consumer Opinions

What is sugar?

The ASGA meeting kicked off with a golf tournament and industry receptions on Jan. 30 in Scottsdale. Last year’s meeting was held virtually due to COVID-19 precautions, and Luther Markwart, ASGA executive vice president, said being back in-person was “just absolutely fabulous.”

“We’re essentially having a family reunion here in the sugar industry,” he said.

And like any family reunion, the good and the bad news facing the family had to be discussed. On the bad side, supply chain issues and inflation that are causing skyrocketing input costs got a lot of attention. Markwart said the input side is certainly going to impact sugar producers, but the “output” side of the supply chain has been resilient for the sugar industry.

That decrease in sugar consumption also could be seen on the side of bad news for the sugar industry. That is, if you look at “sugar” in general instead of “real sugar.”

Gaine said surveys have shown that when consumers hear “sugar,” they think sweetened beverages, baked goods and other treats.

“Nobody thinks white granulated sugar when they hear ‘sugar,’” she said.

When sugar is connected to its origins — sugarcane or sugarbeets — the perceptions change. The problem there? Few people seem to realize where sugar comes from, Gaine said.

Connecting product to plant

The Sugar Association is the scientific voice of the U.S. sugar industry. Its members include cooperatives and companies involved in growing, processing and refining “real sugar” from sugarbeets and sugarcane.

An ongoing problem for the sugar industry has been that people do not see sugar as a natural product, Gaine said. To combat those perceptions, The

BY JENNY SCHLECHT

Sugar Association has produced the “Real Sugar” campaign, with the tagline, “Life is sweet. Keep it balanced.” The campaign has included targeted online marketing, like a commercial of people purchasing sugarbeets and sugarcane in supermarkets where bags of sugar would be.

“It’s a simple message connecting the plant to the real product,” Gaine said.

Gaine sees sugarbeet growers as an important part of the education process.

“Right now, consumers are incredibly interested in where their food comes from, and they want to know the people who are making their food,” she said.

The Sugar Association has a curriculum for family and consumer science teachers to use in teaching about sugar’s place in the diet, and the association also has sponsored “influencer tours” that brought food and dietary influencers to sugarbeet and sugarcane fields and refineries to learn about where sugar comes from.

Real versus fake

The other side of The Sugar Association’s work has been to lobby to get sugar included in the dietary guidelines released in 2020. The guidelines pegged recommended sugar consumption at 50 grams per day, or 200 calories. That makes consumers feel more comfortable consuming, said Gaine, a dietician.

“We were never really seen as essential before” the 2020 guidelines, she said.

She said “balanced” is the preferred terminology, rather than telling people to use sugar in “moderation.” Moderation makes people think the thing they’re consuming is something they shouldn’t have, she said.

The process didn’t end with the 2020 guidelines, she said. Fereday said the momentum to cut sugar will continue, even without evidence that cutting sugar will cut obesity rates. Some groups, including the American Heart Association, feel sugar consumption should have been set at a lower number. But Gaine said studies have shown the healthiest eating patterns include 17 to 50 grams of sugar per day.

The Sugar Association also is campaigning for more transparency regarding the use of artificial sweeteners, the usage of which has increased in children’s products, Gaine said. Consumers don’t always recognize those sweeteners, which can have gastrointestinal effects, because labels can be confusing and misleading, she said; the labels no, low or reduced sugar also can be misleading, as the products can be higher in calories than products that do contain sugar.

The next phase of The Sugar Association’s plan is to educate parents about the hidden sweeteners in food and the role of “real sugar.”

Fereday said sugar reduction will remain big business as companies search for a “holy grail” product that tastes like sugar, can be used like sugar but isn’t actually sugar.

But the advantage that sugar has is that it’s real, with a story that can be shown and celebrated, Gaine said. But while the push to explain “real” is important right now, it may not last forever, she said.

“Real matters right now. Real versus fake,” she said. “It might not matter in 10 years.”