Sugar has been labelled the "new tobacco" by scientists concerned by just how much of it we are now consuming. Fighting Sugar in Soft Drinks (FIZZ) founder Dr Gerhard Sundborn said the harm sugar, especially sugary drinks, posed to health was in line with the harm tobacco presented to the population many years ago. Speaking to the Herald ahead of this year's FIZZ symposium, Taxing Sugary Drinks, he said getting people to stop drinking sugary drinks needed to be treated with the same urgency as smoking cessation. I think the same thing needs to happen, and probably even more so now, for sugar and sugary drinks." Coca-Cola Oceania general manager Sandhya Pillay said sugar and tobacco were entirely different because tobacco was harmful when consumed at any level but sugar was fine in moderation.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 25, 2017 03:11 UTC