Spotlight on sugar [news]

Here’s a prediction for 2013: we’ll be hearing a lot more about sugar, sugar-free diets and sugar’s effects this year. Sugar is once again a buzzword and, increasingly, a baddie, in nutrition and diet circles, from the faddish to the serious scientific community. The latest from the credible science camp on this subject comes from local researchers at the University of Otago, including lead co-author and Healthy Food Guide Editorial Advisory Board member, Professor Jim Mann from Otago’s Department of Human Nutrition and Medicine and Edgar National Centre for Diabetes and Obesity research. The study, commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and published in the British Medical Journal, looked into what is known about the effects of sugar.