Justin Fox, Columnist

Choosing Sides in War on Sugar

The candy producer hopes you keep eating the stuff, just not too much.

May 8, 2015 at 5:20 PM UTC

Justin Fox is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business, economics and other topics involving charts. A former editorial director of the Harvard Business Review, he is author of “The Myth of the Rational Market.”

Maybe it should come with a warning label.
Photographer: Dario Pignatelli/Bloomberg

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The people at candy-maker Mars Inc. have something to tell you: Stop eating so much sugar! According to the Wall Street Journal, the manufacturer of M&Ms, Snickers and Twix has thrown its weight behind a U.S. Food and Drug Administration push to include measures of added sugar on food labels. Non-candy food manufacturers such as Campbell Soup Co. are opposed to the change, but Mars figures that people already know their candy bars are full of sugar. From the WSJ story:

In a comment letter submitted to the government Thursday, Mars also backed recommendations that people should limit their consumption of added sugars to less than 10 percent of daily energy intake and eat lots of whole grains. The letter also mentions that “enriched grains like white rice can provide a meaningful contribution to the diet,” and goes on and on about the benefits of sugar-free gum in fighting cavities. Did I mention that Mars also makes Uncle Ben’s rice? And Orbit sugar-free gum?