Americans Keep Getting Smarter About Sugar
We still eat way too much sugar and other sweeteners, but continuing declines in consumption are testament to the fact that people really can learn.
No, thanks.
Photographer: Vincent Mundy/Bloomberg
Per-capita consumption of sugar and other caloric sweeteners was down in the U.S. in 2017 for the third straight year — and 13th out of the past 18. And this time, consumption of refined sugar, which had been rising over the past decade as consumers (and soft-drink makers) turned away from high-fructose corn sweeteners, fell as well.
The 2017 numbers, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a few weeks ago but haven’t gotten much attention yet, aren’t really big news in the sense that they overturn an established narrative. There had already been talk of a global “sugar glut” brought on by booming production in Asia, ebbing demand in developed countries, and slowing demand growth in emerging markets. It’s also clear from the above chart that the decline in overall sweetener use in the U.S. began a while ago (I’ve written about it before) and has actually slowed somewhat in recent years.