Federal guidelines seek to curb sugar intake
By Tara Duggan, San Francisco Chronicle
For the first time, the federal government is recommending a specific limit on Americans’ sugar intake, making waves in the food industry and public health community with its 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans released Thursday.
Every five years, these federal guidelines impact spending on school lunch, military, food stamp and other government programs, so there’s money in the game — even though only 57 percent of Americans follow the recommendations.
The biggest change since 2010 is new specific guidance that added sugar — not the kind naturally found in food, but sugar added to foods during processing or at the table — be limited to 10 percent of calories. Other nutrient recommendations, such as a daily limit of 2,300 mg of sodium and keeping saturated fats at only 10 percent of calories, remained the same as in previous versions of the guidelines.
