total cost savings of the policy would be over $160 billion over the U.S. adult population’s lifetime.
The policy becomes cost-effective at six years and cost-saving at nine years. It could also reduce health disparities because the greatest health gains would be among Black and Hispanic adults, and those with lower incomes and less education — groups with the highest levels of sugar consumption, the model shows.
Even partial food industry compliance with the policy could result in significant health and economic benefits, according to the study published Aug. 27 in the journal Circulation.
READ: A Low Sugar Diet You Can Actually Enjoy!
“We hope that this study will help push the reformulation initiative forward in the next few years,” Shangguan said says.
Countries such as the United Kingdom, Norway and Singapore are leaders in sugar-reduction efforts, the researchers note.
“Sugar is one of the most obvious additives in the food supply to reduce to reasonable amounts,” co-author Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston says.
“Our findings suggest it’s time to implement a national program with voluntary sugar reduction targets, which can generate major improvements in health, health disparities, and healthcare spending in less than a decade,” Mozaffarian shares.
Substitutes for Sugar
Besides this initiative, there are other ways you can substitute sugar in your diet: