Warning Labels on High-Sugar Foods and Drinks

Everyday families across the U.S. are unknowingly consuming excessive added sugar—hidden in foods like cereal, fruit yogurt, and granola bars. In fact, 74% of packaged foods in the U.S. contain added sugar, often under names like “evaporated cane juice” or “maltodextrin” (Ng et al., 2012). Kids are especially vulnerable—they don’t read nutrition labels, they trust us to protect them. But today, their school breakfasts and sports drinks are sabotaging their health. Studies show sugar not only contributes to obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease, but also to mental health struggles and ADHD-like symptoms in children (Noble et al., 2015).

What’s at stake?

If we don’t act, a generation will grow up hooked on sugar—facing early-onset chronic illness and emotional instability. The food industry knows this. In the 1960s, sugar companies paid Harvard scientists to shift the blame from sugar to fat (Kearns et al., 2016). That lie still shapes policy today. Meanwhile, neuroscientists like Dr. Magalie Lenoir have shown sugar lights up the brain just like cocaine, reinforcing addiction, dependency, and overconsumption. And yet, we have no warning labels. No honest information. Just profit-driven silence—while families pay the price.

Why is now the time to act?

We’ve regulated tobacco, alcohol, and even trans fats. We can—and must—do the same for added sugar. Countries like Mexico and the UK have already implemented taxes and labeling laws, and it’s working. In just 60 days, Damon Gameau’s body in That Sugar Film changed dramatically from a “healthy” diet loaded with hidden sugar—he gained 20 pounds, developed fatty liver, and his cholesterol flipped to dangerous levels. And yet… his calorie intake remained the same. The problem isn’t how much we eat. It’s what we’re eating.