Could Big Sugar become the next Big Tobacco?

In 1994, CEOs of major tobacco companies were summoned to Congress and subjected to questioning about the health perils of cigarettes. They testified that they didn’t believe that cigarettes were addictive. The execs averred under oath that cigarettes “may” cause lung cancer, heart disease and other health problems, but claimed that “the evidence is not conclusive.”

This notwithstanding the mounds of scientific studies confirming cigarettes’ health effects, and R.J. Reynolds’ own animal testing conducted in the 80s that demonstrated tobacco was addictive.

The story is admirably recounted in the 1999 thriller “The Insider” in which Russel Crowe plays a tobacco industry whistleblower. The film documents the way cigarette companies sandbagged evidence that their products were agents of death and disease. At times, the character played by Crowe feared for his life.

A similar pattern is emerging with Big Sugar. The stage is set for a reckoning such as befell Big Tobacco. Regulators and lawyers are already sharpening their claws for an onslaught on sugar producers who knowingly foisted a dangerous and addictive product on the unsuspecting U.S. public.

The pieces are falling into place:

1) ADDICTION.