Should Sugar Be Regulated Like Alcohol?

Sugar is everywhere. It’s in our drinks, in the tea/coffee we take, our cereals, drinks, and even in foods, including the ones that do not taste sweet at all. Someone gave me a sachet of garri days ago; everything has been added to it - sugar, milk, and groundnut. But when I tasted it, I almost spat it out because of the excessive amount of sugar.

For many of us, it’s impossible to go a day without taking sugar (not me, though). Yet, when conversations arise in the public health sector, sugar is often treated as harmless, while substances like alcohol and cigarettes are strongly regulated.

This pegs the question: Should sugar be regulated, too, the same way alcohol is?

Everyone knows alcohol and other substances come with warnings. The age limits are enforced, and advertisements are controlled. There’s no one who isn’t aware that excessive consumption can damage the liver, affect judgment and even lead to addiction. But sugar is always marketed with smiling faces, smooth packaging, and the promise of happiness, energy, and fun, despite our understanding of its long-term impact on our health.

The truth is, excessive consumption of sugar can also lead to serious health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay and other serious mental health challenges. Unlike alcohol, getting addicted to sugar starts early in life. It’s introduced to children at a young age as a form of reward that brings comfort and celebration. They aren’t educated about the consequences it can have later in life.

You’d see children enjoying sugar cubes without fear of what they might cause later. And we know, for things like this, the effects aren’t revealed until it’s too late to find a remedy.

One major issue is how hidden sugar is. Many people think they are making healthy choices by choosing yoghurts, drinks, fruit juice, and breakfast cereals with high sugar content, only to discover later that they contain alarming amounts of added sugar. The day I realised the amount of sugar added to these soft drinks, I stopped, especially when I had to test myself and was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. You won’t know what you are getting yourself into until reality opens its door to you.

Trust me, if sugar were regulated, mostly with strictness, I bet, having clear labelling would be mandatory; not just writing those tiny numbers at the back of a package, but would be boldly written, which would make people understand the warnings are there to explain what frequent consumption could lead to.

Regulating sugar doesn’t necessarily mean banning. At least, alcohol isn’t banned. Instead, it would be an informed choice. Imagine if sugary products came with clear health warnings, putting some restrictions on how they’re advertised for children and adding limits on how much sugar can be added to certain foods. Believe me, though people would still have the freedom to consume sugar as they want, they would also have an understanding of what they stand to gain and what they stand to lose.

For some, the decision would be criticised, saying that regulating sugar would be too extreme and interfere with individuals’ freedom. But freedom without information isn’t real freedom - it’s bondage and dangerous. When people don’t truly understand what they are consuming, their choices would be based on marketing rather than knowledge.

My thought on this is that if sugar is regulated like alcohol, it will send a powerful message to every consumer, because the truth is, what we consume daily matters a lot. It would encourage food manufacturers to take responsibility and empower their consumers to make healthier decisions, not just for the profit they stand to make.

Sugar may not make people drunk like alcohol, but it’s like a seed one sows today and quietly damages lives gradually until it’s too late for a solution. I would say that, rather than treating sugar as harmless, taking it seriously will go a long way toward protecting people’s health and lives. Not out of fear but out of care for public health and future generations.

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