ERAN BLACHINSKY
Head of Research and Insight, FMCG Gurus, Rehovot, Israel

Sugar is the major contributor to the 21st-century pandemics: overweight, obesity, and diabetes. Sugar was also found related to other diseases such as cancer heart failure, and more. In 1972 John Yudkin published a book, “Pure, White and Deadly,” describing the deadly effects of sugar overconsumption. He was a pioneer in describing for the first time what today is a piece of common knowledge to us all.

Back in 1985, my father was diagnosed as a diabetic type II. In our family, therefore, we decided to reduce sugar consumption as a concept and to consume fewer sweet products. We learned that, like most of the population, more than 20% of a daily sugar intake originates from drinks.

I was surprised to see that even though fruits were considered healthy, his physician recommended not to consume too many fruits and to more extents, fruit juices.

Three years after its discovery, in 1897, Saccharin, the first artificial sweetener, was used in the food and drugs industry. Since then, replacing sugar is common in beverages and foods. The sugar-free shelves in the supermarkets are full of prod ...