毒品禍害巨大，所以要嚴禁。吸煙的害處也不少，所以不准售賣給未成年的人，這當然合理。飲酒過量也會危害健康，酒後駕駛害人害己，所以也要控制。
      影響健康的食用品其實也不少。鹽、脂肪也會導致腎病、心血管病，但若政府開始禁鹽禁油，相信沒有人會同意。
      糖又怎樣？人人都愛糖，但它卻被指會導致如心臟病、癌症和糖尿病等幾種嚴重疾病，也是obesity(過度肥胖)的主因。最近有報告更因此鼓吹禁止十七歲以下的人士買糖份高的飲品。
      Sugar is so toxic(有毒) it should be controlled like alcohol(酒精), according to new report that goes so far as to suggest setting an age limit of 17 years to buy soda pop. It points to sugar as a culprit(罪犯) behind many of the world's major killers - heart disease, cancer and diabetes(糖尿病) - that are now a greater health burden than infectious disease(傳染病).

      全球吃糖量增三倍
      報告刊登於研究期刊Nature，作者是美國南加州大學兒童過度肥胖問題專家Dr. Robert Lustig及兩名公共醫療政策學者。Lustig說人類以往每年只有幾個月有糖可吃，但現在則什麼也加糖，無糖不歡：
      Over the eons(極長時期) sugar was available to our ancestors(祖先) as fruit for only a few months a year at harvest time(收割時候), or as honey which was guarded by bees. Now it is added to nearly all processed foods. In developing countries, sugary soft drinks are often cheaper than potable(適合飲用的) water or milk.
      這些科學家說，過去五十年，全球食糖量增加了三倍。汽水比樽裝水或奶都要廉宜，大家自然大飲特飲。而汽水的甜味是來自sucrose︰
      The sweetener is made from sucrose, found in sugarcane(甘蔗) and sugar beets(甜菜) or from high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and contains a roughly equal mixture of glucose(葡萄糖) and fructose(果糖).
      報告說越來越多科學證據顯示，"fructose can trigger processes that lead to liver toxicity(肝毒) and a host of other chronic diseases"。
      很多學校在自動售賣機內已不放汽水和糖果，但卻換上果汁和運動飲品，其實這些飲料也含糖。有些國家如加拿大，對某些加糖食物征收少量稅以減低食用率。但這些專家認為如要改變現狀，必須採取更嚴厲的措施。
      汽水若賣一元，最好加到兩元。政府亦可以在低收入社區與學校周圍設立禁售區，或在上學時間不准售賣含糖飲品，或不准售予某年齡(如十七歲)以下的人。
      一如所料，這樣的建議一定會引起極大反應，尤其是飲料業界。加拿大飲料業協會發言人Stephanie Baxter認為建議可笑，也是"over simplification of a complex issue"(把一個複雜的問題過分簡單化)。
      "No one single food or beverage can be linked to obesity. And there is no scientific evidence to support the allegations that sugar, in any of its various forms, is a unique cause of health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension(高血壓), cardiovascular disease(心血管疾病) or metabolic syndrome(新陳代謝有關的症候)."
      食糖過量影響健康的理論並不是在今天才出現。Nancy Appleton的Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at Our #1 National Addiction，吃糖自殺，就是書名已很驚嚇。

      文︰子慧