The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that 156 pounds of “added” sugar are consumed by the average American each year. The Sugar Association, a trade group of sugar manufacturers, estimates that only about 29 pounds (about 18%) of that annual individual consumption comes as traditional sugar.
The rest is hidden in your food. The obvious culprits are sodas, candy, cookies, junk food. Right now, as I write this there is an advertisement on TV for Grinch Pancakes at IHOP, sigh. Clearly loaded with sugar. But a LOT of sugar is ADDED to what many of us grew up eating as HEALTHY options like yogurt, nut butters, condiments, deli meat, breads, dried fruit (yep, added on top of the fruit sugar), pasta sauces, and canned and boxed groceries.
High-fructose corn syrup is one of the most used added sweeteners. Use of it has increased 3.5% per year in the last decade alone, according to the World Health Organization. That’s twice the rate of refined sugar.
In 1700, the average person consumed about 4 pounds of sugar per year.
In 1800, the average person consumed about 18 pounds of sugar per year.
In 1900, individual consumption had risen to 90 pounds of sugar per year.
In 2012, the figure was that whopping 156 pounds, nearly 1/2 pound per day!
Read labels, or better yet, just buy the real, whole food!
Reference: http://naturalsociety.com/sugar-the-toxicity-question-and-what-to-do-about-it/