consumption was not pursued in the 1970s because of the alignment of the NIDR’s research priorities with those of the sugar industry. Actions taken by the sugar industry to impact the NIDR’s NCP research priorities, which echo those of the tobacco industry, should be a warning to the public health community. The sugar industry’s current position—that public health recommendations to reduce dental caries risk should focus on sugar harm reduction as opposed to sugar restrictions—is grounded in more than 60 years of protecting industry interests. Industry opposition to current policy proposals—including a WHO guideline on sugars proposed in 2014 and changes to the nutrition facts panel proposed in 2014 by the FDA—should be carefully scrutinized to ensure that industry interests do not supersede public health goals.
We thank Ernest Newbrun, Aubrey Sheiham, Ben Chaffee, Lauren Lempert, Rachel Barry, Lauren Dutra, Margaret Kulik, Randy Uang, and Clayton Velicer for helpful comments on the manuscript. We thank Linda Stahnke, Cara Bertram, and Willam Maher at the University of Illinois Archives for their assistance with the Roger Adams papers. We thank George Coy for his assistance locating documents related to the NCP at NIDCR.
Conceived and designed the experiments: CEK SAG LAS. Performed the experiments: CEK. Analyzed the data: CEK SAG LAS. Wrote the first draft of the manuscript: CEK. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: CEK SAG LAS. Agree with manuscript results and conclusions: CEK SAG LAS. All authors have read, and confirm that they meet, ICMJE criteria for authorship.
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