Sugar Health Risk Cannot Be Compared to Smoking, Says Former UK Health Secretary Andrew Lansley

Health experts are wrong to claim that sugar is as dangerous as smoking, the former health secretary Andrew Lansley has said as he clashed with one of his old advisers on obesity, Professor Simon Capewell, reports the Guardian.  Lansley, a senior Conservative and now leader of the house, said people would not accept a rapid reduction in the sugar content of familiar foods, as he rejected calls from the Action on Sugar group for a 20% to 30% drop in the amount added to products. “Sugar is the new tobacco. Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health,” Capewell said.