Issue 363 of New Internationalist

Reader-owned global journalism

December 2003

The sugar trap

Sugar has a long and disreputable history, and is one of the most active ingredients in a worldwide epidemic of diet-related illnesses, including diabetes and obesity. This month, NI diagnoses the twin addiction of consumers and producers to a substance that's more akin to a drug than to a food.

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In this issue

  • David Ransom finds the way out
  • Michael Berry tells the untold story of the South Sea Islanders who built the sugar industry in Australia.
  • How slavery and sucrose grew up together – a brief history.
  • India is the world’s largest producer. As Dionne Bunsha reveals, it hasn’t make a sweet confection.
  • Katharine Ainger reports on deadly trade negotiations in Mexico.
  • Revealing the truth about a ruthless cereal killer.