It’s official (sort of): Sugar is the new health food

It may not be exactly “official,” but 2011 is shaping up to be the year sugar became health food.

Sound crazy? Yeah–crazy like a high fructose corn syrup fox.

A couple of weeks ago I told you about a label I spotted on a soft drink called Sierra Mist Natural. The label features a banner that says: “NEW! No artificial ingredients.” And below that: “Made with real sugar.”

Real sugar! That appears to be the new code for “no high fructose corn syrup.”

We’ll call Sierra Mist Natural Exhibit A.

And now, Exhibit B…

At Trader Joe’s I picked up a box of multigrain crackers. And on the front of the box: “Good Source of Fiber & 2 grams of Sugar per serving.”

No “just.” No “only.” It simply said “& 2 grams of Sugar per serving.”

A good source of fiber AND sugar? That’s GOT to be health food!

Okay, two grams isn’t much. But just a few years ago it would have been impossible to find product labels boasting about sugar content–and never right on the front of the package.

I’m going to track this “sugar health food” trend all year long. And you can help out. If you see an advertisement or a product package that proudly displays sugar content, send me an e-mail and tell me about it.

Seriously–this sugar thing is going to be BIG!