The sugar debate rages on

A sweet treat or pure poison? It seems like every expert is now weighing in on the topic of whether sugar and its substitutes are just mildly unhealthy or extremely toxic to the body.

The YouTube viral video that thrust the issue into the limelight in 2009 (a lecture by professor Robert H. Lustig, watch it here) has now had over a million views, and the issue has been gaining momentum, with researches across north America now discussing what Lustig calls “the most demonized additive known to man.”

Sugar and its derivative, high-fructose corn syrup, have been widely blamed for the skyrocketing number of diabetes and obesity cases in North America over the past decade, and now it is the suspected cause of other diseases such as heart disease and many common cancers. Some critics, however, argue that evidence is not yet solid enough to scapegoat the sweet stuff.

Here, we've rounded up some of the most recent articles on the topic - take a look and decide for yourself...

AP: Schools to ban chocolate milk May 2011 
Vancouver sun: Soda-Tax debate May 2011
Fox News: Is sugar poison? May 2011
New York Times: Is Sugar Toxic? April 2011
CBS: Can Sugar be Poisonous? April 2011 

Also, check out this excellent TED talk on kids and sugar from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver: