A recent article published in Environmental Health examined records dating as far back as the 1930s and found evidence that the sugar industry used manipulation tactics to downplay sugar’s health harms and promote fluoride as a safe solution to tooth decay.
In short:
- Archival records show that industry-funded scientists minimized sugar’s role in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
- The sugar industry also used its influence to exaggerate fluoride’s effectiveness and downplay safety concerns from water fluoridation, successfully diverting the American Dental Association away from recommendations that focused on reducing sugar consumption.
- Individuals who played key roles in the sugar industry’s campaign later transferred to the tobacco industry, which adopted many of the same manipulation tactics and even funded some of the same researchers to influence scientific studies.
Key quote:
“Many of the sugar industry's tactics were later adopted by the tobacco industry and mirrored by industries involved in asbestos, lead, pesticides, climate change denial, and others.”
Why this matters:
The fluoridation of water is a hotly debated topic, with a recent systematic review conducted by the National Toxicology Program finding an association between high levels of fluoride exposure and impaired IQ in children. In the U.S., about 3.5 million people are served by community water systems with naturally-occurring fluoride above 1.1 mg/L, putting them at potential risk. The risk of lower levels of fluoride exposure is still uncertain, but this article emphasizes the critical need for regulators and policymakers to be aware of the historical role industry interests have played in influencing the scientific record.
Related EHN coverage:
- What does the National Toxicology Program say about fluoride?
- Op-ed: It is time to protect kids’ developing brains from fluoride
More resources:
- WATCH: Fluoride, Neurodevelopment, and Cognition: A National Toxicology Program Monograph webinar, sponsored by the EDC Strategies Partnership.
- UCSF’s Industry Documents Library, a source of historical records on sugar, tobacco, fossil fuels, the chemical industry, and more. Also see the Center to End Corporate Harm.
Neurath, Christopher for Environmental Health vol. 24. Sept. 29, 2025
