Cristin Kearns was managing dental clinics for Kaiser and researching the link between gum disease and Type 2 diabetes when she came across a brochure with the CDC’s dietary recommendations for diabetics. The bad advice she found in the brochure forever altered the trajectory of her career and led to her development of a large digital archive — a record of instances in which the Sugar Association, a 501(c)6 formerly known as the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF), used public relations campaigns and industry funding to influence scientific research, education, and public policy in support of its mission to promote sugar consumption.

This brief 2019 article reviews the timeline and consequences of the dramatic increase in sugar consumption in the U.S. and Western world.