Table 3.

Quotations illustrating that others do not believe the benefits of interventions aimed at SSB reduction on weight have been established.

Person(s) or Body Offering Statement	Statement	Reference
United States Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee	“Thus, there are mixed results on this topic. RCTs report that added sugars are not different from other calories in increasing energy intake or body weight. Prospective studies report some relationship with SSB and weight gain, but it is not possible to determine if these relationships are merely linked to additional calories, as opposed to added sugars per se. The systematic reviews in this area are also inconsistent, probably based on different measures used to determine added sugars intake or intake of SSB.” [We should] “Conduct well-controlled and powered research studies testing interventions that are likely to improve energy balance in children at increased risk of childhood obesity, including dietary approaches that reduce …sugar-sweetened beverages” [because] “very few solid data are available on interventions in children.”	(12)
European Food Safety Authority	“The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between total sugar intake and body weight gain, and that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of foods and beverages in which sugars have been replaced by intense sweeteners and contribution to the maintenance or achievement of a normal body weight.”	(80)
Lisa Te Morenga, Simonette Mallard, Jim Mann	“Trials in children, which involved recommendations to reduce intake of sugar sweetened foods and beverages, had low participant compliance to dietary advice; these trials showed no overall change in body weight.”	(81)
German Nutrition Society	“From 2 of the 4 available meta-analyses the conclusion is drawn that increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in children and adolescents is associated with a higher risk of obesity. In contrast, another meta-analysis judges the effect as almost zero. The cohort studies published since then verify this risk-increasing effect only in part. The most recent meta-analysis concludes that the risk-increasing effect is limited to individuals with initially already increased BMI or existing overweight, respectively.”	(82)
Thomas Baranowski	“Another concern is the behavior or behaviors targeted for change. Many obesity prevention interventions have targeted increasing fruit and vegetable intake and decreasing sweetened beverage intake. Systematic reviews, however, showed no consistent evidence that increased fruit and vegetable intake protected against obesity or that sweetened beverage intake contributed to it.”	(83)
Joint statement from American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association	“At this time, there are insufficient data to determine conclusively whether the use of NNS [non-nutritive sweeteners] to displace caloric sweeteners in beverages and foods reduces added sugars or carbohydrate intakes, or benefits appetite, energy balance, body weight, or cardiometabolic risk factors.”	(84)