Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to take up Senator Quinn's point on the food issue and also the excellent, thought-provoking documentary on sugar. If the Minister of State has not seen it, he should watch it. I know he is not Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine but he could be one of these days. I am a sort of a wannabe nutritionist and have been since 1990. I love nutrition and am very interested in nutritional science. I was perplexed and in awe of this documentary which was a little bit frightening. However, to criticise it, it did not give Irish people solutions for how to deal with the issues.

I am involved in the food industry. Sugar is everywhere. It is in tomato ketchup, baked beans and soup. I am not talking about having a cup of coffee or a piece of cake. This debate is not about food. All I will say is we are the third biggest users of sugar in the world. By 2030, we are going to be the biggest in the world. Our children are literally alcoholics, suffering from liver disease from eating sugar.

Senator White is smiling at me because we are in the chocolate business. I am not talking about a little bit of chocolate or a little biscuit. I am talking about what is hidden everywhere, in breakfast cereals or things I did not know, such as apple juice and orange juice. We are all in such a rush and everyone is stressed, so everything is hurried and, unknowingly, we are now consuming sugar. Children are suffering from liver disease. Tooth decay is at an all-time high because of sugar. It is being proved that anxiety and depression are being caused by over-eating of sugar.

Ireland is just so far ahead in agriculture, food and exports. We are good innovators in the food sector. We have the Kerry Group with its centre of excellence in research and development in Naas. The Minister of State must push us hard and use the EU to innovate quickly in the free-from market in order to help public health. It used to be fat but sugar is the latest thing. Senator White and I will be looking at lower-sugar chocolate.