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A bitter history of sugar

Book review of 'Sugar: The World Corrupted From Slavery to Obesity'

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Kanika Datta
Sugar: The World Corrupted From Slavery to Obesity
James Walvin
Hachette
325 pages; Rs 699

When Americans formally became combatants during World War II, the Coca-Cola Company persuaded the government to exempt it from sugar rationing and send its trademark sugar-laden drink to all theatres of war. This privilege gave the cola company unfettered access to markets in Europe, Asia and Africa on the back of the US army’s progress. After buying the sweetener at government-pegged prices, Coca- Cola sold 10 billion bottles at military bases and stores between 1941 and 1945, and created a world market for itself. 

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