Sugar, the daily drug

The average Belgian consumes 48kg of sugar a year, twice the maximum amount recommended by the World Health Organisation. And they’re not the only ones for whom sugar is a daily drug. Researchers have found that sugar can have the same effect on our brains as narcotics – lab rats in one experiment found it more addictive than cocaine. And sugar is everywhere, even where you least expect it, leading to over-consumption that’s rapidly becoming a public health crisis.

This programme by Belgian broadcaster RTBF is part of the European Collection, a joint initiative from European public service media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR, RTBF and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.