A group of scientists at the University of California in San Francisco recently launched a drive to inform the public about the harmful effects of added sugar to drinks and food.

The Chicago Tribute reports that the scientific team is doing something about it and initiated a review of more than 8,000 scientific papers. These papers prove that sugar consumption causes several chronic diseases.

While the majority believes that sugar just makes us fat, research shows that added sugars can cause dramatic rise in certain diseases such as metabolic disorders, fatty-liver disease and heart diseases.

"People are becoming literate about the toxic effects of sugar, and have more understanding of the idea that high doses are bad for one's health," Medicine Professor Dean Schillinger of UCSF said. He also observes that those in a higher socioeconomic group are slowly limiting sugar intake compared to less literate people.

"Dumping high fructose corn syrup into cheap foods, sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks is toxic to the body, causing epidemic metabolic diseases and a serious health crisis," Schillinger added.

The Food and Drug Administration is looking at obligating food manufacturers to place information on sugars the very same way they do for protein, sodium, carbohydrates, cholesterol and fats. Sugars have been added to almost every food product in the US, including breakfast cereals, some corn products and drinks.

American Diabetes Association's latest statistics show that 9.3 percent of Americans have diabetes and the numbers are still growing.

"It's just about impossible to know from food labels what kinds and amounts of sugars are in a product," Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health said. He believes that the FDA should require food manufacturers to list amounts of sugar on all food labels. Food labels will inform people what they are eating, what amounts are safe and in what amounts they are consuming it.