Hansen: Diabetes soars yet no sugar-free Easter candy

It was only a few years ago that mainstream grocery stores started carrying gluten-free products — or even organic. Remember when “all natural” was sufficient?

But finally there was enough consumer demand to force change.

One of the last holdouts, however, in our dietary evolution is sugar-free Easter candy. It’s nearly impossible to find. You have to go to specialty chocolatiers, which usually means expensive, just to get sugar-free chocolate.

Forget sugar-free Peeps. You can buy most of your favorite indulgences in sugar-free versions online, including Peeps, but not locally.

Target, Costco and Smart & Final have rows and rows of impressively unhealthy candy, but there’s not one sugar-free Easter section.

When I asked the local Target clerk if the store had sugar-free Easter candy, she hesitated for a long time.

“I … don’t … think … so,” she said, slowly. She carefully walked through each of the three large aisles of Easter candy and then called a manager.

He quickly said no but added that the store sells one type of “organic cane sugar” candy.

Organic cane sugar. It’s amazing the power of “organic.”

The challenge here is that nearly 400 million people have diabetes worldwide, representing more than 8% of the adult population, according to the International Diabetes Federation.

Is 8% not a good enough market share?

In the U.S., the American Diabetes Association estimates that nearly 30 million Americans either have diabetes or prediabetes.

In addition, diabetes claims up to about 5 million deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization.

Locally, UCLA released a new study on March 10 that said a stunning 55% of California adults have prediabetes or diabetes. In addition, one-third of Californians ages 18 to 39 are prediabetic.

Is 55% of Californians not a good enough market share?

The study was conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and commissioned by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.

On a county basis, rural and inland counties tended to have higher percentages of prediabetes or diabetes. Orange County was slightly below the state average at 53%. San Diego and L.A. counties were 54%, Riverside was 55% and San Bernardino was 57%.

“This is the clearest indication to date that the diabetes epidemic is out of control and getting worse,” said Dr. Harold Goldstein, executive director of the health advocacy center, in a press release. “With limited availability of healthy food in low-income communities, a preponderance of soda and junk food marketing, and urban neighborhoods lacking safe places to play, we have created a world where diabetes is the natural consequence.”

Since diabetes is getting out of control, then why don’t the American Diabetes Association and other medical groups use Easter and Halloween as a way to increase awareness about diabetes?

It seems they are missing a huge marketing opportunity to be agents of change. If the fire alarm industry can manage to come up with a “change your clock, change your battery” slogan, it seems the medical community can support sugar-free options on Easter and Halloween.

Goldstein agrees that the state needs to step up and promote healthier options because the financial and physical costs of the illness are devastating.

“If there is any hope to keep health insurance costs from skyrocketing, healthcare providers from being overwhelmed and millions of Californians from suffering needlessly from amputations, blindness and kidney failure, the state of California must launch a major campaign to turn around the epidemic of Type 2 diabetes,” he said.

Even though diabetes rates have tripled over the last 30 years, diabetes is preventable. Experts suggest participating in the National Diabetes Prevention Program, getting screened and engaging in healthy, active lifestyles.

For more information about diabetes, visit diabetes.org.

And perhaps it’s time to increase the sugar-free candy options in our stores.

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DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.