The evils that lurk behind the innocent and seemingly indispensable pleasures of life

The inseparability of sugar and slavery

Welcome to the A to Z of Historical Blunders, the show that reminds us about the dangers of history repeating itself.

The sickly-sweet history of sugar has stuck fast to so many of the seamier and crueller chapters of history. Sadly, its journey of devastation continues to this very day with modern slavery, worker exploitation, environmental destruction and damage to human health in the form of dental decay, obesity and the associated problems that come with these conditions. Because of sugar and the other ingredients that go with it to mass produce all manner of processed foods and addictive confectionaries, slavery, indentured, and child labour continue to be a reality in many countries worldwide. Not only then, has sugar caused a global health problem, but its exponential production continues to facilitate the multinational conglomerates, who exploit millions of workers to mass produce sugar and sugar-based products deriving from a crop that covers 65 million acres of land worldwide.

The article on which this episode is based can be read here.

Guests this week are: Emma muscat, Miriam Ryan and Claire Ryman