Banning foods that contain any amount of added sugar, except for sweets that are explicitly marketed as such, is very reasonable and would go a long long way in helping manage the obesity crisis.
Would it, though? What matters is glycemic index, and that depends on the overall composition of the food, not just on levels of simple carbohydrates. Focusing purely on one nutrient or on total caloric content is hopelessly reductionist.
For instance white bread has a high glycemic index not because of added sugar, but because all of the fibre and most of the protein have been removed. Proper whole grain, brown bread has a low glycemic index and tons of protein. And that's true even if there's some syrup added for flavour, which is not uncommon.
I believe sugar is added to sliced bread primarily as a preservative and to retain moisture. When fresh I've never noticed much of a difference between "no sugar added" and comparable sliced bread with corn syrup or honey, but the former goes stale more quickly.
The economic pressures are at odds because as people eat less bread shelf stability, both at the grocery store and at home, becomes increasingly important to maintaining a desirable yet competitively priced product. People don't want added sugar and are more carb conscious generally, but what they dislike even more, without realizing it, is stale bread. So you get a positive feedback loop that turns people off of bread, I think.
There is almost no whole-grain bread on the market in the US that does not have added sugar.
AIUI this is because the whole wheat flour tends to impart a bitter taste, so the sugar balances it. The sugar also enables the yeast to raise the bread faster, helping mass production.
Interesting, the only mass-produced whole-grain bread I have on hand is Ezekiel and it didn't list any added sugar, or indeed any sugar at all. It's also not listed as an ingredient on the (partially) whole-grain bread I got from our local bakery.
Having said that, I see your point that setting too low a threshold might be unnecessarily onerous on cafeterias and manufacturers. Perhaps a threshold of ~1g sugar per slice would be more reasonable?
Ezekiel bread is one exception, but they are also (at my local big box store) 3x the price (by kcal) of the white-label whole wheat bread AND less shelf-stable (thus will incur more process losses and expenses).
Interesting. Near me Ezekiel is a little less than 2x more than the cheapest bread-like sponge loaf but only about 50% more than the cheapest whole wheat bread that doesn't dissolve if you spread peanut butter on it.
That's not nothing of course, especially for a school trying to minimize food costs. Many schools (like the one I attended growing up) procure the cheapest possible USDA/NSLP-approved product.
But kids at these sorts of schools seem like they'd see the greatest benefit from this sort of legislation to raise the threshold of what constitutes a healthy lunch.
