They say the increased sugar in our diets will lead to higher levels of tooth decay and result in more people than ever before becoming diabetic.
Scientists have also said increased sugar levels are a major reason for soaring obesity rates in the UK, particularly when it comes to sugar-thirsty children.
While the Government and health watchdogs have focused on encouraging people and food companies to cut down on the amount of salt the nation consumes, sugar levels have gone up almost unchecked by comparison.
McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, an industry handbook on the nutritional value of foods, has blown the debate about sugar in our food wide open.
A cursory glance at its 1978 and 2002 editions suggests many foods previously thought of as being healthy and largely sugar-free are now anything but.
In 1978 Kellogg's Special K had 9.6g of sugar per 100g. That figure has since doubled to 17g per 100g.
In crude terms it means the breakfast cereal now has almost as much sugar in it as vanilla ice-cream.
Wholemeal bread getting sweeter
Wholemeal bread is also surprisingly high in sugar - and getting sweeter.
In 1978 a typical wholemeal loaf contained on average 2.1g of sugar per 100g. By 2002 that figure had risen to 2.8g, effectively ending the myth that wholemeal bread is a healthy choice.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) wants food companies to reduce the amount of sugar in their products and is so worried about the trend that it is considering imposing legal limits.
The FSA two years ago launched a campaign to cut down salt, but one apparent spin-off of that has been companies putting in more sugar to make up for the lower salt levels.
Ian Tokelove, spokesman for the Food Commission, which campaigns for healthier food, warned: 'Most of us are eating too much sugar, but we are being swamped with it in our food.
'We naturally have a sweet tooth and manufacturers have been quick to use that to try to increase sales in a crowded marketplace.
'It's cheap to use and it's been one of the first things to be added when companies want to make a product a bit different.'
Processed foods, which generally have higher sugar levels, are routinely blamed for much of the extra sugar in our diets.
But even fruit and vegetables on sale in the UK are sweeter now than they used to be, with supermarkets selecting sweeter products because they are more attractive to reluctant fruit and vegetable eaters.
An article in the British Medical Journal in 2005 claimed: 'Sugar is as dangerous as tobacco and, in terms of world health, far more important.'
Supermarket giant Sainsbury's is among the companies looking at the products it sells to see if it can reduce sugar and salt levels.
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below?
Why is it ordinary people keep getting blamed for obesity (and not recycling) when the manufacturers do everything they can towards the opposite.
- Phillip, Westbury, Wiltshire , United Kingdom
Sugar and salt are the two most well documented additives to ready made food products. The makerts know that too much of either can effect the health of the nation and especially the health of those who rely on simple meals such as pensioners, students, and children.
BUT the producers are deaf to requests to reduce the sugar and salt because the consumer is used to salty and sugary flavours.
Bread for instance and baked beans, breakfast cereals and soups are packed with salt and there are very few healthy options for those products.
When will we learn? It would save the NHS a great deal of money.
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