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How the sugar industry defends itself against claims that sugar is unhealthy

Happy Halloween! Mother Jones has a video and multi-part "long read" feature with Gary Taubes on how the sugar industry works to fight research that links sugar consumption with chronic diseases. Taubes is the author of "Good Calories, Bad Calories," and is working on a book about sugar.

In "Big Sugar's Sweet Little Lies," Taubes explores the industry's campaign to "frost its image, hold regulators at bay, and keep scientists from asking: Does sugar kill?"

There's a document dump here with internal memos revealing a strategy to safeguard sugar from "opportunists," "pseudoscientists," and "enemies."

Also, "How a Former Dentist Drilled the Sugar Industry," some classic creepy vintage sugar ads, and a timeline of "sugar spin."

Right, then. Enjoy your trick-or-treating!

New York Times: It's okay to like that taco made out of a giant Doritos chip

Good news for those of you who require some kind of public justification for your love of junk food. The Paper of Record has published a positive review of Taco Bell's Doritos Loco taco. Fair warning, though, food critic William Grimes advises against springing for the Supreme version, as the tomatoes are flavorless and the "sour cream is just wrong."

Maggie

A very Twinkie Thanksgiving

This is what a turkey looks like after it has been stuffed with cubed, toasted Twinkie cake and glazed with a mixture of Twinkie filling and honey. Chow's Joyce Slayton did this, following a recipe in a 2006 Twinkie cookbook. She describes the smell as "like a turkey being roasted in a cupcake-scented Yankee Candle." *shudder*