Competing interests: Tauseef Khan has received research support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and an unrestricted travel grant from Bee Maid Honey Ltd. Vanessa Ha has received research support from the World Health Organization (WHO). She has received a travel award and doctoral scholarship from CIHR. Effie Viguiliouk and Rodney Auyeung do not declare any competing interests. John Sievenpiper has received research support from the CIHR, Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA), PSI Foundation, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre (BBDC), Canadian Nutrition Society (CNS), American Society for Nutrition (ASN), Calorie Control Council, International Nut and Dried Fruit Council Foundation, National Dried Fruit Trade Association, The Tate and Lyle Nutritional Research Fund at the University of Toronto, and The Glycemic Control and Cardiovascular Disease in Type 2 Diabetes Fund at the University of Toronto (a fund established by the Alberta Pulse Growers). He has received speaker fees and/or honoraria from the CDA, CNS, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Nutrition Foundation of Italy, C3 Collaborating for Health, Sprim Brasil, White-Wave Foods, Rippe Lifestyle, mdBriefcase, Alberta Milk, FoodMinds LLC, Memac Ogilvy & Mather LLC, PepsiCo, The Ginger Network LLC, International Sweeteners Association, and Pulse Canada. He has ad hoc consulting arrangements with Winston & Strawn LLP, Perkins Coie LLP, and Tate & Lyle. He is a member of the European Fruit Juice Association Scientific Expert Panel. He is on the Clinical Practice Guidelines Expert Committees of the CDA, European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), as well as an expert writing panel of the ASN. He serves as an unpaid scientific advisor for the Food, Nutrition, and Safety Program and the Technical Committee on Carbohydrates of the International Life Science Institute North America. He is a member of the International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium, Executive Board Member of the Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group of the EASD, and Director of the Toronto 3D Knowledge Synthesis and Clinical Trials foundation. His wife is an employee of Unilever Canada. No other competing interests were declared.