It's not just white sugar, it's all the refined, over processed foods that we eat in this day in age. I first heard the term White Death being used for sugar, in a book Sugar Blues, written in 1976.

The author talks about how all foods grow with the correct amount of fiber to balance the carbs naturally present in the food. We have processed so many of these foods that they are no longer in balance. Add to this all the chemicals we put in food to preserve them and bingo, you've got a recipe for future health problems.