High Fructose Corn Syrup, Oh Boy!

[Chemar]

http://www.jonbarron.org/diabetes-program/2008-09-29.php

 

more deceptive advertising to try to "sell" unhealthy additives

[Chemar]

interesting info from Dr Weil today on HFCS causing fat gain

 

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02109/Does-...ke-You-Fat.html

[lurker]

Have you seen these commercials?

 

I have seen two of them. In the first, a woman who is concerned about HFCS in the fruit punch at a kiddie party is belittled by the host for believing the rumors and questioning the integrity of the product. In the second, there is a couple in the park. She is enjoying a nice phallic-shaped popsicle (still can't believe they went there), but the plot is the same as she belittles the other character for again questioning the integrity of the product.

 

The first time I saw the commercial all I could think is, "Oh, Caryn's not going to like this!" BTW, she has a great expose about the corn industry on her blog.

 

Tami

[Caryn]

Here's a sobering notion from: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_11814.cfm

Human food is perhaps the most disturbing proposed destination for refinery waste. As labeling laws stand right now, corn oil and corn flour made from ethanol waste could enter the commodity chain without labeling, so that unsuspecting consumers would never know if they are eating refinery by-product. Nor would they know how much sulfur, acids, or other processing residues were contained in the many foods that contain corn oil or corn flour.

Renewable vs. Sustainable

 

Ethanol by-products have already made their way into our food system, but are not yet recognized as an environmental or public health threat. The 2007 renewable fuel standards are consolidating corporate control of food and fuel while creating significant public costs for rural communities and the environment. Ethanol has no climate benefits when the complete cycle of production is analyzed. As ethanol production ramps up, feedlots will have greater difficulty disposing of their waste resulting in even more greenhouse gas emissions. Because ethanol by-products are difficult to transport, feedlots are likely to congregate around ethanol refineries. This model of factory farms with feedlots has synergies, but is in no way sustainable for the environment or the people who live nearby. The use of ethanol by-products as cattle feed does not in any way eliminate competition for corn between food and fuel. To the contrary, it threatens the food supply with increased E. coli outbreaks and the proliferation of unsanitary factory feedlots.

Idyllic television ads to the contrary, the ethanol boom will not help the U.S. transition to a green future. And it will not save family farms or revitalize rural economies. Instead, it will allow a few corporations to consolidate control over our food and fuel systems, turning more land into factory farms. The issue of disposal of distillers grains is only one aspect of this so-called sustainable, fuel source. In the ethanol boom, from field to refinery and gas tank, to feedlots and our dinner tables, the big winners will be large corporations, not small farmers, not unsuspecting consumers, and certainly not our environment.

[kim]

Tami, NO WAY! See what I miss when I'm sitting around trying to find the definition of a word like "ubiquitous" so I can even sort off understand whatever abstact I'm reading at the time. Now, I'm going to have to get a look at that popsicle! That would be just completely over the top wouldn't it!

 

I saw the commercial of the couple in the park. I sort of thought it was an odd because I thought it would make more people aware that there was some question about the healthfulness of corn syrup. I don't hear many parents make "informed" remarks in our neck of the woods. It seems most still think fruit roll ups are a health snack.

[lurker]

Kim,

 

Fruit roll ups! That is my pet peeve. If I had free time, which I don't, because I too suffer from "Munchausen by Internet," I would make it my life's mission to lobby to get the name changed to "frute roll ups." Like "krab," the required moniker for fake crab. In a regular grocery store it is conceivable that NONE of the fruit roll ups contain fruit. Some of the higher quality ones can contain up to a whopping 10%.

 

Oh, and you did see the right commercial -- the couple in the park. She was holding a red big pop. She was just holding it; she never actually went to town on it, so to speak. (Hope that didn't offend anyone )

 

And you're right. I'll bet that ad does backfire by reaching an uninformed demographic. We can only hope.

 

Tami