Saturday, October 11, 2008

Commercials promoting High Fructose Corn Syrup

Hum, I rarely watch commercials anymore because of --thank goodness-- my wonderful dvr! But, apparantly there are commercials out there promoting companies using high fructose corn syrup. Check my blog in search for the complete accurate truth about high fructose corn syrup. Bottom line is, corn syrup is genetically altered to increase it's sweetness capability, and with that genetic alteration, it is not assimilated by the body as well as regular corn syrup or simple sugars.... as well, because it is easy and cheaper to ship, via big honking trucks, it is used in almost all food products as the sweetner. If you want to stay safe, check the label and avoid it.... at best buy Cokes,etc., like those made in Mexico (yes, real coca cola) that have cane sugar, good old table sugar in it.

For now, after checking my previous blogs about this stuff, you can type in high fructose corn syrup commercial into youtube and get the commercials.

Let me close with the letter from Dr. Douglas that I got in to days email alerting me to this:

TV ads try to sweeten public opinion on high fructose corn syrup

Dear Friend,

You've got to love American advertising: it's utterly shameless. We're so used to having a constant Niagra Falls of sales messages flowing over us that we're no longer shocked at what's being hawked. Now a big industry that's as insidious as Big Pharma and Big Tobacco is pinning its hopes on a TV advertising campaign to put a friendly face on their horrible product. This time, it's Big Corn: the makers of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

HFCS is the nearly inescapable junk food that's a major ingredient in a dizzying array of America's foods. There's loads of HFCS in nearly everything kids (and many adults) eat and drink – soda, "fruit" drinks, cookies, gum, jelly, and baked goods. And that's only a partial list. In fact, the national consumption of this hidden junk food grew from zero in 1966 to 62.6 pounds per person by 2001. Imagine what it is today!

The new TV commercials are "designed to correct the record" said Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Association (CRA), and are "not a campaign to drive consumption."

The "record" that I suppose the CRA is looking to correct are the multiple scientific studies that have linked America's obesity epidemic in adults and children with the increased consumption of HFCS. I guess the CRA doesn't want the facts to get in the way of their sweet story.

According to an Emory University study published earlier this year, upwards of 10 percent of Americans' daily caloric intake comes from fructose – including HFCS. And I'm willing to bet that a decent chunk of that 10 percent is HFCS.

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