It is a well-established fact, at least in the health-food arenas, that corn syrup and its stickier twin, high fructose corn syrup, is bad news. Studies have linked corn syrup to a multitude of health problems as well to environmental damage from the overgrowing of the corn that is used to prude the sweet syrup.
Because this information is being disseminated quickly and more and more people are becoming aware of it, the Corn Refiners Association found itself facing the possibility of decreasing profits and an unfavorable outlook on their industry.
As a result, they are “launching a major advertising and public relations campaign designed to rehabilitate the reputation of high fructose corn syrup.”
HFCS has been linked by many scientists to the nation's obesity epidemic.
The group is spending $20 million to $30 million on the campaign, including running full-page ads in more than a dozen major newspapers, claiming that the product is no worse for you than sugar. The ad, which features a stalk of corn, carries the headline: 'And Now a Little Food for Thought.'
The Corn Refiners Association "has been trying to counter the bad publicity around HFCS since 2004," but concluded it "could no longer afford to rely on simple grass-roots marketing tactics such as talking with nutritionists and doctors."
Meanwhile, in June a nearly $5 billion merger of Corn Products International and Bunge Ltd. signaled that corn manufacturers mean business. Revenues were expected to increase 29 percent in 2008 to reach $4 billion.
(Noted by Mercola.com, PRWatch, and the Organic Consumers Association Mercola.com)
Some of the health-related problems that corn syrup can cause or contribute to are diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, an increase in LDL (the bad cholesterol), and liver disease. Interestingly, some people’s bodies can crave the sweetness, thus leading people to eat more of a food than they intended, which only increases the amount of corn syrup that they consume
The average American consumes almost 2 ounces of corn syrup per day (as documented by the Corn Refiners Association). Although it may not seem like much, consider that given the high-intensity of the fructose in the mixture, and the fact that high fructose corn syrup is easily and quickly metabolized into fat (over the rate of other sugars), even a little amount can have lasting impacts. And at that rate, the average American consumes almost 6 GALLONS of the stuff every year.
So next time that you’re buying your food in the grocery store, take care and look on the labels of your food. Check the ingredients – and don’t assume that corn syrup won’t be in it – it appears in everything from salad dressing to yogurt to breadcrumbs.
For more information, visit:
How High Fructose Corn Syrup Damages Your Body
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1 comment:
Thanks for writing this.
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