Corn Syrup Industry Fighting to Regain Consumers

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

High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Not so Sweet for the Planet

High-fructose corn syrup: Why is it so bad for me?

E-Waste: The Quiet Catastrophe

TIME magazine recently published an online article about E-waste and the abhorrent conditions that it creates. Most people, as indicated in the article, stereotype the electronics industries as "clean" and "environmentally friendly;" after all, just think of all the paper that the digital age saves! Or so they say.

As the digital age progress and newer and faster; better, electronics debut, the consumerist culture in industrialized nations discards their older electronics -- now at an ever-growing rate.

Just what happens to the computers, old mp3 players, cell phones, and other devices that we discard? Just try getting rid of your old CRT computer monitor (those really BIG ones that have been mostly replaced by the flat-panel LCD ones) at your local recycling center or even in trash. It's considered toxic waste.

The United States has a horrible tendency to ship their waste overseas to countries that will take it -- mainly those with largely impoverished sections, as they will do practically anything for U.S. dollars.

In the YouTube video below, Michael Zhao describes and shows us some of the footage from these countries and describes the paths that our trash takes. A journalist with ties to the Asia Society (which is "working to strengthen relationships and promote understanding among the people, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States), Zhao visited firsthand one of the small Chinese towns that has been ravaged by their own industry: E-Waste processing.

In those towns, one might imagine a factory-like building in which workers come to disassemble electronic waste in a controlled and safe environment; but that is not the case. Without clothing protection, eye goggles, or even a mask, the town's citizens burn leftover parts on home stoves, attempting to salvage the tiny amounts of gold within the product.

The toxic fumes are simply inhaled by the workers. Their town is surrounded by mountains of trash. Their waterways are BLACK, like sludge; full of dumped toxic waste. And yet the workers continue to welcome E-Waste imports, for it is a small yet steady stream of much-needed money.

I would agree with some critiques that the United States electronics companies that ship the waste to these impoverished countries are guilty of long-range dumping. They simply export the toxic waste to a location far from their own, and leave the mess for the poor to clean up.

Why? Because it costs less to ship the trash halfway around the world and pay people to take it, rather than dispose of it as best as possible here in the United States.

As an American citizen, I am glad that the toxic waste is not dumped in my country (and am somewhat somewhat guilty myself -- having written this post from my Dell laptop amidst a host of other elctronics), but we have NO RIGHT to expect the rest of the world to deal with our garbage. Even if it is "their" country rather than ours, it is still "our" world -- and our only one at that.

In 1989, the United Nations adopted a treaty to control the stream of hazardous waste that was then flowing from wealthy countries to impoverished ones (See the "Basel Convention on the Control of Trans boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal). But there is one problem: the United States (one of the main exporters) never agreed to it, and poor importer countries (like China) continue to accept the waste for the few dollars that accompany it.

 

This disgusting irrelevance for the environment and for our fellow humans, this love for the bottom line, and this irresponsible industry behavior is abhorrent! I don't know what can be done, especially with so much toxic waste-to-be still in American households, but we must end the dumping  -- yesterday.

 

WATCH THE BELOW VIDEO FOR MORE INFORMATION:

The TIME article referenced above is available here: Your Laptop's Dirty Little Secret

Newsflash! Repeated, Severe Blunt Trauma to the Head Causes Brain Damage!

In a June 15 article appearing in the New York Times, doctors at the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University have added their consensus to the growing “theory” that NFL players – especially linemen – can experience extensive, irreversible brain injuries as a result of their professional career.

After the death of 36 year old Justin Strzelczyk in 2004 – a Steelers offensive lineman, doctors were able to examine his brain for possible damage sustained during his years in the NFL. Damage was indeed discovered, at levels rivaling boxers and 80 year olds suffering from Alzheimer’s-like dementia. The findings were not unique, however, and were eerily similar to the studied brains of other NFL players.

Such brain damage is presumed responsible for the deaths of some NFL players, like Justin Strzelczyk. He died when his pickup hit a tanker truck and exploded, following a 40-mile long high-speed police chase. Andre Waters, a defensive back with the Philadelphia Eagles, committed suicide at the age of 44 after a long bout with depression. Mike Webster, age 50, killed himself after a long bout of mental illness, and Terry Long, a Steelers lineman, ended his life by drinking antifreeze.

Some players have even come forward to discuss their problems, as did New England Patriots Ted Johnson, and Dallas Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman in his 2006 book Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis. Although some players are well aware of the dangers of the sport, apparently the NFL commission is not.

The findings by the University doctors will be presented along with other similar studies today in Chicago during the NFL’s first meeting on concussion management. Such a meeting is surprising, and perhaps signals a reversal of the NFL’s positions of brain damage in its players. Historically, the NFL has downplayed and even dismissed similar findings of brain damage. NFL medical advisor Elliot Pellman went so far as to call some findings “speculative and unscientific.”

Perhaps the NFL will finally wake up and realize the havoc their sport causes to their players. The solution to such serious problems may still be unknown, but the NFL commission is surely not opposed to bettering the lives of their players. Once the brain-damage theory is more widely accepted, football and the NFL will surely be subject to bad publicity. However, the NFL commission must embrace a search more a safer game, favoring the safety of their players over their personal profits from the success of their game.

Imagine – repeated contusions to the head can actually be harmful!