Thursday, May 28, 2009

CHILDHOOD DIABETES ON THE RISE IN EUROPE

Either there’s a generational mutation in the population’s DNA (unlikely) or there’s a massive introduction into the consumption environment of a new product. As grumpynyker points out, that’d be High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Invented in 1977 by Hajinomoto (the same company that brought us MSG) it’s now in every conceivable product from ketchup to Coke. And is virtually unavoidable. I blame it for my own diabetes condition. I don’t see any other cause.

A new study suggests that the number of children in Europe diagnosed with diabetes will double by 2020. After examining tens of thousands of cases, researchers said the cause of the increase remains largely unknown.

Read the Entire Article at truthdig

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Confused about sweeteners?

HFCS is not found in nature, it has to be made in the lab. There are 40 grams of HFCS per can of soda pop (or about 10.5 tsp of sugar) the total daily amount recommended for ALL caloric sweeteners.

Fructose is a man made sugar, but labeled in a way to make you believe it comes from fruit.

Refined fructose lacks amino acids, vitamins, minerals, pectin and fibre. As a result, the body does not recognize it. It is processed in the liver to make triglycerides in the blood stream or stored as fat.

Read the Entire Article at bclocalnews.com

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Congress moves to end mercury contamination in U.S. food supply

The bill points out that mercury and mercury compounds are toxic to humans, wildlife and ecosystems.

Following recent revelations that the Food and Drug Administration found mercury contamination in 45% of tested samples taken from manufacturing sites of high fructose corn syrup in 2005 and then sat on the information, Congress has submitted bill H.R. 2190 to severely limit the use of mercury in the United States. The bill is called the “Mercury Pollution Reduction Act of 2009.” Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL) is the sponsor of the bill.

Read the Entire Article at examiner.com

Sunday, May 17, 2009

How bad for you is high-fructose corn syrup?

If you want to cut down drastically the amount of processed food you eat, don't buy anything that has high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in it. Unfortunately, you'll have to have a strong liking for the taste of lettuce and notebook paper, because HFCS is in nearly everything: jelly, juice, sodas, whole-grain breads, cereals, ketchup, crackers, yogurt, sweet pickles, applesauce, salad dressing, ice cream, cough syrup and lots more.

Read the Entire Article at HowStuffWorks

Saturday, May 16, 2009

House bill HR 2065 may help remove mercury found in high fructose corn syrup

Let’s hope this bill is passed, but in the meantime mercury contamination is just another good reason to avoid HFCS.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has recently been shown to contain mercury, a heavy metal that is extremely toxic, especially to the brain. In January, a report was released by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy as well, a simultaneous peer reviewed research article was published in Environmental Health. The findings showed that of 55 foods listing HFCS as the first or second ingredient 1/3 of them were contaminated with mercury in levels that could easily be toxic to humans.

Read the Entire Article at examiner.com

Monday, May 11, 2009

Cola Trade Wars

I’m far from a cola fanatic, though I admit I probably drink more carbonated beverages than most people. Sure, cola yellows and rots away your teeth — and caffeine in large doses has a plethora of unpleasant side effects — but I don’t care. I just enjoy the taste.

Well, I used to at least, before Pepsi deliberately ruined my life.

Read the Entire Article at The Dartmouth.com

Friday, May 8, 2009

Diabetes: More than just sugar overload?

High fructose corn syrup is doubly problematic, he says, because it fails to stimulate leptin (the hormone that makes you feel full) and doesn't lessen ghrelin (a hormone that makes you hungry).

I walk every day, eat a healthful diet, and have no diabetes in my immediate family. I'm not model skinny (truth be told, I've been known to pack on a few extra pounds), but I'm certainly not a couch potato or junk food addict. So, imagine my surprise when a routine blood test showed that my blood sugar was elevated and I was officially prediabetic.

Prediabetic, meaning I have higher-than-normal blood sugar levels that put me at risk of developing diabetes, the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States. Yikes!

Read the Entire Article at CNN.com

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Survey says some baby foods worse than junk food


If it has more than a handful of ingredients, if you can't pronounce any of the ingredients, and if it has much sugar or fat, or any High Fructose Corn Syrup or trans fat, don't eat it.

Some distressing, if rather unsurprising news out of Britain -- a recent survey revealed that some baby food is chock full of sugar and saturated fat. And while these are British products, some of them are made by Heinz and I doubt that they are much different over here. In fact, just a stroll down the baby food isle in the store the other day horrified me with the amount of processed food there. I haven't purchased baby food in probably a decade, and what I remember from back then was largely jarred produce and meat, and cereal. Now there are are all sorts of packaged foods that don't seem any different from Lunchables to me.

Read the Entire Article at examiner.com

Monday, May 4, 2009

Dark Sugar

The decline and fall of high-fructose corn syrup.

High-fructose corn syrup first started trickling into our food supply about 40 years ago; by 1984, it was flowing from just about every soda fountain in the country. These days HFCS accounts for almost half of all the added sugars in the U.S. diet, but the corn Niagara may soon be over. Last week, PepsiCo became the latest manufacturer to turn its back on America's sweetener, introducing three new soft drinks—Pepsi Natural, Pepsi Throwback, and Mountain Dew Throwback—sweetened with a "natural" blend of cane and beet sugars. Next week, Snapple will roll out its most expensive advertising campaign ever to promote a "natural" line of tea drinks brewed with "real" cane sugar. Pizza Hut, Kraft Foods, and ConAgra have also made the switch in recent months. Not even a $30 million multimedia campaign from the Corn Refiners Association has done much to reverse the trend.

Read the Entire Article at Slate

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Just what the doctor ordered


Out in the flatlands of Texas, a good two hours’ drive from the nearest city any outsider has ever heard of, lies a town called Dublin. It has no important industry or institution to draw visitors and the main occupation of the 4,000 residents is dairy farming.

All the same, about 65,000 people a year make a pilgrimage to Dublin to tour a small factory in the centre of town that has been bottling Dr Pepper since 1891. The big draw for fans of the carbonated soft drink is that it is the only plant in the world that still produces the original recipe.

When other bottling factories turned to cheaper high-fructose corn syrup in the 1970s to sweeten their Dr Pepper – with a handful opting for processed liquid sugar – this family-owned plant refused to phase out the granulated cane sugar that had been added to the concentrate since the drink was invented back in 1885 (a year before Coca-Cola was born).

Read the Entire Article at the Financial Times

Friday, May 1, 2009

Spurred by customers, soft-drink makers pour in beet sugar


Promotional product will be available about 6 more weeks

Sugar, jilted a quarter of a century ago by food companies charmed by less-expensive high-fructose corn syrup, is making a comeback as wholesome and more natural.

Products including soda pop and pancake syrup are again using sugar to attract consumers suspicious of high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.

The latest products to drop corn sweetener for granulated sugar are special editions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew that arrived on local grocery shelves in mid-April. The beverage rollout marked the first time since 1984 that regionally produced sugar has sweetened a major brand soft drink.

Read the Entire Article at billingsgazette.net

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