Thursday, May 6, 2010

The command to be bland: some sweet and salty bills

“I was looking at a bottle of Worcestershire sauce, yesterday, that you shake on your meat before you barbecue it — high fructose corn syrup is in it. Now, why in the world would you need that in it?”

Food may be getting a lot more bland in the near future as legislation that would ban salt and high fructose corn syrup is in the works. Lawmakers say it is all in the name of good health, but it also raises a serious question — how much should the government be allowed to dictate what we eat and where do we draw the line?

State Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village) has introduced a bill that would prohibit stores from selling products that contain high fructose corn syrup. It would also ban the sticky sweetener from any food that is prepared or sold in a restaurant. Violators could face a $2,000 fine or misdemeanor criminal charges.

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1 comment:

  1. Hi,
    Yes, I too am bothered by the fact the Lea &
    Perrin's "orginal" recipe for Worcestershire
    Sauce has HFCS. I'm surprised no one has taken them to court on that claim. Their recipe orginated in the 1800's and HFCS came down the path in 1970's.
    As far as the government stepping in, it's about time. According to the latest statistics,
    one out of three children born after 2000 is
    destined to become diabetic. We are an obese,
    diabetic nation. Corporations only look after the bottom line; they are not interested in our health or welfare. It's different in Europe. European governments are very interested in the health and welfare of their citizens. Why? Because they pick up the health tab, and therefore it is in their interests to make sure that their citizens don't eat GMO
    foods, don't drink HFCS, and are exposed to far
    less toxins. Here's an interesting story heard on NPR. Computers had been manufactured with materials that are toxic to humans. Becuase of this, US companies couldn't sell them to our
    European friends. So the boys from silicon valley went and talked to their European counterparts and asked them how they could manufacture their computers to meet the European specs. The Europeans said, "take the toxic materials out". And so, they did and our companies could then happily sell our computers to Europe. It's interesting that the
    health and welfare or our citizens was never
    a motivating factor. Yeah, we need government help.

    ReplyDelete

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