Have you gone to the grocery store recently to buy bread? Soup? Crackers? Cereal? Salad dressing? If you read the labels on many of these products, you will likely find they contain High Fructose Corn Syrup ("HFCS"). HFCS, dubbed by its detractors as "liquid satan," has become widely used by manufacturers as a sweetner in processed foods. Good luck finding products without HFCS. Liquid Satan is everywhere. A recent report finds it in 40% of all food. And now the Corn Refiners Association is trying to convince you that HFCS is actually healthy. http://www.hulu.com/watch/223360/saturday-night-live-corn-syrup-commercial#http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Ffeed%2Fshow%2F77%2Fclips. How did the epidemic of HFCS begin and what does it mean for our health? Our federal government, in its infinite wisdom, has an incredibly powerful role in determining what we eat. Not only does the government recommend what we should eat and how much (recall the insipid food pyramid), it provides billions of dollars in subsidies to farmers each year, via the Farm Bill. Five crops -- corn, cotton, rice wheat and soybeans -- account for 90% of all farm subsidies. And we are not talking chump change. Since 1995, $73.8 billion (that is “billion” with a “b”) in subsidies has been doled out to corn growers alone.
This farm welfare program has created a huge incentive for corn farmers to grow as much corn as possible in order to cash in on the subsidy program. This desire to maximize profits, in turn, has led to an overabundance of cheap corn (because it is subsidized so heavily, it sells below the cost of production) that can be used as food for cattle, fuel for our cars (ethanol) and, through the marvels of modern chemistry, transformed into HFCS. Food producers then hone in on HFCS for use in their products, leading to an epidemic of unhealthy, cheap processed foods.
This all begs the question, should we care about the prevalence of HFCS in our food? The answer is a resounding yes, for the following reasons.
First, corn subsidies make unhealthy processed foods the cheaper choice, as compared to fresh fruits, vegetables and processed foods without HFCS. Food manufacturers have a huge incentive to add the highly subsidized HFCS to their products. Its called profits. Because we highly subsidize corn and place tariffs on sugar imports, HFCS is the less expensive choice for food manufacturers. Ah, the power of the almighty dollar. So next time you are comparing prices on products, consider that fact that products with HFCS are priced artificially low.
Second, because the prevalence of HFCS in processed foods makes it cheap, Americans are consuming more HFCS than ever, with serious health consequences. Take a look at this lecture by Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Third, many manufacturers advertise their products containing HFCS as “all natural” or containing “100% natural ingredients" in an attempt (often successful) to convince the consumer to purchase the “healthy” product. But is HFCS really “natural”? The FDA says it is (thanks to the power of the Corn Refiners Association lobby). I say anyone with half a brain can figure out that it is not. Have you ever seen HFCS growing on a tree or in a field? Nor have I. But I have seen sugar cane and honeycombs. Say "yes" to bees and "no" to HFCS! Fourth, growing all of this corn is not only resulting in the manufacture of unhealthy foods, it is causing serious damage to the environment. Last year, following the BP oil spill, the San Francisco Chronicle reported:
“Each year, nitrogen used to fertilize corn … leaches from Midwest croplands into the Mississippi River and out into the gulf, where the fertilizer feeds giant algae blooms. As the algae dies, it settles to the ocean floor and decays, consuming oxygen and suffocating marine life. As to which is worse, the oil spill or the hypoxia, “it’s a really tough call,” said Nathaniel Ostrom, a zoologist at Michigan State University. “There’s no real answer to that question.” http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-06/news/21939174_1_dead-zone-ethanol-production-oil-spill
Consider the environment the next time you decide whether or not to purchase a product containing HFCS.
To summarize, HFCS is bad for you, bad for the environment, and bad for the farmers and food manufacturers whose products are more expensive than the subsidized HFCS products. What is the way out of this mess? It is actually quite simple: disincentivize the overproduction of environmentally damaging and nutritionally dubious crops like corn by reducing or eliminating subsidies, and instead increase incentives for farmers who grow organic fruit and vegetables and food producers who use natural ingredients. Since this is not likely to occur in the near future, you will need to take matters into your own hands. Read labels and vote with your wallets. Avoid ALL products containing HFCS and tell your school administrators and boards that you do not want any products containing HFCS in your children's school lunch programs. Stay tuned for more information about school lunches in the next edition of Victus Aequitas.
Go forth and eat well!
If you want to read more about HFCS and the power of the government over our food system, here are some excellent books on the subject:
http://www.foodpolitics.com/food-politics-how-the-food-industry-influences-nutrition-and-health/
http://michaelpollan.com/books/the-omnivores-dilemma/
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/schlosser-fast.html
http://www.amazon.com/End-Food-Paul-Roberts/dp/0618606238
