You have to read THIS Washington Post article...just saw it today. There is mercury in a high percentage of foods made with high fructose corn syrup. And the public has not been aware, although the FDA has since 2005, according to this article.
There has been a HUGE ad campaign to mislead the public about the supposed "safety" of high fructose corn syrup.
I'd not seen any of these commercials since we don't have TV, but this summer during my MIL's hospice stay, I got caught up on what I'd been missing (said a bit tongue-in-cheek). I was really angered at the misinformation about HFCS and the way their commercials made it look like any question about its safety was due to ignorance.
Here's one of their commercials I first saw:
See? It's a classic "poor dumb guy" spot. Poor Dumb Guy is inarticulate and ignorant about HFCS, and is corrected by Smart Savvy Girlfriend. He is saved from his misconceptions about the differences between sweeteners.
Oh brother. First, get over the Poor Dumb Guy stuff. I hope women are a lot smarter than to believe all guys are idiots because of their unfortunate gender. Puh!! Myself, I prefer smart, sharp, informed guys and am guessing nearly all the readers in Informed Blogland do, too. None of this patting a guy on the head like a puppy stuff for me. I, frankly, appreciate the male of the species (vive le difference, I say!), especially the ones that failed Obedience Class and think for themselves. What a stupidly insulting stereotype...
Well, anyway, the strongest argument the girl in the above commercial has is a comparison with processed sugar??? Let's wake up!
Here's another YouTube, and it spoofs the above commercial. I enjoyed it ;-)
As funny as it may seem that this is being promoted as "healthy," high fructose corn syrup is no laughing matter. It's the #1 sweetener in the U.S. and is THE sweetener of choice in most processed foods. As we all know, the bulk of foods out there are processed.
And nowhere on the label does it indicate whether the HFCS was processed using a method that taints it with mercury.
Sigh...
We have to take charge of what goes on our plates, and into our bodies...
12 comments:
HERE HERE! Soda is my #2 most evil food, behind dairy. I've never cared for dairy, so it was easy to give up, but soda is the food monkey that crawls right up on my back the second I let my discipline down. But it's poison, pure poison! The stuff gives me hypoglycemic spells upon waking if I've drank it the day before. I know too many women who have mistaken this for hot flashes, and go on hormones without even trying to give up sugar/sweetners first! Thanks for sharing, hopefully if people see this in a "legit" news source, it will sink in a little bit.
Did you notice the flavor popsicle kept changing from purple to orange?
Oh wow...I had seen those commercials lately and rolled my eyes at them. I thought they were just trying to make it sound OK. I had no clue about the mercury. Doesn't surprise me.
I was horrified when i saw the orginal adds , i love the spoof adds , and i wish someone would sponser them on TV , Diabetes is a serious and deadly disease that can potentially kill , even those with insulin controlable diabetes are at the mercy of the medical corporations , if the grid were ever to go down insulin dependant diabetics are screwed. It would pretty much be a death notice (sad and terrafying if you you love someone with this condition , as I do).
While a cure to diabetes is underway via PLACENTAL Stemcells (Harvested from the placenta after a birth) and there have been some lab animal cures , we as a society should focus on how NOT to make ourselves ill in the first place , not just how to fix ourselves after we messed ourselves up.
Sorry for the rant , its just something I can be a bit over passionate about.
Thank you for shareing.
Woah! I hadn't heard that one either. Thanks for the heads-up. I've seen the dumb commercials, though, they irritated me. Now I'm doubly glad that we really don't eat processed foods that often.
Judy
That's Awesome!! I have to pass that video along! :-)
Thanks for posting this article. I will share it with everyone I know. Those ads make me very angry! how dare they!
HAHA! I noticed that too!
Thank you for posting this! I had not heard this either, I quit eating tuna because of the mercury. (which is too bad because if it wasn't for that, it would be a healthy food.)
I have struggled with giving up Soda for YEARS. Whenever I'd kick the habit, I'd eventually return to it. Until I read Michael Pollan's books, I didn't understand why. HFCS is in processed foods. This time, I not only quit the soda, but anything that wasn't in it's original form, i.e. unprocessed. It's the only way I've been able to stop the cravings. HFCS is pure evil and I too wish someone would sponsor commercials to educate the consumer. And, now mercury too?! It's just crazy! Thanks FDA. Your concern is just underwhelming.
SDFarmgirl, I got back on soda in a small way after the hospice stay last year. But I have to get off. I need to stick to tea, kombucha, or water (I love it with lemon) This is the perfect reason to ditch it forevvahhh!
HH...haha, yes! ah the glories of homemade videos, heehee
Leon, hola :)
Jennifer, they commercials were made before the actual companies knew, I think, but HFCS has never been healthy and it's laughable they'd try to pass if off as such.
DarkEye, thank you for bringing this up. I'm diabetic, and while I don't use insulin, I'm just as dependent on my meds to keep my sugars in check. I heard not so long ago there is a medicine that can CURE diabetes but they won't allow it to be marketed. I also have a theory about statin drugs and their antifungal properties and a possible link to that clearing up diabetes, but so far no docs prescribe statins for that. So we're looking for natural ways!
Judy, isnt it amazing how many foods the HFCS in in?? Even sandwich meat...yogurt...salad dressings, argghhh.
Maria, I loved it!
Duane, yep, made me mad, too...and it's so ridiculous it's sort of like running ads trying to convince mothers that broken glass isn't so bad for their kids to play with...ha :)
Shiloh, looks like growing our own food is quickly becoming a necessity rather than an avocation :)
Melissa, I agree....FDA, Schmeff-D-A...
I haven't seen those commercials, because we don't watch regular television, but oh my ...! That really angers me. I didn't know about the mercury levels in HFCS, but I do know that it's an unnatural "sugar" that is created by highly processing a plant that was inedible by humans in its original form. Check out the film "King Corn." It's really interesting, and they address HFCS, and the whole corn "industry."
I gave up soda. It was easy, and I won't drink bottled beverages if they contain HFCS. I've become a label reader :).
Of course, I haven't been able to completely convince my husband, and now we're concerned that it may be too late, and he may have already developed diabetes (he's 39). I sent him the "spoof" video. Thanks for sharing the link.
Post a Comment