JLF: The Corn Industry's Killing You - PART I, Corn Syrup et al.
Johnny Lead Foot here, and I'm pissed....
This article requires two parts, because of the sheer volume of evil in the Corn Industry spews. In fact, they remind me of the tobacco industry, lying and misdirecting for decades while millions of people died. If you missed my set-up article, about how the agribusiness uses lobbyists and campaign contributions to affect our laws, read it for your own good.
Well, the corn industry is killing us on two fronts. They have established themselves as a polluter of almost all of the food we consume and they are working on setting themselves up to be a false solution to global warming that will do nothing to slow greenhouse gases. Read on, and you, too, will be hot like JLF. If you think Part I is bad, wait to you see how devious they are being in Part II.
Again, if you missed my pre-amble to this, about how the agribusiness uses lobbyists and campaign contributions to affect our laws, read it for your own good.
We produce a lot of corn. According to UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, in 2005 the U.S. produced 280 million metric tons of corn. How much is that? Well, the country who produced the second most was China with 131 million. Third? Brazil with 35. Fourth? Mexico with 21.
We almost produce as much corn as the rest of the world. Combined. U.S.A. #1!
Now, let's consider how much corn you eat. I don't eat much, maybe, annually, five ears (grilled) on 4th of July, some corn tortillas,a large bowl of Corn Flakes and a few cans for late-night munchies. You eat 10,000 ears a year to balance out my low consumption? No? Hmmmm... Then, where does it go? Well, maybe it's all made into corn juice? Hmmm... I had some in Brazil once, but never in the U.S. Maybe we donate it all to other countries? No... I've never seen a Darfur refugee sucking on some sweet corn.
Well, the government must find this corn important, 'cause it's forking over $5 billion a year in subsidies to farmers to help them make more, cheaper corn. Hmmm. It must be important. Then, where does it all go?
EVERYWHERE.
That's the answer. It's in 109% of the food you eat and things you purchase. You might recognize the fact that corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup is made from corn, but you don't know how far reaching this corn stuff goes. Check out this website provided by the "OCPA" that tells you a variety of things corn is used for:
[Incidentally, when I clicked on "About Us" on that site to learn more about the OCPA, it took me to a broken link. How curious. That makes me think the site is a clever ploy by the corn industry to tell us how helpful corn is, but it only scares the bejesus out of me.]
I actually appreciate those creative uses of the corn cob. I mean, sheesh, there's enough of it out there...
The cute part's over. Let's talk about how it's killing you.
Corn syrup is, essentially, a glucose sauce made from corn via chemical processes. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) takes some of that corn syrup and, chemically (again), turns a fraction into fructose, which makes it more closely resemble table sugar. But what of table sugar? Why not just use sugar? Well, not only have corn subsidies made HFCS and corn syrup so cheap, but there are strict tariffs on imported sugar (as of 1982) that makes the U.S. pay more than double the global cost of sugar. Since HFCS was developed in the 1970's, this doesn't seem a coincidence. Let's cushion those mega-farms even more, shall we?
Incidentally, corn is not easy to digest. I'm sure you've noticed the proof 12 hours after corn went down your pie hole. So, what are the effects of us taking a hard-to-digest food, super-chemically processing it, then putting it in almost all the food we eat?
Well, lots of people think it's the cause of climbing diabetes rates. For those of you who saw Super Size Me, some doctors believe that the HFCS caused the liver damage Spurlock suffered while eating McDonalds-only diet for 30 days. After all, a Big Mac probably has HFCS in everything from the bun to the cheese to the sauce to the ketchup. It's in the soda and the fries. You would think that the flooding of our diet by something that isn't innately digestible, that is then processed-to-hell, would be looked into by the government. You think we'd have an understanding of the effects to that action.
But, not one study has been done. NOT ONE. Not one at any university (they all receive federal funding). Not one. Not one. If I was an alien looking in, I'd think that that was crazy.
The bottom line, though, is that the corn syrup and HFCS are in such abundance because of government subsidies, that it's almost like they are finding things to sweeten with it. I mean... whole wheat bread? Cheese? What is going on here? It'd be one thing if we were choosing this food because we were fully informed of the ingredients and the results of consuming them. But corn is hidden in ingredients... in fact, food producers are legally allowed to list corn syrup as "sugar" so when you see "sugar" in the ingredient list, there's a high chance it's corn-based, not sugar based. It's madness. Even a bag of sugar you buy in the store can be labeled "sugar," but be derived from corn.
Once again, I'm jealous of Europe. They have a more cautious approach to the HFCS, and they have capped the amount of production so it's not more than 3% of the sweetener they use. They probably don't produce as much corn as the U.S. Wait... they don't.
One final note, though, is that a lot of corn is fed to almost every animal you eat in this country: chickens, cows and pigs... even salmon! These animals are stuffed with corn to the point that it compromises their immune systems. To counter that, they are fed antibiotics that you then consume when you eat them or drink their milk. It's madness.
Again, the fact that the world (mainly the U.S.) is eating a high-sugar diet is one thing... the fact that they don't know they are is criminal. Farm subsidies and sugar tariffs are just lunacy, making corn flood our society. If we did even the most basic studies of the effect of HFCS on the population, methinks we'd see that it floods our society in a bad way. I get full hot that our government has turned its head on this one. But I can't be surprised when I know how the lobby system and candidate campaign contributions can influence policy. Again, if you missed that article last week, read it for your own good.
Government of ours? STUDY WHAT WE ARE EATING AND STOP CODDLING THOSE MEGA FARMS.
Stay tuned for Part II next week where I let you know how the corn industry is muscling in to become the key source of ethanol when, overall, it requires more energy to produce than it provides. It's insane.
Always your pleasure.
- JLF
Find me on Facebook.com, and join the HAWTaction.com Reader group. My name there is Johnny LeadFoot (they didn't allow the space).
We almost produce as much corn as the rest of the world. Combined. U.S.A. #1!
Now, let's consider how much corn you eat. I don't eat much, maybe, annually, five ears (grilled) on 4th of July, some corn tortillas,a large bowl of Corn Flakes and a few cans for late-night munchies. You eat 10,000 ears a year to balance out my low consumption? No? Hmmmm... Then, where does it go? Well, maybe it's all made into corn juice? Hmmm... I had some in Brazil once, but never in the U.S. Maybe we donate it all to other countries? No... I've never seen a Darfur refugee sucking on some sweet corn.
Well, the government must find this corn important, 'cause it's forking over $5 billion a year in subsidies to farmers to help them make more, cheaper corn. Hmmm. It must be important. Then, where does it all go?
EVERYWHERE.
That's the answer. It's in 109% of the food you eat and things you purchase. You might recognize the fact that corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup is made from corn, but you don't know how far reaching this corn stuff goes. Check out this website provided by the "OCPA" that tells you a variety of things corn is used for:
- Corncobs, when ground up, become a very absorbent, dust free medium. Find them in pesticides, fertilizers, hand soaps, cosmetics and vitamins. They can also be processed to make a resin (tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol) that can be used as solvents for dyes, resins and lacquers (paints).
- Corn can make pyrodrexins that remoistenable gums stick to. Essentially, there's corn in your postage stamps.
- Corn syrup is used in pharmaceuticals. For example, 85 types of antibiotics are produced using corn.
- Corn's starch is used in the production of the porcelain part of spark plugs (yeah... in engines).
- Sorbitol (you've seen that ingredient, I'm sure) is made from corn syrup dextrose. This is found in toothpaste.
[Incidentally, when I clicked on "About Us" on that site to learn more about the OCPA, it took me to a broken link. How curious. That makes me think the site is a clever ploy by the corn industry to tell us how helpful corn is, but it only scares the bejesus out of me.]
I actually appreciate those creative uses of the corn cob. I mean, sheesh, there's enough of it out there...
The cute part's over. Let's talk about how it's killing you.
Corn syrup is, essentially, a glucose sauce made from corn via chemical processes. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) takes some of that corn syrup and, chemically (again), turns a fraction into fructose, which makes it more closely resemble table sugar. But what of table sugar? Why not just use sugar? Well, not only have corn subsidies made HFCS and corn syrup so cheap, but there are strict tariffs on imported sugar (as of 1982) that makes the U.S. pay more than double the global cost of sugar. Since HFCS was developed in the 1970's, this doesn't seem a coincidence. Let's cushion those mega-farms even more, shall we?
Incidentally, corn is not easy to digest. I'm sure you've noticed the proof 12 hours after corn went down your pie hole. So, what are the effects of us taking a hard-to-digest food, super-chemically processing it, then putting it in almost all the food we eat?
Well, lots of people think it's the cause of climbing diabetes rates. For those of you who saw Super Size Me, some doctors believe that the HFCS caused the liver damage Spurlock suffered while eating McDonalds-only diet for 30 days. After all, a Big Mac probably has HFCS in everything from the bun to the cheese to the sauce to the ketchup. It's in the soda and the fries. You would think that the flooding of our diet by something that isn't innately digestible, that is then processed-to-hell, would be looked into by the government. You think we'd have an understanding of the effects to that action.
But, not one study has been done. NOT ONE. Not one at any university (they all receive federal funding). Not one. Not one. If I was an alien looking in, I'd think that that was crazy.
The bottom line, though, is that the corn syrup and HFCS are in such abundance because of government subsidies, that it's almost like they are finding things to sweeten with it. I mean... whole wheat bread? Cheese? What is going on here? It'd be one thing if we were choosing this food because we were fully informed of the ingredients and the results of consuming them. But corn is hidden in ingredients... in fact, food producers are legally allowed to list corn syrup as "sugar" so when you see "sugar" in the ingredient list, there's a high chance it's corn-based, not sugar based. It's madness. Even a bag of sugar you buy in the store can be labeled "sugar," but be derived from corn.
Once again, I'm jealous of Europe. They have a more cautious approach to the HFCS, and they have capped the amount of production so it's not more than 3% of the sweetener they use. They probably don't produce as much corn as the U.S. Wait... they don't.
One final note, though, is that a lot of corn is fed to almost every animal you eat in this country: chickens, cows and pigs... even salmon! These animals are stuffed with corn to the point that it compromises their immune systems. To counter that, they are fed antibiotics that you then consume when you eat them or drink their milk. It's madness.
Again, the fact that the world (mainly the U.S.) is eating a high-sugar diet is one thing... the fact that they don't know they are is criminal. Farm subsidies and sugar tariffs are just lunacy, making corn flood our society. If we did even the most basic studies of the effect of HFCS on the population, methinks we'd see that it floods our society in a bad way. I get full hot that our government has turned its head on this one. But I can't be surprised when I know how the lobby system and candidate campaign contributions can influence policy. Again, if you missed that article last week, read it for your own good.
Government of ours? STUDY WHAT WE ARE EATING AND STOP CODDLING THOSE MEGA FARMS.
Stay tuned for Part II next week where I let you know how the corn industry is muscling in to become the key source of ethanol when, overall, it requires more energy to produce than it provides. It's insane.
Always your pleasure.
- JLF
Find me on Facebook.com, and join the HAWTaction.com Reader group. My name there is Johnny LeadFoot (they didn't allow the space).
As always, good post, JLF. I first heard about high fructose corn syrup a couple of years ago. A personal trainer I knew told me to stay away from it, so I started checking ingredient lists to see how many products it is found in... I was blown away. Everyone should do see for themselves. Look at those ingredient lists. See where corn sugar is in your food.
Hi JLF,
My google HFCS alert picked up your article. Good post. The only inaccuracy was how glucose is converted to fructose to make HFCS. The corn starch is enzymatically broken down into saccharides with Asperilla niger, a fungus. The glucose is also enzymatically coverted to fructose with a bacterial enzyme. No wonder why the King Corn twins weren't allowed to see the lab where they process HFCS. I am on a personal campaign to alert everyone I know about
the treachery of HFCS. Courtesy of the Corn Refiners Assoc., go to
www.corn.org/NSFC2006.pdf P29-30 list all the foods and products that contain HFCS. A few surprises: bagels, soups, cough syrups.
Also, as you have written, Europe prohibits the use of genetically modified (GMO) foods which safely eliminates HFCS. I recently heard Shapiro, author of Exposed, a book about toxic substances,interviewed on NPR. He made statements germane to the issue of HFCS and why Europe is wary of using GMO foods, HFCS etc. European governments are genuinely interested in the health of their citizens because the government pays the health bill. In contrast, the US health dollar is mostly private and corporations either through political contributions (also illegal in Europe) and lobbying through congress helps the government look the other way. I don't want to sound like a conspiracist, but Big Food, Mighty Beverage, and Big Pharma are really not interested in our health.
Hawkishly read labels. Campaign for GMO labeling.
Take care.
We pull stuff off the supermarket shelf and pop it into our "pie holes" assuming it wouldn't have made it into the supermaret without some serious vetting. I guess we're assuming wrong. A tangent to this story might involve the geopolitics around sugar (think Cuba).