Mercury Rising... In Your Food

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Jan 27, 2009 at 13:30:00 PM PST

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found it in 9 out of 20 HCFS samples from 3 manufacturers. Then they tested 55 brand name foods and beverages and found mercury in 1/3 of them.

The mercury comes originally from chlor-alkali plants used to make caustic soda. The caustic soda is used, in turn, to separate corn starch from the corn kernal. The mercury can contaminate the caustic soda and then contaminate the HFCS. There IS newer, cleaner technology that the chlor-alkali plants can use (in fact, only 4 U.S. plants still use mercury and the rest don't).

The Green Fork called mercury "our melamine," pointing out that the FDA has known about the problem for years. I also enjoyed how they used the occasion to take a jab at the bullshit pro-HFCS campaign.

More below...

Chicken Little Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Jan 26, 2009 at 16:33:52 PM PST

• A study finds three kinds of evidence of declining fruit and vegetable nutrient content.
• Yum! Want some mercury in your high fructose corn syrup? Cuz you might be getting it whether you want it or not. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found it in 9 out of 20 HCFS samples from 3 manufacturers. Then they tested 55 brand name foods and beverages and found mercury in 1/3 of them.

  The mercury comes originally from chlor-alkali plants used to make caustic soda. The caustic soda is used, in turn, to separate corn starch from the corn kernal. The mercury can contaminate the caustic soda and then contaminate the HFCS. There IS newer, cleaner technology that the chlor-alkali plants can use (in fact, only 4 U.S. plants still use mercury and the rest don't).

• The FDA just decided how to regulate genetically engineered animals, bringing them a step closer to becoming a reality. The GE DNA will be treated as a drug, the same as a hormone or antibiotic, and does not need to be labeled on the final product.
• Welcome to nanotechnology - the newest threat to food. Kraft and Nestlé are designing "smart" food that interacts with consumers to personalize flavors. Mars is designing packaging with nanotechnology to extend shelf-life. Currently nanotechnology is a wild frontier of the food industry, with little if any oversight or regulation. If nothing else, it certainly serves to increase corporate control of our food supply.
• Civil Eats reports on MRSA with your BLT. Looks like the real consequences of overusing antibiotics in livestock are coming home to roost.
• Industrial ag has ruined everything else, and now they are ruining manure, says Elanor from The Ethicurean. Turns out all those antibiotics we needlessly give to livestock wind up in the manure - and then in the veggies the manure fertilized.

More reaction to Vilsack's nomination and good ideas on food policy

by: desmoinesdem

Sun Dec 21, 2008 at 03:05:41 AM PST

A few days ago I posted a Vilsack reaction linkfest at the Iowa progressive community blog Bleeding Heartland, but the hits just keep on coming.

Follow me after the jump for more.

King Corn Guys Spoof the HFCS Ads

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 20:47:42 PM PST

In a blog post, Curt Ellis of King Corn had this to say:

But the "Sweet Surprise" campaign sorely misses the point.  The Corn Refiners' main claim seems to be that if something is safe in moderation, then go ahead--help yourself.  Haven't we heard that before?

Of course, I imagine high-fructose corn syrup is safe in moderation.  If I get up from my desk right now, shotgun a soda, and never drink another one, I don't expect to keel over from corn poisoning.  But if I do what most Americans seem to be doing, and drink that one soda now, another in an hour, and another an hour after that, pretty soon those empty calories will add up.  Then I'll have a problem on my hands... or around my middle's more like it.

While the affable fellow in the Corn Refiners ad can't get his words out, there is a clear answer to the question that's harshing on his otherwise-great date: "What's so bad about high-fructose corn syrup?"  As any nutritionist will tell you, if you flood your body with empty calories and don't work them off, you're bound to put on weight.  Put on too much weight, and you're bound to see health consequences: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, kidney and liver problems.  High-fructose corn syrup is a mighty good way to pack in the empty calories, too: a twenty-ounce soda contains 250 of them, and hardly a lick of food value.

Read more over at Civil Eats.

HFCS is NOT Natural (with poll)

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Sep 12, 2008 at 17:14:45 PM PDT

Progressive food policies

by: Ca-48 Steve Young

Mon Jul 28, 2008 at 10:11:34 AM PDT

A fundamental responsibility of our government is to protect the common good.  We take for granted, clean drinking water, protection of our national parks, and drug safety.  While the government falls short in all these areas, Americans have real expectations of their government.

Why don't our expectations extend to food?  I don't mean food safety (such as preventing the conditions described in "The Jungle" that prompted creation of the FDA), I am talking about government support of bad food.  An example -- government subsidies for "commodity corn."  Commodity Corn is inedible but is the raw material in processed foods.  The corn is turned into a variety of products like High-fructose corn syrup, or fed to livestock in manufacturing line slaughterhouses.  

Add the negative impacts of agribusiness -- pesticide runoff in our water systems, the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and other food sourced diseases, fertilizer contamination of our air, water and food, and the problems come into sharp focus.

I advocate a "Healthy Food Initiative" that will change the paradigm in America.  Imagine creating an infrastructure for a healthy, affordable food system by shifting massive subsidies from the pockets of Agribusiness to a system that rewards America's farmers, ranchers, fisherman, and others who feed us, for growing healthy food while protecting our environment.  We can do this with tax credits for farmers who reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides.  We can promote family farm ownership.  We can invest in community garden areas in urban areas.  These are some possibilities to change our food future.

Imagine a food future where food contributes to America's greatness, rather than just our GNP.  Imagine a food future that promotes healthy life styles and a clean environment.  Imagine a food future where environmental footprints is more important than shelf space foot prints for packaged food.  Imagine a food future where children learn to select foods for their value, not their sugary cartoon images.  It is time to stop imagining.  It is time to make this imagination of a food future a present reality.  It is time to be the change we want to be.  I feel that food is our future -- healthy food is our birthright.  Won't you join me in supporting my "Healthy Food Initiative"?  It is time for a fresh start.  It is time for healthy food.

Steve Young, Democrat for Congress, [Ca-48]
"For a fresh start"

Contribute to the Healthy Food Initiative.

"Natural" Doesn't Mean Healthy

by: OrangeClouds115

Thu Jul 10, 2008 at 15:00:00 PM PDT

"Upon careful review of the manufacturing process for high fructose corn syrup, the FDA found that HFCS can be labeled natural," stated Audrae Erickson, president, Corn Refiners Association in a statement issued today. "HFCS contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients or color additives and meets FDA's requirements for the use of the term 'natural.' HFCS, like table sugar and honey, is natural. It is made from corn, a natural grain product."

OK, great, have it your way. Natural. So are a lot of other things I wouldn't want to eat, like cow manure.

Pro-HFCS Lobby Frustrated By Silly Loudmouthed Bloggers

by: OrangeClouds115

Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

A fellow foodie and organic farmer, Debra Eschmeyer, also posted about this campaign, but she wrote from another perspective - the perspective of a Type 1 Diabetic. For Debra and her husband - this is personal. Her husband is a Type 1 diabetic. So was my aunt, who died of the disease last year. Below the flip, you'll get a taste of her post.

Amazingly, the president of the Corn Refiners Association found and replied to Debra's post. You may expect she would have expressed sympathy for the hardship Debra and her husband face due to a world full of HFCS lurking in all kinds of places like salad dressings and ketchup. But no. She responded with clueless, cheery propaganda.

Audrae Erickson Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 7:53 am

The Corn Refiners Association launched a multi-media advertising and public relations campaign to change the conversation about high fructose corn syrup, which has been the subject of considerable attention and misinformation.

Most of the problem stems from the confusion about what high fructose corn syrup really is. Two-thirds of consumers are aware of high fructose corn syrup, but most do not understand the similarities and differences between high fructose corn syrup and table sugar.

Scientific research continues to confirm that high fructose corn syrup is no different from other sweeteners. It is essentially the same as table sugar and honey, and has the same number of calories.

Consumers can see the latest research and learn more about high fructose corn syrup at http://www.HFCSfacts.com and http://www.sweetsurprise.com.

Audrae Erickson
President
Corn Refiners Association

This is a lot of chutzpah, considering that a Harvard study found that a child's risk of obesity increases 60% for each soda (with 100% of calories from HFCS) he or she drinks per day.