Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Dangerous corn?
For many years, my late wife and I would joke about the "conspiracy" that put corn products, especially corn syrup into most prepared food. We took note of this because our son was sensitive and allergic to corn products. Take a look at the labels in your food cupboard or refrigerator and see how many items have corn syrup in it. Such things as pickles, bread crumbs, and canned spaghetti. Corn syrup is most represented by its use as a sweetener in soft drinks, such as Coke and Pepsi, and most all of the kids drinks, such as Hi-C and Sunny Delight. It is a sweetener in most breakfast cereals and breads. Because of the tremendous use of corn syrup and corn meal in prepared products, I cook all of the meals that Andy and I eat from scratch and use mostly fresh ingredients.
Now come word that the ubiquitous use of corn syrup may have a very dangerous side effect. A Reuters news story has described a possible link between the consumption of corn syrup and the onset of Type 2 diabetes. This would not surprise me in the least. Consumption of soft drinks is higher in this county that anywhere else in the world. I have known people who drank 3 liters of Coke a day. With the emphasis on carbohydrate control in some diets, this may slow down slightly the consumption of soft drinks (in three liters of Coke, the equivalent sugar content is supposed to be 30 teaspoons.)
I seem to remember long ago, perhaps in the early seventies, that corn producers were worried about selling their crops, and subsidies were low. The government, as it is accustomed to do, probably ordered the corn producers to find new markets and develop new products to sell corn. Then began the migration away from sugar as a sweetener to corn syrup. No more Sugar Frosted Flakes or Sugar Pops! Though Corn Syrup Pops or Corn Sweetened Flakes is less appealing to the marketplace, the manufacturers simply dropped the "sugar" from the name. Of course at that time too, sugar was being blamed for all kinds of things, including hyperactivity (since disproved,) and tooth cavities (which you can get from corn-sweetened products too.)
This is an issue I will be following for a long time. And I hope that artificial food colors go under the microscope next.
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Now come word that the ubiquitous use of corn syrup may have a very dangerous side effect. A Reuters news story has described a possible link between the consumption of corn syrup and the onset of Type 2 diabetes. This would not surprise me in the least. Consumption of soft drinks is higher in this county that anywhere else in the world. I have known people who drank 3 liters of Coke a day. With the emphasis on carbohydrate control in some diets, this may slow down slightly the consumption of soft drinks (in three liters of Coke, the equivalent sugar content is supposed to be 30 teaspoons.)
I seem to remember long ago, perhaps in the early seventies, that corn producers were worried about selling their crops, and subsidies were low. The government, as it is accustomed to do, probably ordered the corn producers to find new markets and develop new products to sell corn. Then began the migration away from sugar as a sweetener to corn syrup. No more Sugar Frosted Flakes or Sugar Pops! Though Corn Syrup Pops or Corn Sweetened Flakes is less appealing to the marketplace, the manufacturers simply dropped the "sugar" from the name. Of course at that time too, sugar was being blamed for all kinds of things, including hyperactivity (since disproved,) and tooth cavities (which you can get from corn-sweetened products too.)
This is an issue I will be following for a long time. And I hope that artificial food colors go under the microscope next.
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