This make me bonkers.

I watch WAY too much tv. Any tv is too much tv. Our spongey little pea-brains get bombarded with all sorts of crapola via the tv. The best thing my Dad ever taught me was that all advertising is bullsh*t and that little lesson has served me well.

Currently the ad I find particularly appalling in terms of sheer bullcrappery is this one:


I understand that high fructose corn syrup isn't as blatantly harmful as say cigarettes are, but it is harmful in a less obvious, more insidious way. High fructose corn syrup is a sweetener that is used as a filler and as a food preservative, and is in almost everything edible found on supermarket shelves. If you are eating a natural, whole food diet, you aren't eating high fructose corn syrup.

Just like margarine or saccharine, high fructose corn syrup is a substance not found in nature. And like margarine and saccharine it is ok in moderation. Moderation! Moderation is at the most 12 teaspoons (about 48g) of added sugar per day for a 2000 calorie diet, according to the WHO. Added sugar is any sugar not naturally present in food, such as.... high fructose corn syrup.

This ad makes me bonkers when it comes on. It implies that having the instinct to not want to gum up your system with food additives is somehow wrong, not to mention insulting if you don't have a snappy answer for the annoying know-it-all mom pouring generous helpings of a chemically colored liquid out for the kids.

Anyway, there is something about it all that reminds me of this:


Until they died from lung cancer anyway....

Comments

Queen of Cuisine said…
Yes, that chick from Buffy the Vampire Slayer should have told Mz. Hostess that corn syrup is the main ingredient in MOST of her childrens' foods. Keeping America fat and unhealthy!!
June 9, 2010 at 7:31 PM
Spice Rack said…
One of America's health problem is obesity, it's because there are ingredients that are not good for us and people tend not to tell others because it's their secret formula to success.
July 17, 2010 at 12:35 AM
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