It’s funny that the anti-HFCS groups think that replacing HFCS with cane sugar will help the obesity problem. The fact is that, calorie-for-calorie, HFCS is sweeter than sugar and replacing HFCS with sugar will increase the calorie content of the soft drink as it takes more sugar to give the same sweetness. Coke sweetened with sugar = 150 Calories/12 oz, 10 more calories than HFCS sweetened (140 Calories) or 7% more calories).

But when you have unlimited refills at the soda machine at the fast food restaurant, you’re gonna have a problem no matter which sweetener is used as Americans won’t take personal responsibility for their irresponsible behaviors.

I had an eye opening experience when my daughter went through a home ec. class at her high school recently. They were taught to make virtually everything from a box. Even things like tuna and chicken salad which are so easy to make from scratch. My daughter (who can be a bit feisty) finally asked the teacher if she knew how to cook

The point is that a lot of people think that mixing up a batch of hamburger helper or adding chicken to a pre-made veggie stir-fry kit is cooking. It’s not. And unless you have the budget and know how to cook using real food it is near impossible to avoid all of those harmful food additives.

Finally, I want to say that even though I’m a decent cook I don’t always have the time to do it. There are days when something off the shelf or – heaven help me – the drive-thru has to do. So it would be nice if the food manufacturers offered a bit more variety of wholesome, additive free foods for me to choose from.

Maria

I used to think that if it had HFCS in it , it was better for me than if it had sugar in it. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!!! Thanks Jayson for continuing to point these things out. Steve Warren, Ohio

I only recently found out that MSG was addictive and that Food Industry knew this when they started adding it to their products.

I never heard of High Fructose Corn Syrup until last year. In Canada the label shows “fructose-glucose” and if you don’t know that, then you would assume the item was free of High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Just the other day I was listening to a radio report stating that food companies, restaurants (fast-food and otherwise) actually hire consultants to come in and help them get the proper proportion of salt, fat, & sugar in their products as it has been discovered that the proper proportions keep people coming back for more and eating too much because of it’s direct and immediate effect on the pleasure centre of the brain. One doctor went so far as to say that a person’s willpower doesn’t have a chance!!

Last year I found out that there is a company in the US that has developed a product that will make anything taste great because of its effect on our taste buds. Better still the amount is so small that it doesn’t have to be shown on the list of ingredients as it falls under “flavouring”. One acticle said we could be eating “dirty kitty litter” and think it tasted great!!
I am also concerned about what long term damage this product could do to our taste buds. It has only recently been invented and so there is no way that they can say for sure that it will not permanently damage our taste buds. I also strongly suspect that it’s a GMO!! According to my reading they already have contracts with several of the main Food Companies, so we may already be getting this stuff in some of our food!!

I would love to see a class-action suit against the Food Industry for being one of the major deliberate causes of the Obesity Epidemic we now have!!!!!

Needless to say, I rarely buy anything that comes in a can or package. I try to stay away from the grocery aisles and just shop around the edges of the grocery store. I buy fresh or frozen veggies and fruit and plain fresh meat. I do have to confess that I do occasionally buy sausages and bacon (I try to find without nitrates) and a package of Schneiders Bologna — but very rarely!

I can’t wait to see the film “FOOD” to find out what other secrets have been discovered. I have not heard of any lawsuits against the makers of the film so must conclude that whatever they are telling/showing us is true.

I wish that there was money available for a massive long-term campaign (television, radio, internet, newspapers, magazines, and public transit) letting everyone know what they may be eating even it they would rather not know.

I would also love to have any and all products that contain any GMO’s clearly labelled as containing such.
In Canada the labelling is voluntary, so you know that food producers won’t label things as they know their products would stay on the shelves.
In the US, the USDA has forbidden the labelling of any products containing GMO’s that are sold in the US.

I’ve noticed that an artificial sweetener made from Stevia is now available at my local supermarket … a bit “pricey” but nonetheless available.

Why can’t the food product producers switching back from HFCS to sugar go to Stevia instead?