Okay, I have a feeling I'm about to type myself into a rant.

I've just seen the second variation on a commercial defending the use of high-fructose corn syrup, after also being exposed to magazine ads defending high-fructose corn syrup.

Two very attractive, natural-looking people are talking. One offers the other food -- something that it would nearly be un-American to eat, like a popsicle -- and the other turns it down because it contains high-fructose corn syrup. And, when asked to defend this choice, becomes inarticulate & can't say why it's not good for you.

Because this one individual person is scripted so that he or she is unable to explain why, in simplistic, sound-bite terms that a 5th grader could understand, apparently this makes high-fructose corn syrup perfectly okay.

I mean, it's hard to turn into Michael Pollan at the drop of a hat, and that's not likely to happen in a commercial probably paid for by lobbyists for corn growers.

But is anybody else really annoyed at this propaganda whenever they see it? Or am I the only one?

Apparently, questions about the source of ingredients in one's food have the ability to make some corporations very, very nervous, enough to pay for expensive commercial air time & production.

I am also irritated by it - it is sending the wrong message. The one I have seen is the breakfast cereal with the two brothers and the brother who tells him that high-fructose corn syrup is bad for you is made to look like an idiot with no manners.

Very annoying and upsetting given the power of TV advertisements.

Boy, that sound-byte concept seems to prevail in current political campaigns, too. Very insightful.

I haven't seen the commercial, but I find that abhorrent. How dare they? They are preying on people who don't understand the ever-increasing need to think critically, or people who aren't thinking about thinking critically when they're trying to just zone out on the TV after work.

Makes me crazy, too, and Hyacinth is exactly right..a < 30 sec. sound bite is all we will listen to politically as well. No wonder we are in the pickle we are in. Michael Pollan for President!

Yes, they're ridiculous. They think we are too stupid to realize that the popsicle is not the only thing in a typical SAD day with HFCS in it.

I think their intention is to make people too embarrassed to say anything about HFCS and to encourage people to be defensive about having it.

My current favorite is the Nutella ad. "I use nutella to get my kids to eat healthy foods like whole wheat toast"

Yeah. Smear sugar and chocolate on a piece of broccoli and they might eat it but what's the point.

I saw that, too! What comedy!

LOL, I haven't seen that one.

How is that different than a commercial saying, "I get my kids to eat XYZ by promising a Snicker's bar afterward"? I have lots of nieces and nephews, both toddlers and older kids, and I think they hardly ever have milk without chocolate in it. It's thought of as a healthy drink, and I think it's just horrifying. That, and French toast/pancakes somehow *not* being considered cake with frosting for breakfast.

There are healthy ways to make both of those things that aren't so bad. I found an awesome 100% whole wheat buttermilk pancake mix that's fabulous. Mix in some blueberries, serve with some chicken apple mini-sausage, and you've got 300 calories worth of fairly healthy breakfast. I have french toast nearly every morning, made with whole wheat bread and eggbeaters or egg whites, with a little cinnamon mixed in. It's a nice fiber/protein combo.

The ads make me crazy too, though - especially because "what they say about it" is actually pretty well-defined...blood sugar spikes. Which can lead to diabetes or insulin resistance.

Of course there are. But I am talking about the usual - white bread and white flour and sugar, and drowned in syrup.

Re: Nutella - who says toast in any form is really healthy? Give that kid some steel cut oatmeal.

We wrote an article about HFCS, and immediately got emails from this same group of people defending it, and shortly thereafter received a big packet in the mail about it, urging us to study it and repost an opinion about it. Pfft.
Propaganda!

Well, at least it means the HFCS people are feeling the pressure!

Oh, Honey, HFCS is fine in moderation as part of a well-balanced diet, you silly goose!

So is cocaine! silly goose.

Julie - I was perhaps a bit defensive after having just polished off a stack of blueberry buttermilk pancakes for breakfast!