Personal vs Corporate Responsibility
Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 10:08PM High Fructose Corn Syrup is a hot button topic that always comes to mind when I think about food, obesity and the issue of personal versus corporate responsibility.
The government is somewhat complicit since government corn subsidies make that ingredient much more profitable than imported sugar. The Corn Refiners Association’s argument suggests “...fine in moderation.” That sounds fine with me, but if you live and eat like many people do in our society, convenience is a virtue, and SO many items in the average American’s pantry, fridge and freezer contain HFCS. So, how are we as a people supposed to moderately consume HFCS in their (The CRA) opinion? I also find it a silly waste on their parts with the showcase of popsicles, generic sugary gallons of juice, and sugary cereals to plead their case in the commercials launched in late 2008. With a prevalence of HFCS is so many foods, I’m not sure why the CRA did not partner with any of the name brands that their product is produced with? I think that it might have had a bit more oomph if some popular food brands, considered healthy for the most part, were included in their ads.
Yes, people ultimately control what food and beverages are put into their mouths, but I truly believe that there are way too many factors to chalk it all up to poor judgement and self control on the part of the individual.