Cuba’s Uneasy Sugar Cane Revenge

I vividly remember a conversation I had with Roberto Goizueta  in the spring of 1984 about Cuban Sugar Cane. At the time he was Chairman and CEO of Coca Cola which under his leadership really turned into the most recognized brand in the world. He was irate over the fact that Coca Cola USA had to change its cane sugar sweetness for HFCS  as a result of Tariffs and Sugar Quotas imposed in 1977. Even until today Coke in foreign countries is produced with cane sugar, not HFCS. Roberto hailed from Havana Cuba, loved the island and despised the US embargo that left the once waving cane fields throughout the island without buyers of sugar. Partly as a result of this embargo, we were introduced to the devil, called HFCS or High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Now 25 years later it seems “we the people- are paying another hefty price for ignorant politics without vision and research as HFCS increasingly is being pointed at as the culprit behind obesity, heart disease and diabetes, and now is even associated with the ongoing Autism epidemic. Here is why.

We all know that too much sugar is not really good for us, but alas, it tastes so sweet. But as bad as too much sugar is for you, its chemical relative HFCS  is a thousand times worse. This sugary tasting concoction has been added to soft drinks, salad dressings, cakes, cookies, sweeteners and cereals for almost 30 years now. Right after the introduction of the Tariffs and Sugar Quota.

The sweetheart of food manufacturing everywhere, HFCS was introduced as the perfect solution for shelf-life extension and reduction of the costs of producing commercially sweetened foods
While it might have been a profit bonanza for manufacturers and retailers, for the general public it became a silver bullet with lasting health effects.

The list of health risks attributed to HFCS already includes high triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, reducing insulin sensitivity, and causing dangerous intra-abdominal fat, the one that is associated with heart disease.
But now there is, if at all possible, another frightening addition to the HFCS story — mercury contamination!

Mercury is the heavy metal that reportedly damages the heart, kidneys, nervous system, and immune system.  In pregnant women, mercury may actually enter the placenta and affect the neurological development of the fetus.  Could this be the cause for the rise in Autism and ADHD?

And here is another frightening example of how your government is killing you with sloppy ignorance. The latest news regarding the dangers of HFCS came to light in late January when several news outlets published the results of two eye-opening studies, dating back to 2005 and 2008. The first study concluded that in 2005 FDA scientists tested 20 commercial products containing HFCS and found that 9 of them were positive for mercury.  But the FDA did not release these dangerous findings to the public until recently…January 2009!

A study conducted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) in the fall of 2008 analyzed 55 commercial products containing HFCS, randomly purchased of the shelf.  30% or 17 of these foods and beverages contained mercury!

Why did manufacturers use mercury in the chemical process? Well in the process of creating the corn syrup, a mercury reagent is typically used with a caustic soda to separate corn starch from the corn kernel.  In the process, the mercury cells often contaminate the caustic soda, which is then transferred to the corn syrup.

The Corn Refiners Association claims that the industry has not used mercury reagents in the manufacturing of HFCS for several years and calls the study outdated. Our question is why would products bought of the shelf in the fall of 2008 still contain mercury?

The sad fact remains that nothing can reverse the damage done to countless people who unknowingly ingested mercury-contaminated food for several decades, clogged their arteries, and possibly affected the neurological development of their unborn children.

Our advice…. get high-fructose corn syrup banned from your diet. Use good old Cuban cane sugar. Tell our government to remove that stupid embargo on Cuba. As I see it, Cuba unwittingly got a sinister revenge for the poverty the US embargo left them with since 1959.