Though the commercial said “It’s OK in moderation,” most Americans do NOT ingest a moderate amount of high fructose corn syrup. This sweetener is used in so many refined products, it’s actually difficult to find processed foods that don’t contain it. Take a look at breads, sauces, hot dogs, candy, crackers, frozen dinners, pizza, juice, and soda to see how prevalent it is. It is often listed as one of the first ingredients (remember ingredients are listed by highest content). Because high fructose corn syrup is easy to transport and inexpensive compared to refined sugar, (thanks to federal subsidies and tariffs on imported sugar), high fructose corn syrup is the sweetener used in more than 40% of sweetened foods and beverages and nearly 100% of the time in the non-diet soft drinks sold in the United States. If you eat processed foods, you definitely consume more than a moderate amount of high fructose corn syrup.

OLM gives you the rest of the story on high fructose corn syrup…

High Fructose Corn Syrup Is Not Just Fructose

High fructose corn syrup is made by treating corn (typically genetically modified corn) with a variety of enzymes (many of which are also genetically modified) to first extract the sugar glucose and then convert some of it into fructose (fructose is sweeter than glucose). The end result is approximately 55% fructose and 45% glucose.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Is Not Natural

In April 2008, the FDA declared that any product containing high fructose corn syrup could not be considered ‘natural’ and should not be labeled as such, because high fructose corn syrup is manufactured using a synthetic fixing agent. Under pressure from lobbyists hired by the Corn Refiners Association, the FDA quickly changed its mind. Now the FDA says that if the synthetic agent – called glutaraldehyde – does not come into contact with the high-dextrose corn starch, it can be considered natural. But there is nothing natural about high fructose corn syrup. It’s made in vats of murky fermenting liquid with fungus and genetically modified organisms, all of which are changed through the use of chemicals. There are a lot of products that are called “natural” though they are far from it, but high fructose corn syrup may be the biggest imposter of all these “natural” foods.

Fructose Makes You Fat

There has been a rapid increase in obesity following the introduction and increase of high fructose corn syrup into the American diet. Excess fructose (and it doesn’t take much to be excessive) is converted into unhealthy fat.

High fructose corn syrup short-circuits the glycolytic pathway for glucose and does not stimulate insulin secretion. Insulin controls a hormone called leptin, which signals the brain to tell your body it’s full. Since fructose doesn’t stimulate glucose levels and insulin release, there’s no increase in leptin levels and no feeling of satiety. Also, fructose does not affect ghrelin, a hunger inducing hormone, which is normally suppressed with food.

Natural fructose from fruit is attached to fiber and is ingested in considerably smaller amounts, which cause the sugar to be released slowly into the body while the fiber makes you feel full.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Is Linked to Diabetes, High Cholesterol, and Heart Disease

In natural sugars, fructose is bound to other sugars. High fructose corn syrup contains unbound fructose, often in large amounts. Unlike glucose, which can be metabolized by every cell in the body, fructose can be metabolized only by the liver. When too much fructose enters the liver at one time, the liver can’t process it as a sugar; it converts it into cholesterol and triglycerides, which are in turn dumped into the bloodstream. The more fat and cholesterol your blood has to transport, the higher your blood pressure needs to be to get the job done. (Imagine a pump that has to move thicker liquid.) High levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. High triglyceride levels also cause our body’s cells to become insulin resistant. If enough cells are insulin resistant, diabetes will result.

Free fructose is also linked to blood clots, interference with the heart’s use of key minerals, functions of white blood cells, and high levels of uric acid. 

If you want to lose weight, lower your LDL cholesterol, lower you triglycerides, decrease your risk factors, treat, or reverse diabetes or heart disease, eliminating high fructose corn syrup from your diet is imperative – the first action you should take.

The Digestion of High Fructose Corn Syrup Is Hard On the Body

Acidic “foods”, which are void of nutrition, wreak havoc on the body. To compensate, the body will pull calcium and other minerals from our bones, teeth, and organs to keep our blood slightly alkaline. Enzymes must be produced to metabolize high fructose corn syrup and micro-nutrients must be utilized. High fructose corn syrup causes mineral imbalances and deficiencies, which can cause a host of other diseases and health problems.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Can Alter Magnesium Balance Leading to an Increased Risk of Osteoporosis

High Fructose Corn Syrup inhibits copper metabolism leading to both a deficiency of copper and copper toxicity (if you can’t metabolize the copper, it becomes toxic to your body), which can cause increased bone fragility, anemia, ischemic heart disease, defective connective tissue formation, gray hair, hair loss, and much more.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Accelerates Aging

Any food that is difficult to metabolize (foods void of nutrients or low in nutrients, acidic foods, foods low in enzymes, etc.) depletes the body’s store of minerals, vitamins, and enzymes causing every other body system to function improperly, accelerating aging in every way.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Is Bad for the Environment

Corn is generally grown as a monoculture crop (one crop planted over a large area with no diversity and usually without crop rotation). This maximizes yields, but at a price. Soil nutrients are depleted so farmers compensate with fertilizer and pesticides. Topsoil is weakened. Demand for corn is increasing due to the manufacture of high fructose corn syrup and corn-based ethanol. Corn is being planted world-wide at the expense of sustainable food crops in third world countries. Farmers throughout the world, who once produced a variety of food to feed their populations, are now growing one crop to ship to America–genetically modified corn.

Sometimes it doesn’t say organic, but it is. Sometimes it says organic, but it’s not. At least not by the definition you’d expect. When it says Certified Naturally Grown, wildcrafted, or organic, what do the labels really mean?

USDA Organic Certification

Unfortunately, some short-lived botanical sprays and a few herbicides and insecticides are sometimes allowed during organic cultivation.

Single-Ingredient Foods

Single ingredient foods are foods that are uncombined with other foods. Think fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, eggs, cheese etc. When these foods are labeled organic, we know the farmer met the USDA standards to achieve certification.

Multi-Ingredient Foods—Organic

Here’s where things get tricky. You’d think if your sausage was labeled organic it would be organic. But there are three USDA organic labels for multi-ingredient or processed foods. Their differences are not obvious at first glance.

100% Organic

This one is self explanatory. All of the ingredients are organic.

Organic or Certified Organic

95-99% of its ingredients by weight are organic. The sausage may be 100% organic, but if the processor could not find organic sausage casings, the casings aren’t. This label allows food processors to use a number of ingredients that are not readily available in organic form.

Made with Organic Ingredients

70-94% of the ingredients must be organic. The organic seal cannot be used on these food items.

Just a bit misleading, isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but if I saw something that said it was made with organic ingredients, I’d think it was made with organic ingredients!

Certified Naturally Grown

Certified Naturally Grown is a non-profit, alternative, organic certification program. Nearly 500 farmers from 47 states are members. This group strives to preserve high standards for organic farmers while removing the financial and logistical barriers small

Wildcrafted

Wildcrafted plants are uncultivated plants gathered from their natural habitat. Care is taken to ensure sustainability, to take no more than the plant can give, the scatter a plant’s seeds, etc. Wildcrafted is superior to organic if picked where there is no runoff from polluted water or contamination from exhaust. Unlike organic produce, wildcrafted produce is never sprayed—with anything. Wildcrafted foods are pure—as nature intended.

When organic certification began, each state set its own standards. In time it was decided one uniform code was necessary. The USDA began a nationally recognized certification program in 1990.

Consumers think organic means organic. No pesticides. No herbicides. Nothing unnatural. Simple, right? Unfortunately, no. It’s not that simple. The organic label has quite a bit of wiggle room. It also has its share of controversy.

USDA organic certification requires time and money. Farmers are required to maintain documentation, to pay for inspections, and to pay for labs to test their produce. While it’s still true that food with an organic label is a superior product with more nutrition than its conventional counterpart, some farmers say USDA certification doesn’t guarantee strict adherence to the standards that originally defined organic and the label itself has become misleading.

In an Internet letter to their customers, the Whistling Train Farm, a fully organic farm in Washington State, goes into great detail explaining why they have chosen not to be certified as a USDA organic farm. Among their reasons are a number of practices allowed that they don’t agree with such as: “The use of blood and bone meal from non-organic livestock as fertilizers. We don’t feel safe using these products because of the BSE risk.” and “A long list of allowed substances, including broad-range botanical pesticides.”

As the Coleman Farm explains, “Among other things, certification would require us to keep records of input and output for each crop. We would have to pay for farm inspections and lab tests of our produce. For a farmer growing a thousand acres of broccoli the time required is insignificant. We raise and market nearly two hundred products, many of which yield only a few pounds a year. We think the time and money that certification would require is better spent working our farm and serving our customers.”

Vernon Mullins, the Organic Program Manager for the Georgia Department of Agriculture does not agree with the claim that documentation is a time consuming task. “Certification requires documentation,” he says, “but this can be done in a spiral notebook, on a calendar, or in an Excel spreadsheet.”

The forms available for download do look a bit overwhelming, though it appears a careful and complete set up of documentation would go a long way toward simplifying on-going record keeping. Organic certification is definitely not for scatterbrained types or for procrastinators. Careful due diligence is required.

Mr. Mullins also tells us the U.S. government has subsidized the costs of organic certification through the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program, which was originally available for farmers in 15 states. A second program included in a 2002 farm bill made financial assistance available to every state. Though funds are currently exhausted, a new bill is in appropriations awaiting funding.

Is the certification too expensive? Too time consuming? Is it meaningless because the standards are slipping?

There certainly appears to be contradictory opinions. OLM is going straight to the source. We’re going to ask the farmers. Look for our survey results in upcoming months.

Oh Organics, My Organics

“Organics” have arrived. They are more popular than ever, but what exactly is organic food? How does organic farming differ from conventional farming? How does the organic labeling process work? And, what does it all mean to you, the well-intentioned consumer? You might be surprised by some of the answers.

Over the past few decades, organics have moved from the “lunatic fringe” to the red carpet. Literally. This paradigm shift was most evident at the 2004 American Music Awards held in Los Angeles. Each year, celebrities, usually accustomed to receiving gaudy gift bags brimming with fancy fragrances and trendy technology, were instead presented with a more natural offering: “ecogift bags” filled with organic treats like Annie’s Homegrown Organic Macaroni and Cheese, Taylor Maid Farms organic coffee, and organic cotton tote bags from Patagonia.

Organics are not only en vogue among luminaries and de rigueur among foodies, middle America is going organic, too. The 2002 Organic Consumer Trends Report found that thirty-nine percent of the U.S. population uses organic products.

Organic food production is a $16 billion-a-year industry, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA) – and it is rising precipitously. Even though organic still accounts for a mere 3% of overall food sales, it is growing at a sizzling rate of 17-20% per year as compared to a glacial rate of 2-3% for conventional foods.

“Once you have Kraft marketing an organic product, albeit through another brand, you really can’t be more part of the mainstream than that,” said Don Montuori, editor of Packaged Facts, an industry publication.

More people eating healthier food produced in safe and sustainable ways is all good, right? Well, not necessarily.

Double-digit growth can be a double-edged sword. Organic food production is growing so rapidly that it is straining the system. There are not enough organic farms and organically raised animals in the United States to meet demand.

When demand outpaces supply, things can go awry. For example, in 2006, The Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog organization, filed a legal complaint before the USDA against Dean Foods, the largest milk bottler in the United States. The complaint alleged that Horizon Organic Milk came from cows reared in factory farms that violated organic standards. Specifically, Horizon’s dairy cows did not have sufficient access to pasture and were kept in inhumane conditions. The case is still pending.

“As organics become more mainstream, the standards are at risk,” says Ronnie Cummins, a national director for the Organic Consumer Organization. “Mass market and organics aren’t always compatible,” he adds.

First, let’s get clear on the differences between organic and conventional farming –how and why the distinction was originally drawn.

In 1990, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Bill included The Organic Foods Production Act, which was created to establish uniform national standards for the production and handling of foods labeled as “organic.” The Act authorized a new USDA National Organic Program to set national standards for the production, handling, and processing of organically grown agricultural products.

The USDA National Organic Program now oversees mandatory certification of organic production. The Act also established the National Organic Standards Board which advises the Secretary of Agriculture in setting the standards upon which the National Organic Program is based. Producers who meet standards set by the National Organic Program may label their products as “USDA Certified Organic.”

Here is the technical definition of “organic food” according to the USDA National Organic Program website: “Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.”

Fairly clear cut, right? Unfortunately, things aren’t so clear. The ability to emblazon a food product with the word “organic” is a valuable marketing advantage. And, when a subtle advantage can be leveraged for financial gain, it’s a breeding ground for situational ethics — and compromised standards.

Organic certification is intended to protect consumers from misuse of the term, and to make buying organics more straightforward. However, as the demand for organics rise, some large food manufacturers are attempting to weaken organic standards. Even the slightest downgrade in those standards can represent a financial windfall to large food companies.

Some believe that the U.S. government is also seeking to undercut organic standards. For example, Congress passed a $397 billion spending bill that contained a buried provision which could jeopardize U.S. organic standards. The provision, which was slipped into the bill at the last minute without debate, would “permit livestock producers to certify meat and dairy products as organic even if the animals had been fed non-organic or genetically engineered grain.” The provision would override the NOP’s requirement that 100% organic feed be used to produce organic meat products.
While many forces seek to soften organic standards, others go above and beyond to safeguard and uphold them.

“We’re talking about people’s health here,” says Dr. Jack J. Singh, founder of Organic Food Bar, Inc. Health is our most precious asset. Food companies should protect that at all costs! When you run a food company, you are feeding families with children. It is incumbent on everyone in this business to do everything they can to protect people’s health, particularly now as we face a health care crisis in this country.”

What the big companies don’t quite grasp is that unflinching integrity is good for customers – and good for business, too.

• If you want to eat purely organic food, the label should read: “100% organic” and nothing less. Only products made entirely with certified organic ingredients and methods can be labeled “100% organic.”
• Products with at least 95% organic ingredients can use the word “organic” and can also include the USDA organic seal. The other 5% can be conventionally-grown ingredients.
• A third category, containing a minimum of 70% organic ingredients, can be labeled “made with organic ingredients.”
• In most cases, the word “natural” on a product label means very little because, unlike the designation “organic,” the word “natural” has no legal definition.
• Whenever possible, buy food produced closer to home. That way, you know your food is fresher — and you know where it comes from! The recent food scare with China, while unsettling, has compelled many Americans to examine the origins of their food. This is good. The fact is that locally-produced food is better for you, it’s better for your community — and, it’s better for the planet.

To learn more about organics, visit The Organic Trade Association at: http://www.ota.com

For more healthy living tips, visit: http://www.organicfoodbar.com

Super bugs live in soil? Yes, according to Harvard University researchers who discovered why antibiotics don’t build up in the soil. Bacteria are eating it; they thrive on doses 50 to 100 times greater than the equivalent therapeutic dose for humans.

Scientists are scrambling to find out how they do it before they teach their cousins, human pathogens, how to wine and dine on Cipro, gentamicin, and the next generation of man made antibiotics.

While we applaud Mother Nature for devising a means to remove antibiotic waste from the soil, the warning is clear. Will we listen? Will we stop polluting our water and our land with antiseptics and antibiotic run off? Will we stop feeding antibiotics like candy to our animals? To our children? To ourselves? Will we look for alternative treatments to strengthen immunity and help our bodies to heal? Or will we continue the evolutionary war on bacteria, creating new strains resistant to every known treatment?