Did you know that virtually all soft drinks in the United States are not made with real natural sugar? If you are American, chances are that you either don’t know or don’t care. They are made with something called high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and have been since the early 80s. It’s not just soda – it’s in all sweetened drinks like juice and many foods too.
But you should care! You should be outraged! There are a ton of studies that show that high fructose corn syrup causes a whole slew of health problems when drunk in high quantities. It messes with metabolism, aging, liver processing, and fattens you up more than regular sugar, among other things. Many believe it to be a major cause of obesity. Who thinks of sugar when they look at a cornfield? It’s just not natural!
But forget all that – soda just tastes so much better with real sugar!
An ice cold Coca Cola made with real cane sugar in a glass bottle is just indescribable! They are available in every other country except for the United States. Sodas are made with mostly real sugar everywhere but here. South of us, sugar is a major export, so it is cheap to make soda with the real stuff. Europe has really strict regulations on HFCS and the people there won’t stand for it.
It’s all about money.
As sugar prices increased in the late 1970s and early 1980s while serving sizes kept increasing, it just became more cost-effective for sodas to be made with HFCS. The standard serving of soda used to be 8 ounces. Now it is typical for the “small” size at restaurants to be 12-20 ounces. Large ranges anywhere from 30-42 ounces! That is a lot of soda!
HFCS is cheap because of huge governments subsidies to corn growers and overproduction. This is how that 32 ounce drink is so cheap.
Some Coca Cola bottlers still used real sugar in the 80s and early 90s, but once they all switched back to “Classic Coke” after the whole “New Coke” disaster, they were all forced to use HFCS. So it was not really the original formula. Coke really never tasted the same again. Many believe that the whole New Coke thing was really a plot to get rid of sugar. They may be right.
But something interesting is happening in society. Michelle Obama has declared that she won’t allow her girls to drink anything with HFCS in it. Guests are coming onto the Colbert Report to talk about how bad HFCS is. Awareness is very slowly, but surely, spreading.
Pepsi just released what they call “Pepsi Throwback” – Pepsi made with real sugar cane! It has been pretty poorly advertised and Target has already placed it on clearance and will no longer be stocking it. But it is a step in the right direction.
When I bought a pack of Pepsi Throwback, the cashier at Walmart asked me: Throwback? “What do you think they mean by throwback?” I explained to her that they mean that it is made with real sugar. “What are sodas made with then?” I explained that they are made with HFCS, and that this is a “throwback” to a time when soda was made with actual sugar. She seemed really impressed.
As soon as I left, she called out to her fellow cashier and asked if he had tried any yet.
Do your part and go out and try some soda with real sugar in it! Your mouth and body will thank you!
The corn lobbies – like the Corn Refiners-Association are ruthless and will stop at nothing to ensure that HFCS continues to be used.
You can buy Pepsi Throwback at Walmart or many grocery stores. You can get Dr. Pepper with real cane sugar from Dublin Doctor Pepper.
Tell them that I sent you. And who knew that you get could better health through better soda? It’s worth the extra effort I promise.
Spitting on a Well-Scrubbed Floor 