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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Chow The War on Drugs Sugar: FDA Rejects "Corn Sugar" Petition and Mayor Bloomberg Hopes to Ban the Sale of Large Sugary Drinks in NY

Posted by Megan Seling on Thu, May 31, 2012 at 1:03 PM

First, in high-fructose corn syrup news:

The United States Food and Drug Administration has rejected a request from the Corn Refiners Association to change the name of high-fructose corn syrup.

The FDA says the term "sugar" can only apply to food "that is solid, dried and crystallized."

Sorry, CRA. You're just going to have to find new ways to put a positive spin on the horrifically negative reputation your product has accrued over the years.

And, in soda news: New York's Mayor Bloomberg wants to "ban the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts."

The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.

The ban would not apply to anything with less than 25 calories per each eight ounce serving.

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My friend calls HFCS "the white man's poison". He's not wrong.

Posted by JonnoN on May 31, 2012 at 1:06 PM

The ban would not apply to anything with less than 25 calories

"Fewer."

I totally would have let that slide, but I'm still mad about that Sasquatch post from Tuesday. If you create a link that includes the words, "hundreds of sweaty shirtless dudes," and clicking on it doesn't produce a photo of hundreds of sweaty shirtless dudes—well, then you deserve all the pedantic nitpicking that comes your way.

Posted by Fred Casely on May 31, 2012 at 1:20 PM

Also exempt: fruit juice (which contains more sugar than cola and ALMOST NO FRUIT JUICE).

Posted by Fnarf

on May 31, 2012 at 1:24 PM

What about Long Island Iced Tea?

Posted by Will in Seattle

on May 31, 2012 at 1:31 PM

The alcohol lobby being what it is, alcoholic beverages are exempt. So, go for the 40-oz Colt 45! Doesn't get any better than this.

Posted by Karlheinz Arschbomber

on May 31, 2012 at 1:48 PM

I loves me some HFCS, but I'm totally in favor of this ban for, like, everywhere. It would be a pain for BBQs or other events where a 2L size bottle makes sense because a lot of people are sharing it. But I'm absolutely fine with limiting the serving size of this addictive crap that I know is bad for me.

Posted by Knat on May 31, 2012 at 2:22 PM

@1

"A white man's poison"

- Seriously? I grew up in a black foster home, and even Ice Cube would agree with me in my observation that black folk love their HFCS, even more than my observation of white folk. And before you go blasting me for being a white man that's racist, take a step back, cuz I aint white, shit head.

Posted by scratchmaster joe on May 31, 2012 at 4:01 PM

They should keep the name, HFCS, as if memory recalls from DECA, it was they, that came up with the fucking themselves. They shouldn't be changing the name just to get a leg up on marketing, that's BS. However, the negative reputation may not be well earned, as the science is totally out on HFCS, and there is no evidence that suggests it is any more harmful than standard refined beat sugar. The only scientifical issue is that there may be a link between HFCS and a desire to eat more, but even that isn't conclusive at this point... That being said, I prefer standard refined sugar. Cane sugar is great, but beat sugar is good too. I do like that Mexican Coke, and no, not the Mexican Coke that The Stranger readership usually partakes in...

Posted by scratchmaster joe on May 31, 2012 at 4:05 PM

HFCS or aspartame, it's all the same. I lost 100 pounds when I stopped drinking diet Coke (or any other soda). Fnarf is right about the "fruit juice" too.

Posted by cheakamus on May 31, 2012 at 4:08 PM

Also, it's the cup or container size that's limited; "bottomless cups" common at fast-food joints are still allowed.

So expect a whole lot more traffic at the beverage bar as all the addicts attempt to get their "money's worth."

Slight upside: in-vehicle spillage reduced by up to 75%.

Posted by rob!

on May 31, 2012 at 7:14 PM

They should just put a sugar restriction, if the drink has over a certain concentration of sugar to liquid the drink should not be allowed to be sold in NYC. This using of calorie data is really naive.

Posted by watchout5