11 Countries That Consume the Most Chocolate in the World

id you know that if you live in one of the 11 countries that consume the most chocolate in the world, you have a higher chance of winning a Nobel Prize? There’s even a study published in New England Journal of Medicine that proved a strong correlation between the amount of chocolate consumed per capita and the number of Nobel Prize winners. Correlation doesn’t imply causation of course, but there’s too much positive data to just dismiss this connection as coincidence.  If causation does exist, there are two possibilities. Either consuming chocolate leads to such a drastic improvement in cognitive abilities that it can boost a nation’s overall scientific output, or higher levels of intelligence lead to an increased craving for chocolate. But even the author of the study, Franz Messerli, MD, from Columbia University, says that further research is needed to determine the true causes of this correlation.

Chocolate was introduced in Europe from Americas by Spaniards in the 17^th century.  Ironically, there isn’t a single country from either Central or South America. In fact, 4 of top 5 cocoa producers (Ivory Coast, Indonesia, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameron) are from Africa, where chocolate was brought in 19^thcentury and quickly spread to form a backbone of these countries’ exports.

Similar to the list of 11 countries that consume the most milk, there aren’t any Asian countries on this list as well. What’s more, all 11 countries that consume the most chocolate in the world are from Europe, while Australia, Canada and the United States get an honorable mention. With chocolate being considered a luxury item and taxed as such, it makes sense that it is most consumed in countries with the high standard of living. Still, with the consumption on the rise, it is only matter of time before the rest of the world catches up with Europe and gain a spot on the list of 11 countries that consume the most chocolate in the world.

http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/11-countries-that-consume-the-most-chocolate-in-the-world-349019/

world chocolate masters 2015

http://www.worldchocolatemasters.com/en/

http://mad.tv2.dk/2015-10-30-se-billederne-ja-det-er-rent-faktisk-chokolade

5 Human Foods Cats Can Eat

It can be hard to resist spoiling your beautiful feline friend with a special treat from the dinner table. But as wise cat owners know, many human foods can be unsafe for your cat because we have vastly different nutritional needs from them. Even some kinds of food your cat loves and begs for might wreak havoc on your lovable furball’s digestive system.

We spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Colleran, President of the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), who said that the list of foods you can never feed your cat is a lot smaller than most people think. Cats should never have onion, garlic, kelp, grapes or raisins, sugary treats, chocolate, and alcoholic or caffeinated drinks, even in small doses.

However, you’ll find many veterinary lists of dangerous foods are longer. The truth is, if you examine the fine print, some foods on these warning lists can be safe for your cat — but only in small doses. And a good rule of thumb is that human food should not make up more than 15 percent of a cat’s diet.

So, what foods can Fluffy eat safely off of the table?

While humans are omnivores, meaning we can survive on meat and vegetables, a cat is classified as an obligate carnivore, meaning it needs meat to survive (or at least thrive). So, it’s true that cats, unlike humans, don’t derive much nutrition from vegetables. But Dr. Colleran assures us that carbohydrates aren’t inherently bad for cats. Rather, cats are just able to derive more energy from protein and use it more efficiently. Some cats enjoy chomping on plants every once in a while to get roughage or fiber.

If you’ve noticed that your cat has this craving, keep houseplants away from it, because they may be toxic. Instead, serve up small portions of veggies to your cat. Some recommended vegetables include baked carrots, steamed asparagus or broccoli, green beans, winter squash, or chopped greens. Dr. Colleran advises cat owners to wash veggies thoroughly and avoid anything that might be indigestible, like uncooked carrots.

Along these same lines, some cats chew on and eat grass in order to throw something up, like a hair ball that’s caught in their throat. Some cat owners without lawns will bring in some grass if their cat gets that craving.

Vegan Like Me

If you’d like to make your entire household vegetarian or vegan, including your cat, talk to your vet first. There is some controversy over whether vegetarian or vegan diets are enough for cats, but most vets agree that meat offers the necessary vitamins and minerals.

Many cats love cheese, and it’s a good source of protein for them. And although some cats are able to eat it without any problem, you’ll find that dairy products often make the list of dangerous foods for cats. That’s because as many cats mature to adulthood, they become lactose intolerant. For these adult cats, any cheese, milk or other dairy will cause diarrhea.

If you’re interested in feeding your cat dairy, give it a very small amount at first to see how its digestive system handles it. It might be able to safely handle small portions of cottage cheese, or even yogurt and sour cream. You can also try giving your cat low-lactose varieties of cheese and milk.

If you only feed dairy to your cat occasionally as a special treat, you’ll be able to use it to get a finicky cat to take its medicine. Some sneaky cat owners actually grind up pills for their feline and put the powder on cheese or butter to get them to ingest the medicine.

Most cats love fish, and it can provide some much needed nutrients for them. After all, you’ll find it in many commercial cat foods. So, if you’re preparing a nice tuna sandwich, it shouldn’t do any harm to sneak your cat a bite.

But — and there’s always a “but” — you should be aware of some concerns with serving your cat too much fish. The high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids in a heavy tuna diet will deplete a cat’s supply of vitamin E. You should also be aware that carnivorous fish like tuna, salmon and swordfish are more likely to contain higher levels of mercury than cod, halibut and flounder.

And although you’ll find some vets who believe that it’s fine and even preferable to give your cat uncooked fish, Dr. Colleran disagrees. She warns that uncooked oily fish contain too much thiaminase, which breaks down thiamine, an essential vitamin. This is addition to the safety hazard of eating raw fish. For instance, uncooked freshwater fish might carry a tapeworm.

Home Cooking

Some ambitious cat lovers wonder if they can take it upon themselves to make all of their cat’s food. Although it’s possible, a cat’s particular nutritional needs make it very difficult. Dr. Colleran tells us that it can be more expensive than buying commercial cat food. If you are dedicated, though, you should work carefully with a veterinary nutrition specialist.

Eggs are great for humans and cats because they’re rich in protein. In fact, many books that promote natural cat diets strongly encourage owners to give their cats eggs. After all, in the wild, cats would occasionally raid the nests of birds. Vets agree that cooked eggs, such as scrambled or hard-boiled, make an excellent and nutritious treat for a cat.

However, although some natural diet books recommend raw eggs — which provide more nutritional benefits and are what a cat would get in the wild — Dr. Colleran again says this is too dangerous. Salmonella and E. coli have become too much of a risk. “Not only do you not want to make your cat sick,” she notes, “but you don’t want to bring those kinds of organisms into your environment.” This can be a problem if, for instance, something harmful passes through the animal but remains in its excrement.

Another concern is that eggs are very allergenic. Dr. Colleran recommends watching for manifestations of an allergic reaction if you do feed your cat eggs.

Because cats are carnivores, animal meat is one of the safest human foods to give a cat, which it why we rank it at No. 1. Cooked poultry is probably the best choice. Uncooked meat brings with it the same safety concerns as uncooked fish or eggs. Nevertheless, as with fish and eggs, you’ll find a few vets who prefer raw for the nutritional value.

You’ll also find conflicting advice as to whether you should worry about fat content. Dr. Colleran explains that it’s largely a matter of calories. Fat is nutritious in itself, but cats, like humans, shouldn’t consume too much. And cats suffer from an obesity problem in the United States, too. Even if your cat could use the extra calories, however, too much fat in one sitting can cause diarrhea. This is why you shouldn’t let your cat finish your rejected fat trimmings from the table.

So, it seems that moderation is important for everything we can give a cat — except of course, our unconditional love.

http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/1-meat/

Why coffee and peanut butter could be the best (and cheapest) pre-workout supplement you can get

Why coffee and peanut butter could be the best (and cheapest) pre-workout supplement you can get

By Kimberly Gillan

 

A quick online search will bring up countless pre-workout pills, potions and powders that promise to fuel a big gym session to get you ripped faster. But are they safe and do they actually work? 

That depends which ones you’re taking.

Pre-workout supplements claim to have things like amino acids, arginine, glutamine and electrolytes, which are said to give you energy and help power your muscles through a high intensity workout or weights session. In years gone by they contained ingredients like DMAA (1,3-Dimethylamylamine), a product that’s commonly found in the make-up of party drugs, but that’s now banned.

Darren Bruce, personal trainer and former military leadership coach, told ninemsn Coach that many pre-workouts will give you a big hit of caffeine but not much else, while  Katherine Shone, spokesperson for Sports Dietitians Australia, says the claims on labels are often very exaggerated.

What many don’t realise is that sports supplements fall into a particular food category that does not require them to prove their claims to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the government body that deems whether foods, drinks and medicines are safe for consumption.

According to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), all that sports supplement companies have to prove is that they don’t have any banned substances in them – the rest of their labels are often left to creative licence.

“While the TGA and FSANZ (Food Standards Australia and New Zealand) expect manufacturers to avoid making wild claims about their products on labels and packaging, these regulations are not heavily policed,” writes the AIS supplements fact sheet.

Many supplements are endorsed by professional athletes who credit the supplement with their successes, but the AIS points out that this might not mean much.

“Performance is the result of many factors – including talent, training, equipment, diet and mental attitude,” they write.

“In real life, an athlete will be unable to pinpoint how much each of these factors is contributing.”

Of course, some pre-workouts can be good and Shone recommends finding one that is listed on the Informed Sport Program then study the label carefully and consult a sports dietitian so that you know exactly what you’re getting.

“They have been tested rigorously so they don’t contain banned ingredients but also provide the amount of ingredients they claim to contain,” she says.

The caffeine effect

Most pre-workout supplements contain high levels of caffeine, which gives people a buzz.

“People report feeling amped and pumped up to do their session, which is likely to be the effect of caffeine and sugar additives,” Shone explains.

“But to get a kick, there’s nothing wrong with having a coffee.”

Bruce often recommends his clients have a shot of coffee to fire them up before a workout.

“The main objective is to prime the nervous system – coffee does that best,” he explains.

However given one of the keys to good performance is getting plenty of sleep, Bruce says it’s not a good idea to have a high caffeine intake within six hours of going to bed.

A caffeine hit without the caffeine

If you don’t like coffee or are super sensitive to caffeine, Bruce says a good old-fashioned “shock to the system” will have the same effect on your nervous system.

“When we have 6am sessions and everyone is still asleep, I will throw a ball at them. When someone throws something at you and you’re not aware of it, you freak out – it wakes them up straight away,” he says.

“You could also do some box jumps to wake you up and switch on your system for heavy lifts or high intensity work. Even learning to juggle can be a good strategy.”

Juggling has actually been proven to increase connections between different parts of the brain and Bruce says it’s really good at priming people for a workout.

A whole food pre-workout

A lot of the pre-workouts claim to have ingredients that help send blood to the muscles to give you more power, but Shone says that you can easily get that from a good pre-workout snack.

“A banana and peanut butter or some grainy toast with cottage cheese would give you protein and carbohydrates to fuel your workout,” she says.

It’s a strategy she uses with many athletes looking for results.

“In my experience, a lot of elite level athletes don’t waste their time on those products. They will focus mostly on good nutrition and some will use caffeine,” she says.

“Good performance and optimal physique is more than just taking a supplement – it comes from a combination of hard work, good nutritious eating, doing the training and doing the rehab and recovery. It’s not just a matter of taking a pill to get an awesome body.”

Read more at http://coach.ninemsn.com.au/2015/09/24/11/54/why-coffee-and-peanut-butter-could-be-the-best-pre-workout-supplement-you-can-get#Km8liZFZIP2bzh4I.99

15 facts about BANANAS

Food Craze? Mexican Cookies Made With Grasshopper Powder

Insects and arachnids are popular snack foods in China, Thailand and other Asian countries. Grasshoppers are also important in Mexican cuisine, although the insects are much smaller than those enjoyed in Thailand. Their stratospheric protein content makes grasshoppers (or “chapulines”) a healthy snack popular with all age groups.

How Are Grasshoppers Used in Mexican Cuisine?

Grasshoppers are a popular Mexican snack food because they are inexpensive, have a mild flavor, light texture and a high protein content. Snackers prefer to eat small, whole grasshoppers in large quantities, seasoned with salt, pepper and chili powder. Crispy, fried “chapulines” occupy a place in Mexican snacking culture akin to popcorn in America. Huge platters of tiny red grasshoppers are popular in tapas restaurants and are also eaten as bar food.

What Is Grasshopper Powder?

Powdered grasshopper is a condiment made from seasoned, cooked, pulverized insects. The powder is a popular at restaurants, where diners sprinkle it over soups, tacos, enchiladas and other dishes. Unflavored grasshopper powder also adds an extra protein boost to sweet dishes.

What Are Powdered Grasshopper Cookies?

Powdered grasshopper cookies are high in protein, low in fat and have the same appeal as traditional cookies made with eggs and butter. They have a delicious flavor and hearty, chewy texture. The most popular flavors of these “secret grasshopper food” cookies are oatmeal and oatmeal raisin.

Why Are Whole Grasshoppers Not Used in Cookies?

Powdering grasshoppers before adding them to cookie batter makes it impossible to tell that the cookies contain insects. Grasshoppers are very popular in southern Mexico, where poverty is a severe problem. Many northern Mexicans refuse to eat the whole “chapulines” because they do not rely on the insects for dietary protein. Powdering the grasshoppers substantially increases the market potential of commercial cookie brands and increases the viability of “secret grasshopper food” cookies in northern Mexican public schools.

Are Grasshopper Powder Cookies Related to the Minty Treats Called Grasshopper Cookies?

Grasshopper powder cookies are not related to the popular “grasshopper cookies” made with chocolate and mint. The green “grasshopper powder” sold at American gourmet boutiques is a sweet dessert sprinkle made from mint and white chocolate. The powder is delicious in cookies, shakes and frozen desserts, but it is unrelated to the protein-rich Mexican insect powder.

Although grasshoppers are most popular as a savory snack food, their nutritional profile also makes them an attractive addition to baked goods. Powdering the cooked insects makes them indistinguishable from plant-based baking ingredients such as powdered cinnamon and whole wheat flour, which also have a reddish appearance. This is a necessary step that makes powdered grasshopper cookies universally palatable.

http://recipes.answers.com/article/879409/food-craze-mexican-cookies-made-with-grasshopper-powder

Taiwan Reels From Gutter Oil Scandal

By AUSTIN RAMZY

September 8, 2014 6:56 am

The authorities in Taiwan are scrambling to control a tainted-cooking-oil scandal that has affected hundreds of manufacturers and raised fears about health risks posed in many commonly consumed food items.

The scandal comes during the Mid-Autumn Festival and has dampened enthusiasm for giving and consuming mooncakes, a traditional seasonal snack.

Regulators are examining the extent to which the substandard oil has been exported to Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China. Hong Kong’s Center for Food Safety said Maxim’s Cakes, a prominent retailer in the Chinese city, had removed from its shelves pineapple cakes made from oil from a Taiwan manufacturer implicated in the scandal.

On Sept. 1 the police raided a factory in southern Taiwan that is accused of producing hundreds of tons of oil that had been recycled from restaurant waste and slaughterhouse byproducts. Another company, Chang Guann, bought and reprocessed the tainted material into 782 tons of oil. Of that, 645 tons of oil were sold widely around Taiwan, with 236 tons recovered thus far, officials from the Taiwanese Food and Drug Administration said Saturday. Some of the unrecovered oil may have already been consumed, they acknowledged.

In recent years illegally recycled oil has emerged as a serious food safety concern in China, where it is known colloquially as “gutter oil.” The substance is dangerous not just because of poor sanitation associated with illegal recycling operations, but because reused oil can contain carcinogens such as benzopyrene and aflatoxin.

So far no cases of illness have been associated with the recycled oil scandal in Taiwan. Yeh Ming-kung, the director of the Food and Drug Administration, said Saturday that there was no immediate health risk from the oil, but the authorities have promised further testing amid criticism from consumers in Taiwan that they are playing down the threat.

Prime Minister Jiang Yi-huah of Taiwan had called for all products known to be made with the tainted oil to be removed from store shelves by Sunday. A day earlier the Food and Drug Administration said about 167 tons of food items had been recovered, including instant noodles, cookies and dumplings.

The recycled oil scandal follows a series of incidents in 2013 that raised questions about the enforcement of food quality standards in Taiwan. Several companies were found to have added illegal coloring agents to cooking oils and diluted olive oil with cheaper products such as cottonseed oil.

“Despite the rise of public attention to food safety and the authorities’ efforts to improve the quality of food manufacturing, the new scandal shows that there is still not enough being done to eliminate lawbreaking production lines,” The Taipei Times said in an editorial Monday that called for harsher punishments for food safety violations.

Less meat ‘key’ to food security

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/articles?cp-documentid=261848975

Eating less meat is “essential” to ensure future demand for food can be met and “dangerous” climate change avoided, experts have warned.

A study by leading university researchers in Cambridge and Aberdeen found food production alone could exceed targets for greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 if current trends continue.

Population growth and the global shift towards “meat-heavy Western diets” has meant increasing agricultural yields will not meet projected food demands for the expected 9.6 billion world population, it said.

Increased deforestation, fertiliser use and livestock methane emissions are likely to cause greenhouse gas emissions from food production to rise by almost 80%, experts from the University of Cambridge and University of Aberdeen found.

Lead researcher Bojana Bajzelj, from the University of Cambridge’s department of engineering, said: “Agricultural practices are not necessarily at fault here – but our choice of food is.

“It is imperative to find ways to achieve global food security without expanding crop or pastureland.

“Food production is a main driver of biodiversity loss and a large contributor to climate change and pollution, so our food choices matter.”

He added: “Cutting food waste and moderating meat consumption in more balanced diets, are the essential ‘no-regrets’ options.”

According to the study in Nature Climate Change, current trends in food production will mean that by 2050 cropland will have expanded by 42% and fertiliser use increased by 45% over 2009 levels.

A further tenth of the world’s pristine tropical forests would disappear over the next 35 years, it said.

The study’s authors tested a scenario where all countries were assumed to have an “average” balanced diet – without excessive consumption of sugars, fats, and meat products.

The average balanced diet used in the study was a “relatively achievable goal”, the researchers said, which included two 85g portions of red meat and five eggs per week, as well as a portion of poultry a day.

“This significantly reduced the pressures on the environment even further,” they said.

Co-author Professor Pete Smith, from the University of Aberdeen, said: “Unless we make some serious changes in food consumption trends, we would have to completely de-carbonise the energy and industry sectors to stay within emissions budgets that avoid dangerous climate change.

“That is practically impossible – so, as well as encouraging sustainable agriculture, we need to re-think what we eat.”

Cambridge co-author Prof Keith Richards said: “This is not a radical vegetarian argument; it is an argument about eating meat in sensible amounts as part of healthy, balanced diets.

“Managing the demand better, for example by focusing on health education, would bring double benefits – maintaining healthy populations, and greatly reducing critical pressures on the environment.”

Portugal Cork Harvest

Portugal Cork Harvest

Have you ever wondered where that cork in your bottle of wine comes from?

The answer is most likely to be Spain or Portugal, where over half of the world’s cork is harvested.

 

In fact it isthe “National Tree” of Portugal.

However, unlike other forms of forestry, the production of cork never involves the death of a tree.

Instead, they are gently stripped, leaving a strangebut fascinating landscape of denuded trunks.

All of this takes some time. Cork trees can live to over (200)two hundred years but are not considered ready for their cork to be removed until they are at least 25 years old.

Even then, the first two harvests do not produce cork of the highest quality. It isn’t until the trees are in their forties that they produce premium cork.

Once the trees have reached the maturity necessary to produce high quality cork then

they will be harvested only every nine years.

A tree, in its lifetime, can be harvested (the process is known as extraction) about fifteen times.

Little wonder then, that in Portugal and Spain the propagation of the trees and the production of cork has become an inter-generational industry, with farmers still producing a crop from trees planted by their great-great grandfathers.

The cork must, however, be extracted from the trees without causing any lasting harm to them – otherwise, 9 years later they will be useless.

Extraction takes place in the summer when the tree is least susceptible to damage.

The poor cork which is produced as a result of the first two harvests is known as male cork: later extractions provide what is known as gentle cork which is what you will screw out of a wine bottle, the contents of which it helps to flavor.

The extractors must be skilled at their job.

They make two cuts to the tree.

The first is horizontal and is cut around the tree.

This is known as the necklace and the incision is made at a height

around three times the circumference of the tree.

Then a series of vertical cuts are made which are called openings or rulers.

This is the point at which the extractors must use the most strength

but at the same time be at their most gentle.

They push the handle of the axe in to the rulers and pry the cork away.

If the cuts are too deep or impatiently done then there is a risk that the phellogen of the tree will be damaged.

This is the cell layer which is responsible for the development and growth of the periderm of the tree – its bark in other words.

Damage this and the tree will produce poor or no cork in the future: it may even die.

So strength and gentleness must be used in equal measure during the extraction.

Once the cork is extracted it is stacked in layers and left to dry out.

Once that has taken place it is taken to be processed.

The technique used leaves the trees alive and the environment intact – cork production is said to one of the most eco-friendly and recyclable harvests on the planet.

Not only is cork easy to recycle.

The trees prevent the local environment from becoming arid and so actively help to maintain rare ecosystems.

Not only that, but the cork forests of the Iberian Peninsula are home to a number of endangered species which would find it much harder to thrive without the presence of the cork oak forests.

Although 60% of the cork extracted is still used for bottle stoppers (despite the recent predilection for using alternatives) cork is an essential component of a number of other things too.

If you are a fan of badminton, then without cork you would no longer be able to play – it is a vital component in the manufacture of shuttlecocks.

More sports rely on it too – the centers of baseball and cricket bats are made of cork.

Cork is also a great material to use for insulation. It is non-allergenic and easy-to-handle and if it does catch fire, its fumes are not toxic likeman-made insulation materials.

The different segments of woodwind instruments are fastened together by pieces made from cork and not only that – the baton of your concert conductor will most likely also be made out of this versatile material.

Cork has many other uses, too, including components of the fairings and heat shields of spacecraft.

Yet ultimately, the fascination is in its production, which leaves so many trees stripped and bared to the elements and which gives the landscapes of parts of Spain and Portugal such a unique appearance.

Newly reformulated 10-calorie sodas leave fructose levels a mystery

 

Newly reformulated 10-calorie sodas leave fructose levels a mystery

Posted by Linda Bonvie — May 16, 2013

Are you an ‘ex-Pepper’? If so, The Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group hopes to bring you back into the fold.  In an effort to lure what it refers to as “consumers who have left the soft drink category” the company is working feverishly to blanket the country with a new lineup of products, consisting of some of its biggest brand names reformulated with a witches’ brew of synthetic sweeteners – a combination of high fructose corn syrup, aspartame and acesulfame potassium (what the company calls its “proprietary blend”).  The selling point is that each supposedly contains no more than 10 calories per 12-ounce serving, which accounts for the special designation under which they’re being marketed  –“TEN.”

Since HFCS is the second ingredient in the three “TENs” I looked at, Canada Dry Ginger Ale, 7Up and Dr. Pepper, I couldn’t help wondering what the fructose amount is in the HFCS being used. After all, Archer Daniels Midland, one of the biggest manufacturers of this test-tube sweetener, has run ads for a product called “Cornsweet 90” a HFCS blend containing 90 percent fructose that it has called “the ideal choice for reduced calorie foods such as beverages…” And the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) itself has acknowledged in a letter to the Food and Drug Administration that this mega-fructose additive has been in use “with FDA knowledge for decades” (more on that in a minute). So I called the Dr. Pepper Snapple company press office with my question.

In the short conversation I had with company spokesperson Chris Barnes, I leaned more ‘ad speak’ than I could have in a Mad Men marathon. Terms like the “broader TEN platform,” “mouth feel,” “broader flavor system,” and my favorite, the “lapsed soft drink consumer” were dropped repeatedly in our talk. But when I got to my fructose question, Chris didn’t have an answer for me other than “I don’t know that we do share specific ingredient information beyond what’s on the label.” He did ask why I was interested and promised to follow up with the research and development department, but felt fairly sure the company wouldn’t divulge that information.

Although I didn’t get any further insight about fructose amounts from Barnes, he did tell me how “very excited” the company is so far with how “TEN” is “performing,” allowing folks who had concerns over taste and calories to now have the “benefit” of a soft drink once again.

A shocking acknowledgment

Now admittedly, the question of fructose amounts in HFCS is a touchy subject, something the CRA likes to gloss over by repeatedly asserting that the additive isn’t really high in fructose (one reason it had unsuccessfully sought to change its name to “corn sugar”) and telling consumers over and over that HFCS is “virtually the same” as real sugar, which is a 50/50 combination of glucose and fructose.

But contrary to the big public relations blitz put out by the CRA claiming that “sugar is sugar,” a growing body of evidence has come to light showing  that HFCS is apparently being used by food and beverage manufacturers in highly fluctuating fructose amounts, including the mega-90 version. Such findings led Citizens for Health to file a petition with the Food and Drug Administration last September, which asked the agency to take action against manufacturers using HFCS with fructose levels above 55 percent, the highest amount the FDA allows, and in the interim, to require the actual amount of fructose it contains to be specified on product labels. (To sign and support that petition, click here).

The CRA response to the FDA about that petition was a shocking acknowledgment that, in violation of FDA regulations, HFCS-90 has been used in the food supply “with FDA knowledge for decades.”  The letter, signed by CRA interim president J. Patrick Mohan, also refers to “fluctuations in fructose levels above 42 or 55%” in HFCS, that he apparently believes “would be expressly permitted” by the agency.

But despite Mohan’s apparent belief that all is fine and dandy regardless of what the actual fructose amount in an HFCS blend might be, the FDA has made it perfectly clear that HFCS 90 “contains a substantially different ratio of glucose to fructose than…HFCS-55,” and that the agency doesn’t have enough information to “ensure that this product is safe.”

Numerous medical experts and extensive studies have linked excess fructose consumption to a wide variety of health problems, such as obesity, diabetes, liver and heart disease. And for the CRA, which spent many millions of dollars to tell consumers that HFCS really isn’t high in fructose at all, this statement is quite telling.

But for now, the matter of just how much fructose might be in those new Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group formulas remains a mystery. Which is something you might want to keep in mind before you reach for a “TEN” on your supermarket shelf in the belief that you can now have the “benefit” of drinking soda without having to worry about the consequences.

 

http://foodidentitytheft.com/newly-reformulated-10-calorie-sodas-leave-fructose-levels-a-mystery/