Experts say high-fructose corn syrup contributes to the obesity epidemic, and the FDA just blocked its makers from calling it "corn sugar." But there's an even smarter way the government could foil this fat-maker.
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday outlined a chain of causes for the cantaloupe-generated listeria outbreak, saying that traces of the bacteria in the growing fields probably spread by truck to an unsanitary packing plant.
Last week, TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz took on apple juice, declaring that the classic drink may be slowly poisoning America's children with arsenic. But the FDA and the juice companies have credibly refuted his claims. So was Dr. Oz's announcement meant to be a legitimate health warning, or just a cynical attempt to boost ratings?
When you need to give yourself a whole new image, there's nothing like changing your name. Which may be why high fructose corn syrup, the scourge of dieticians and dieters everywhere, wants to rebrand itself "corn sugar." But there's one big obstacle: the sugar industry, which is going to court to protect its good name.
Do you want your new prescription drugs to be made under last century's oversight? Like it or not, that's likely what you're getting -- or worse -- because increasingly, Americans' medicines are made overseas in place where the oversight isn't up to U.S. standards.
Last year, grocery sales were up a modest 1.8%, yet sales of organic items more than doubled that growth rate, up 4.4%. Clearly, we're shopping differently. But are we even sure what an "organic" or "all natural" label means? It's more complicated than you might think.
