Are you concerned about your corn syrup intake? Jones Soda, the independent soda maker headquartered 3 blocks from where I work, has announced a switch on all of their production lines to cane sugar effective in a few months.
When I first heard this, I thought, "finally someone is making a healthier soda." What did I base this judgement on? Outdated science of course. Tales of the evil of corn syrup abound 'out there,' but it turns out the researcher who first said there might be a link between high fructose corn syrup and obesity says there is no evidence to support his earlier speculation. But what about that guy on Oprah from some the cardiovascular institute at some fancy hospital in New York City? He says on Winfrey's Web site that "corn syrup alters the body's ability to regulate appetite." It's nice to hear when another scientist (again the one who did the original studies) says, "I can find a doctor who will say anything. That's not research."
Jones has a 'free soda Friday' after 3:00 PM every week. Chances are I'll spring for the Splenda sweetened variety though. Cane sugar still has a bunch of calories...
Source: 2/5 Seattle Times Article.
3 comments:
I find the whole "healthy processed food" meme going on now so surreal.
Think of how soda is made: Take a bunch of esters from real food diluted in carbonated water and then add sweetener. How could any concoction like that ever be healthy, especially given it takes a place in the diet that would be filled with fruit or juice.
Yes, grape juice is filled with calories, far more than one would find in diet grape soda. It is all the anti-oxidants, the micronutrients, and all the subtle chemicals we don’t yet understand that make grape juice food and soda junk.
Places like Whole Foods have made empires out of telling people that processed food can be good for you, provided it is expensive and has fancy labeling. Never mind that any real nutritionist will tell you the best way to eat healthily is to stick to the produce, dairy and meat sections of the grocery store, any grocery store.
But, Jonathan: My Safeway diet orange soda is "Bursting With Orange Flavor!"
I guess that's why I choose it over water most of the time!
Read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. That'll scare you off high fructose corn syrup forever.
I've switched to drinking Izze sodas, lately. It's pure fruit juice and carbonated water - nothing added at all. And comes in all kinds of funky and tasty flavours, like pomegranate, pear, apple and blackberry!
...well. Okay, fine, I still occasionally have a Barq's root beer for the caffeine kick. But every time I drink one, I make a point to comment (at least to myself) about the tasty, tasty, high fructose corn syrup...
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