Making the World a Fatter Place

In many ways, Mexico's diet is being devastated by America's perverse economic incentives. The United States has long imposed relatively high tariffs on sugar imports and granted large subsidies for domestic crops such as corn and soybeans. In the 1970s, however, when sugar tariffs rose even further and technological advances from Japan helped perfect high-fructose corn syrup production, agribusinesses' use of the sweetener exploded. Suddenly, it was cheaper to put high-fructose corn syrup in everything from spaghetti sauce to soda. Coke and Pepsi swapped out sugar for high-fructose corn syrup in 1984, and most other U.S. soda and snack companies followed suit. U.S. per capita consumption of high-fructose corn syrup spiked from less than half a pound a year in 1970 to a peak of almost 38 pounds a year in 1999. As it did, American obesity spiked as well. The problem was not just that shoppers were more willing to buy (and consume) a cheaper product, but also that high-fructose corn syrup actually seems to be less healthy than natural sugar. Despite a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign backed by corn producers, with gauzy pictures of mothers assuring us that "high-fructose corn syrup is simply a form of sugar made from corn," there do seem to be important differences. Yale University researchers released a study this past January suggesting that fructose simply does not trigger the same sense of being satiated as glucose does. This builds on 2010 research from Princeton University scientists who found that rats ingesting high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those eating sugar, in addition to experiencing abnormal increases in body fat. Research released this year from Canada's University of Guelph found that a high-fructose corn syrup diet in rats produced addictive behavior similar to that from cocaine use. - See more at: http://mcalesternews.com/features/x1253343348/How-America-is-exporting-its-obesity-epidemic#sthash.Eg71H0w3.dpuf

Taking another page from Big Tobacco's playbook, whenever food companies and high-fructose corn syrup manufacturers talk about obesity, they rely heavily on language stressing "personal responsibility." They argue that kids around the globe just aren't exercising as much anymore and that consumers have every right to eat whatever they want to, using obvious truths to gloss over the fact that they are ruthlessly maximizing science and marketing to get people to embrace unhealthy lifestyles. As the Center for Consumer Freedom exclaims, "Eating a balanced diet and getting plenty of physical activity is crucial. Unfortunately, Americans have been force-fed a diet of bloated statistics hyping the problem of obesity." (The executive director of the Center for Consumer Freedom also happens to run a Beltway PR firm that specializes in defending corporate interests, and he has acknowledged that the center has received significant funding from food and restaurant companies.) - See more at: http://mcalesternews.com/features/x1253343348/How-America-is-exporting-its-obesity-epidemic#sthash.Eg71H0w3.dpuf

When desperate Samoan officials, facing a mounting public health crisis, banned turkey-tail imports in 2007, U.S. agricultural producers said, "Not so fast." Even as Samoan officials pleaded with the World Health Organization (WHO) for help in combating American poultry companies' food-marketing strategies on the island, the World Trade Organization (WTO) blocked Samoa's application for membership. The turkey-rump dispute bogged down Samoa's WTO bid for years, until it agreed in 2011 to open itself back up to turkey-tail imports. Sumner insisted at the time, "We feel it's the consumers' right to determine what foods they wish to consume, not the government's." The Samoans were rolled into accepting a compromise whereby they can maintain steep tariffs on turkey tails until 2016, when they hope to have better public health education in place. Meanwhile, nothing has been more American in recent years than exporting fast-food chains. McDonald's boasts that it now has restaurants in 118 countries. KFC is second only to the Golden Arches in global fast-food market share. The fried-chicken chain's parent company, Yum! Brands, which also owns Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, saw $13.6 billion in revenue last year alone and is focusing some 86 percent of its restaurant development in emerging economies. - See more at: http://mcalesternews.com/features/x1253343348/How-America-is-exporting-its-obesity-epidemic#sthash.tFXCK2s8.dpuf/'quote]