Yes, my brother's allergic and I don't want him to have to worry about it anymore.
this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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I have a cousin who's allergic to peanuts, let's ban those, too. Oh, and a family member who's allergic to milk (lactose intolerance). So, let's get rid of milk.
Oh, and actually another cousin is anorexic, so can we just get rid of all food? I have a great feeling about this!
Peanuts and dairy are usually possible to spot without checking the ingredients list, and they serve a distinct culinary purpose. They have valid reasons to exist, and are fairly simple, if a little annoying, to avoid.
HFCS does not serve a distinct culinary purpose (it's pretty much just sugar but it benefits from corn subsidies), and is impossible to identify without careful scrutiny because it's included in all sorts of foods that it has no business being in. The (purely financial) benefit it provides is far outweighed by its harm to public health.
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(3 replies)
I wouldn't ban HFCS, I would just remove added sugar and HFCS from grocery items that don't need sweeteners or cconventionally never had sweeteners in them (it adds a lot of unnecessary calories, makes it harder for diabetics to shop, and usually tastes worse than unsweetened versions).
For example, I found pita bread with sweeteners in it (why? And yuck). Or most jarred tomato based pasta sauces (they typically make the sauce taste too sweet).
This seems to be a mainly American problem, though.
Why? Itβs just sugar packaged differently and a harmless substance.
No because things shouldnβt be banned unless they cause unavoidable harm.
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Yea, but Iβm fructose intolerant and in itβs in nearly everything so Iβm biased
Yes. It forms holes in your intestinal walls
Interesting read on obesity, and why sugar might not be the culprit we think it is.
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Sure, why not. Gotta ban something.
maybe not a complete ban but definitely more restrictions on all sugars in general. obesity issue in the U.S. is not just due to HFCS, there are many reasons for it such as the car centric design, lack of availability of healthy food for the poor, abundance of cheap fast food etc.
I'm not sure we use it in anything, so I don't see much reason to ban it, no.
HFCS is a better alternative to sugar for the US. Not necessarily health wise (they both are about as equally terrible for you in the amounts Americans consume them), but in a logistical way. The other sources of sugar are sugarcane, which are only farmed in parts of 3 US states, and sugar beets, which are only farmed in 11 US states. Corn is farmed pretty much everywhere in the US, and we produce a lot more of it. This ensures that we have a much more stable supply of corn, which is important for a widespread staple ingredient in most US foods. This also means the US is not reliant on foreign imports for HFCS since it's produced domestically, ensuring US food security if a major exporter of sugar has to halt exports. This also gives the US an excuse to farm even more corn, increasing the supply of corn and making our supply more stable in the process. Outside of HFCS, corn is used in everything from animal feed to gasoline and batteries, which means running low on corn one year due to an unstable supply would devastate the US; HFCS helps prevent that. Federal corn subsidies also help make HFCS a much cheaper option than conventional sugars, keeping food prices lower which helps people afford to eat. The main argument against HFCS is the serious health effects that it causes when eaten in high amounts, but regular sugar which would replace HFCS in most foods causes the same problems in the amounts they are consumed while being significantly more problematic logistically for the US