Lauren+D's+2015+OpEd+Article

Cigarettes, alcohol, car crashes, sugar. All deadly right? Most people have heard of and have some understanding of the dangers of sugar and high fructose corn syrup, but choose to ignore it. This isn't helped at all by the food companies selective labeling. Based on current standards, a company could market a bag of pure sugar and say 100% fat free on it. Now, while they are factually correct, they are misleading the consumer to think that the sugar won’t ultimately turn to fat to be stored in the body. This is a huge problem with the increase in sugar in the average American diet. Our bodies are still conditioned to treat food like a rarity, and store up for the next famine. Clearly this is no longer necessary for most people, but that doesn't stop the body from trying to store as much fat as it can. The increase in sugar in the average diet has peaked, where in the 1900’s the average American would consume 15 g of sugar per day, we are now up to anywhere between 70 and 150 lbs per year today. That is the same as eating approximately 1,767,900 skittles in a lifetime. This is a problem. Naturally, as Americans do, we thought, well what if we find other ways to sweeten our food that we are so used to having a certain way, and thus the high fructose corn syrup was introduced in the 1970’s. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a processed, corn starch based alternative to the sugar we all know. Theoretically in moderation, this could be a decent alternative to sugar, however it is in nearly every processed food consumed on a daily basis by Americans. We consume up to 11 grams in just one day. Not only can this aid in the cause of obesity and obesity related diseases, but multiple cases have found that HFCS has contained mercury and other contaminants not regulated by the FDA. These issues, coupled with the increased intake of salts, aspartame, and saturated fats are leading us down a very dangerous path. Don’t get caught up in the lies.