The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D.

One of the lead editorials of the New York Times went after Big Sugar, which has its hands out waiting to grab even more goodies from Uncle Sam in this year’s farm bill.

Under the current system, the government guarantees a price floor for sugar and limits the sugar supply — placing quotas on domestic production and quotas and tariffs to limit imports. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, sugar supports cost American consumers — who pay double the average world price — more than $1.5 billion a year. The system also bars farmers in some of the poorest countries of the world from selling their sugar here.

The North American Free Trade Agreement is about to topple this cozy arrangement. Next year, Mexican sugar will be allowed to enter the United States free of any quotas or duties, threatening a flood of imports. Rather than taking the opportunity to untangle the sugar program in this year’s farm bill, Congress has decided to bolster the old system.

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After the beating I took on the Dallas-New England football game we all headed to Ball’s Hamburgers to drown our sorrows in a bun-free giant hickory burger with bacon and cheese. I noticed the above sign taped to the back of the cash register.

A year or so back I posted on the fact that Mexican Americans love the taste of Coca Cola made with real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup and will pay a premium for the stuff imported from Mexico rather than the HFCS-filled US made products. Looks like word is getting around everywhere.

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A couple of days ago while on a 3-hour flight the attendant came by asking if I wanted anything to drink. I typically drink sparkling water and/or coffee on flights, but at that time something else sounded a little better. I saw a can of cranberry juice cocktail so I asked for that.

I poured some into a little plastic glass and sipped away while I was reading a medical paper. As the flight wore on I finished off the can. MD happened to pick it up and said to me: Do you have any idea how many carbs were in that can you just drank? She turned the label so I could read that had just consumed about 60 grams of sugar. I couldn’t believe it, but there is was in black and white. MD told me that all cranberry products have a ton of sugar because cranberry juice is extremely sour.

I can’t remember the brand of juice I drank. I intended to keep the can, but when I wasn’t paying attention the flight attendant came by and picked it up. Out of sight it went out of mind, and it didn’t think about it until I was long off the plane.

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MD and I stopped in a Whole Foods the other day to load up, and I came across this bottle of tea while I was looking for something cold and carb-free to drink.

The manufacturer of this product (and I’m sorry, but I can’t remember what it was, and, unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of the other side) is either ignorant or thinks that its customers are ignorant. I’m sure the ‘brains’ of this outfit either read or heard that high-fructose corn syrup was a substance that is not healthful. I suppose that they came to the conclusion that it was the corn syrup that was the villain, but it’s the fructose in the corn syrup that’s the problem. The other component of corn syrup is glucose, which is much less harmful than fructose.

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