After numerous posts about hair and race it's time for something new. We all eat food and most of us buy food at the supermarket. In several European countries there have been concerns about genetically modified foods. Corporations like Monsanto (with offices in 27 of the 50 European countries) genetically manipulate seeds (by "building" a bacteria into it) and then patent them. This means that they own the seed, the fruit that it bares and the people that are supposed to make a living of this produce. Besides that, what about us? What about the people that don't necessarily understand scientific lingo and want to eat healthy unaltered food? Are we always told what were eating?
Food Inc. is a documentary that addresses these issues and more. A friend recommended it to me and now I am sharing it with you. Even though the events portrayed in the video occur in the US, you can imagine that in Europe similar things happen. After all, fast food and mass produce is present in Europe. And so is genetic manipulation of seeds and cattle.
So here is the video:
One term kept coming back, High Fructose Corn Syrup. The corn harvested in the US is simply processed in a way that its sugar can be made into syrup. In Europe, sugarcane and beets are ,more often used than corn, to produce sugar. Hence a high fructose glucose sirup can be made from the sugars in beets and sugarcane. As an EU-citizen this ingredient might be noted as:
German:Glucose-Fructose-Sirup
French:Sirop de glucose-fructose
Dutch:Glucose-fructosestroop
Spanish: El jarabe de glucosa fructosa
If you look into your fridge you'll probably find this ingredient in soft drinks, desserts, cookies and other products. The use of glucose-fructose syrup instead of normal sugar can increase the prevalence of obesity among people. You'll be surprised of the amount of products that contain this kind of syrup. I'd rather avoid these empty calories....
What do you think?
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