As we all know, America is a culture of mixed messages. As Michael Pollan bluntly implies, the disconcerting reality of our food culture is that consumers are being intentionally kept in the dark about how their food is being produced, what it is doing to their bodies, and who is particularly vulnerable to diets high in processed additives. It is clear that American farm policy drives the food market, producing massive amounts of high calorie and low nutrition products, containing mainly high-fructose corn syrup sweeteners derived from corn and hydrogenated fats derived from soybeans.

For centuries, table sugar or sucrose, a derivative of sugar cane, sugar beets, fruit, or honey, had been the main sweetener in the human diet. However, with the dramatic increase in the total U.S. acreage of corn comes an interest in trying to derive the maximum profit from it. Thus, the corn derived sweetener, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) proved an attractive alternative to sucrose since it was not affected by tariffs on sugar imports and was therefore less susceptible to fluctuations in price and availability.

When compared in chemical content sucrose and HFCS appear quite similar. Table sugar contains 50% fructose compared to HFCS, which contains 55% fructose. Barely higher in concentration, this close figure has allowed the Corn Refiners Association and most experts to dismiss claims that HFCS is more dangerous than sucrose and more over that there is any link between the chemically modified sweetener and obesity.

While this ad claims to finally inform consumers about the truths behind the misperceptions surrounding HFCS, it is biased and uses the classic marketing techniques to grip confused consumers. As for the bias, this ad is put on by the Corn Refiners Association, who are pro-HFCS and want consumers to dismiss any doubts about their product. This is why they feature the image of the traditional, trustworthy American mom, with her kids playfully laughing in the background as she “scientifically” references expert opinion from doctors, dieticians, and nutritionists to back her claim that sugar is sugar, the type makes no difference on the body. Yet there has been much debate about this controversial topic since the Princeton Lab Rat study which found that “in addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides.” (More info here: http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/ )

If you look at the comments on the ad featured on YouTube, you can see that the commented reactions reflect how much confusion and distrust is embedded in this difficult topic. And in all honesty, this topic on the whole makes my head spin.