HFCS NATURAL FATTENING
In the latest volley in the high-fructose corn syrup controversy, the Food and Drug Administration has declared that products containing the sweetener can be labeled “natural,” so long as the HFCS contains no synthetic additives and was not produced by using acids.
Natural or not, a study performed at the University of Texas found that it may be more fattening than other sweeteners. Researchers found that fructose bypasses the liver, which normally determines whether the body should burn or store incoming sugars, and instead converts directly into fat at “surprising speed.” The research also found that consuming fructose made the body more likely to store fats eaten at later meals.
FIJI (BRIEFLY) SHUTS DOWN
July proved to be an interesting month for Fiji – both the bottled water company and the country. In an effort to include the government in the native bottled water industry’s profits, Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry imposed a 20 cent per-liter duty on all bottled water sold in or exported from the island nation.
The bottled water industry, naturally, objected. The Fiji Bottled Water Institute claimed such a tax would cripple the industry, and filed a lawsuit to challenge it. Most water companies also shut their doors in protest, leaving hundreds of Fijians out ?of work, but Fiji Natural Artesian Waters proved the exception.
The company – generally known in the U.S. as, simply, “Fiji” – kept filling bottles and putting them in storage, thereby avoiding the tax. But the company lost an estimated $3 million per week while leaving its stockpile fallow, and finally shut down its 500-worker factory Wednesday, July 23.
The government repealed the tax shortly after. But keep your eyes on this story. The government and bottled water industry representatives have entered talks on appropriate compensation for the government, and there’s no guarantee those talks won’t break down.
BEER IS BACK
Beer has regained a double-digit lead over wine as the favored alcoholic beverage of the U.S., according to Gallup’s latest poll.
Starting in 2001, Americans increasingly turned to wine as their choice intoxicant, a trend that peaked in 2005 when wine actually surpassed beer. Vino’s lead only lasted for one year, though, before beer stole its crown back, and the hops-and-grain brew has now racked up an 11-point lead – it’s biggest since 2002.