Conveniently timed with the Corn Refiners Association’s multimillion-dollar campaign to sweeten consumers’ appetite for high fructose corn syrup, the FDA has reversed its position on whether HFCS an be labeled “natural,” reports Food Navigator yesterday.

Earlier last week the Corn Refiners Association launched a multimillion-dollar media campaign to defend high fructose corn syrup as a “quality” sweetener, in the face of mounting public perception that this cheap, ubiquitous compound has played a not-so-sweet role in making Americans chunky and sick.

Hansen’s Natural Soda is switching from high fructose corn syrup to sugar. That news, along with record high corn prices, has me wondering if consumption rates of HFCS are changing, and if so, how fast.

Among the dizzying number of Things to Do while at Disney is to visit Epcot Center’s Innoventions plaza. To children, Innoventions looks like a wing at a science museum. To a slightly more cynical eye, it looks a bit like a huge exhibition hall filled with the best marketing efforts of companies like Waste Management, Liberty Mutual, IBM, and the Society of Plastics. One such exhibit, The Great American Farm, is proudly sponsored by the Farm Bureau, and designed to help Americans think more about the connection between agriculture and the food on the table — an admirable, Ethicurean-friendly goal, to be sure.

Breaking news and developments, such as contaminated-food outbreaks, Farm Bill milestones, and how the farming community is faring around the world.

Not the sugar buzz I was hoping for
Sometimes the twists and turns of farm and trade policy makes me dizzy. Today’s example: sugar.
To explain this properly, I’d probably need the creators of the Meatrix to make a short animation, but I’ll give it a try, with my information coming from a New York […]

Botulism alert boosted: The recall of canned meat products made by Castleberry’s Food Co. (under many, many labels) has expanded to cover almost 100 products. The article has a list of brand names and a contact number. (San Francisco Chronicle (AP)) (More information: the official FDA press release and some background on the case […]

…but that doesn’t mean she won’t still be fixated on the same things.

The ethanol boom is inspiring some surprising behavior in the food and farming community. Philip Brasher, the Des Moines Register’s Washington Correspondent, wrote about pushback from the food and drink industry over ethanol in Thursday’s newspaper. The article illustrates how the ethanol boom is leading to some hypocritical demands and Machiavellian strategies.
Let’s start with […]

Honorary streets are popular in many cities–New York has Joey Ramone Place (E. 2nd Street at The Bowery) and Peter Jennings Way (66th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park), San Francisco has Lawrence Ferlinghetti Way (near City Lights Books), and Chicago has Bob Fosse Way (Montrose and Paulina), to name a few.
Now it appears […]

Pet food update: Menu Foods of Streetsville, Ontario, the manufacturer that has recalled over 60 million cans and pouches of pet food implicated in sickening or killing many cats and dogs, had begun testing the food Feb. 27 after receiving reports of sick pets. Seven of the 40-50 test animals died. The only suspect right […]

Roe, roe, roe your boats: The United Nations’ conservation panel announced it was lifting its export ban on three types of caviar, including beluga, saying Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, and Russia had improved their monitoring of the fisheries. Conservationists are not pleased. Toronto Star
Lobster reversal: Whole Foods doesn’t sell live lobsters anymore because of concerns about […]

Ever since sampling my first piece (and second…and fifth) piece of bacon toffee in early December, I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. The deep and satisfying saltiness tangoing with the piercing sweetness, the crunch of the candy exploding around the denser flesh of the bacon — it’s so wrong and […]

Post-Gazette: A reprint of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal interview with Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, in which he explains why he cut his own salary to $1, why sales are slowing, and how Whole Foods is lowering prices to compete with Wal-Mart and other entrants into the organic foods marketplace.
BBC News: This fascinating report (trust […]

Seattle P-I: Seattle-based Jones Soda — maker of root beer, cream soda and quirky drinks with flavors such as turkey and gravy — is switching from high-fructose corn syrup to pure cane sugar. Sweet! And in related news, the New York Times has an article about how several entrepreneurs are developing high-end tonic waters using […]