The next big food debate

It's not that corn is at the top of everyone's mind these days...especially corn syrup, but there's a recent push making news that may put it at the forefront very soon.

Kraft Foods Inc. has been removing high-fructose corn syrup from several of its most popular products because some consumers believe this ingredient to be dangerous.

According to a story in Chicago Business ("Kraft touts efforts to skip corn syrup," 8/24/09), Basil Maglaris, a spokesperson for Kraft stated: "We saw some consumers were interested in products without high-fructose corn syrup, so we decided as part of this quality improvement to eliminate it."

Other companies are also taking steps to eliminate HFCS such as beverage companies. PepsiCo launched "throwback" versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew, which are essentially HFCS-free formulations in retro cans.

The Corn Refiners Association has taken notice and staged a full-fledged media assault aimed at what it perceives to be "misinformation" in the media. According to the article, its campaign, from agency DDB, Chicago, depicts people such as mothers in a kitchen, or a young couple on a picnic blanket, talking about whether corn sweeteners are bad for you. "It has the same amount of calories as sugar or honey, and it's fine in moderation," a woman says while handing her boyfriend a popsicle stick.

"It has really been a nationwide multimedia and advertising campaign targeted principally at moms, given the role they play in buying food," Corn Refiners Association President Audrae Erickson said of her group's effort.

But here's what the other side is saying:

"I don't know whether it's laughable or tragic that the corn refiners association is likening its product to sugar," Rory Freedman, co-author of "Skinny Bitch," wrote in an e-mail. "Neither HFCS or refined sugar is good for us. Our bodies simply do not like foods that have been highly processed, especially those which cause spikes in our blood-sugar levels."

The real issue here is money...for both sides. Studies have shown that people are obviously gaining weight from the massive amounts of food they are taking in containing high-fructose corn syrup or sugar. Companies that are producing these foods know they have to change for the sake of potential lawsuits somewhere down the road. The Corn Refiners Association members have do whatever they need to do to put food on their tables. The story here is that there are two sides of an argument where each party is making a compelling case, but the side that's getting the most negative publicity has hired a PR firm to clean up its tarnished reputation and maybe help persuade people that are undecided on the issue or quite possibly on the other side. These types of stories are very common in the PR world, as this is just one recent example.