12 Comments

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  bioengineerL2 9/10/2009 1:50:03 AM

  The rate of kidney failure has increased 5% to 10% over the last 20 years (NIH). Seems to follow the general rise in HFCS in consumer foods over that time. Just now leveling off, as is use in foods.
  "It is also reported that HMF damages striated muscles and viscera by
  combining to protein and thus causing the accumulation
  of poisons in the body (Pamplona et al., 1995; Chi et al., 1998)."
  This is most likely to affect the kidneys, not the liver, as the kidneys will be damaged trying to eliminate the poison.
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  Pheonixfyre 8/28/2009 9:00:10 PM

  Sorry Joe, the two most abundant elements in the universe are not carbon and ignorance, it's hydrogen and ignorance. Just look at what stars are made of and you have the real answer.
  I'm more likely to believe Audrae, even if he does consider profit to be more important than safety like most consumers would like to believe. If the bee keepers switched over to fructose and suddenly all their bees started kicking the bucket, you'd be sure they'd notice.
  Also, if there was really livers being hit by HMF and hepatitis springing up everywhere, wouldn't there be more news about it? And Nosologist asked us to compare the lifespan of bees with the lifespan of humans. The lifespan of a bee drone is 40 to 50 days. According to this article we've all read, the bees were dead 2 weeks after consuming the HMF-tainted fructose. And with the life expectancy of humans at 70 years old, then we should be dead at 20-25 years old if HMF had the same effect on humans as it does on bees. Or if didn't kill us, then wouldn't we be amassing fatty livers and liver failure by the thousands? I'm sure the coroners society would notice if a lot of their 'patients' all seemed to be exhibiting these characteristics.
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  lifestar.com 8/28/2009 12:03:13 PM

  Only nature creates food as a life form and heating any food from it's natural state (non heated) above 118 degrees Fahrenheit results in the body responding to poison. It's called digestive leukocytosis and was first observed and documented over 60 years ago. Man cannot create food, only food byproducts or substitutes all of which are lacking in what the human body needs to be healthy. High fructose corn syrup is an invention of man/woman and the body's response to it is that of consuming poison. Heating it just makes the matter worse. Man's attempts to improve on nature, at least when it comes to what is consumed has resulted in the highest degree of advanced forms of malnutrition. Paradigm blindness by well educated men and women doesn't contribute to the solution but only manifests as additional and unacknowledged problems that continue to prevail.
  As Albert Einstein said "The two most abundant elements in the universe are carbon and ignorance."
  
  Joe Bentley
  jb@lifestar.net
  www.lifestar.com
• 
  gpronger 8/28/2009 11:57:35 AM

  Audrae,
  You would seem less self serving if you toned down your comments. I would not consider 120F "Extreme" easily reached in during the summer in outdoor storage sheds and any non air conditioned warehouse, etc. where the article states;
  "The data are important for commercial beekeepers, for manufacturers of HFCS, and for purposes of food storage."
  Fairly innocuous statement.
  Regarding overall safety, with the level of processing of foods, if there is anything clear, is that we do not completely understand the whole picture. HFC may have a small impact when compared to lifestyle, but on the other hand it is presumptuous to try to state it is blameless. The article raises some scientific points which need to be investigated and confirmed.
  Sorry, I do not have much concern with your profit margin one way or the other.
• 
  Cornrefiner 8/27/2009 5:35:38 PM

  Consumers should know that high fructose corn syrup is a safe ingredient. Our members have numerous safety measures in place and follow best practices for producing quality ingredients. High fructose corn syrup has been used safely in the food supply for humans and honeybees for decades.
  There are several relevant points concerning colony collapse disorder (CCD) and Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) that should be taken into account:
  • HMF has been found in all sweetener syrups, including honey and invert sugar.
  • The case for HMF (from any syrup source) as an explanation for widespread CCD in honeybees is dubious, given the highly unusual conditions — extreme storage temperatures, prolonged storage times or non-standard storage containers — required to generate potentially harmful levels of HMF.
  • In a recent paper published by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on CCD, the authors list compromised immune response, specific pathogens, and pesticide exposure, but not high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners in the food supply, as the leading explanations for CCD. This research suggests rather that virus-induced ribosomal RNA degradation is the most likely cause of CCD.
  High fructose corn syrup has a strong history as a safe ingredient recognized by food manufacturers and the U.S. government. In 1983, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally listed high fructose corn syrup as safe for use in food and reaffirmed that decision in 1996.
  The American Medical Association stated that, “Because the composition of high fructose corn syrup and sucrose are so similar, particularly on absorption by the body, it appears unlikely that high fructose corn syrup contributes more to obesity or other conditions than sucrose.”
  Consumers can read the latest research and learn more about high fructose corn syrup at www.SweetSurprise.com.
  Audrae Erickson
  President
  Corn Refiners Association
• 
  john 8/27/2009 10:31:11 AM

  ORGANIC honey farms HAVE NO DIE OFF and are doing fine.this is current news .
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  john 8/27/2009 10:29:35 AM

  ORGANIC honey farms HAVE NO DIE OFF and are doing fine.this is current news .
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  Nosologist 8/27/2009 2:22:18 AM

  The massive human die off due to autoimmune hepatitis, fatty liver and liver failure will be in the near future. High Fructose corn syrup is known to cause fatty liver infiltration and is the culprit for type II diabetes mellitus in children. Consider the life span of a bee and compare that with the average life span of human. There are increase incidences of autoimmune liver disease or fatty liver infiltration in the absence of alcohol consumption being diagnosed daily and this is going to rise exponentially as the adult population ages after feeding of foodstuffs containing high fructose corn syrup.
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  JP 8/26/2009 11:40:49 PM

  http://www.michellewhitedove.com/Blog-HoneybeeGMplants.php
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  David Guza 8/26/2009 8:58:19 PM

  Does this apply to artificial sweeteners, such as Splenda? What is the temperature of a hot cup of coffee...120+F?