I travel via the subway to and from work. As I have previously indicated, I believe that the MTA does a pretty fair job of enabling travel betwixt and between the five boroughs. One thing I notice are the advertisements that adorn the subway cars. Recently, it has been established that advertisers can purchase an entire side of a subway car, and you will see that an entire companies' ads, all saying the same thing in different ways, will regale you on your journeys. Every once in a while, I will see an ad that strikes me the wrong way; obviously, I need to bring books to read during my travels.

Here is one such ad, which you can see if you go to this URL: http://nyc.gov/health/drinkingfat - now, I have seen many variations of said ad; but this one I could not let go without comment. According to the ad, sugar is the main reason for the heaping cases of obesity affecting new Yorkers. I am here to tell you that this is NOT the entire truth.

High-fructose corn syrup, also known as HFCS, is actually the REAL reason that many New Yorkers are rife with health problems. HFCS, once ingested, turns into FAT.

Period.

Refined sugar, while not so great for you, is at least partially metabolized into carbohydrates and fat; this, of course, depends on your level of activity. Well, I'll just avoid those drinks altogether, you say; I'll try one of the "diet" products – not so fast! The leading product, aspartame, is recognized as a carcinogen and a neurotoxin. In case I need to spell those terms out for you...those are POISONS. Aspartame was used as biochemical warfare before the former head of G.D. Searle, Donald Rumsfeld, was able to have aspartame marketed as an artificial sweetener.

So...I say that the Health Department of the City of New York should perform due diligence and announce to its denizens that HFCS is the real problem, and artificial sweeteners, although a zero-calorie option, should actually not be a viable option. But...there is hope for us all.

The Consumerist has an article posted on September 7th, 2010 that gives me hope - please check out the story at this URL: http://consumerist.com/2010/09/sierra-mist-ditching-hfcs-for-good-7up-getting-reformulated.html - let me post here the most pertinent paragraph of the story:

"There's not a strong reason to choose one [lemon-lime] brand over another.... And when we asked consumers what would re-engage them in soda, 'natural' was the No. 1 concept.”

I'm sure that we have all seen the instances of Pepsi Throwback products offered in limited quantities; the one secret that is not common knowledge is that those products sell out.

Completely.

Now, if could only get the soda companies to use cane sugar, this would be an absolute win/win for us all.

If only I could start a cane sugar import company - but this is a start. Sierra Mist, I applaud you.