Public perception not always best market regulation

Natural market forces are always preferable to government control of the economy, but they sometimes fly in the face of logic.

The "pink slime" flap of a few years ago is one example -- after a television network "exposé" of the way "finely textured meat" was produced, the industry basically collapsed, closing factories, throwing thousands out of work and wasting nutritious food that formerly was added to beef products to reduce the fat content.

Admittedly, the production process was not appetizing. According to the industry: "Finely textured meat is produced by heating boneless beef trimmings to 107--109 °F (41.7--42.7 °C), removing the melted fat by centrifugal force, and flash freezing the remaining product to 15 °F (−9.4 °C) in 90 seconds in a roller press freezer,[21] although South Dakota Department of Agriculture has reported a lower processing temperature of about 100 °F (38 °C)."

It's then extruded through long tubes, exposed to ammonia or citric acid to kill bacteria, converted into pellets and flash frozen.

Told the product was formerly used in dog food, often with inaccurate accompanying pictures of processed chicken on its way to fast-food nuggets, consumers revolted, companies discontinued its use, shoppers paid higher prices and the industry nearly shut down. It has only recently begun to show signs of life.

Meanwhile, consumers happily continued to gobble down hot dogs containing cow or pig components such as cheeks, jowls, heart, tongues, lips, eyelids, gums, intestines, ears, nostrils, tails, snowts, windpipes, kidney, salt, bone, blood and preservatives.

The corn syrup industry is undergoing similar attacks, consumers being told that sugar produced from corn is somehow less nutritious than sugar produced from cane or beets.

In truth, no sugar, with the possible exception of honey, exists in such high concentrations in nature.

But the Hershey company is responding to market forces, however misguided, "exploring" the replacement of high-fructose corn syrup in some products with sugar from conventional cources.

In truth, cost is the main driving force -- all those acres and acres of corn that surround our communities produce grain that is a cheaper source of sweetener than cane or beets.

Hunts Tomato Ketchup explored the issue in 2010, switching to sugar that year, but then back to high-fructose corn syrup in 2012, after the company found no increase in sales.

In the end, calories are calories, and a candy bar can never be as healthy as a piece of fruit, no matter where the sweetener originated.