Trivia quiz: What do Japan¡¯s Fermentation Research Institute, Secretary of Agriculture Earl ¡°Rusty¡± Butz and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan have in common?
Answer: Each, in their way, helped foster America¡¯s widespread adoption of high fructose corn syrup, the sweetener that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has vowed to ban.
The country¡¯s dependence on corn syrup is the product of historical events that look like raw material for a Thomas Pynchon novel. They¡¯re stranger than fiction ¡ª and they help explain the backlash Kennedy¡¯s crusade will face, given the financial ripple effects expected across the many industries involved in getting food and beverages onto grocery store shelves.
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