Interpreting the world one byte at a time
Reading an off-topic post on an excellent Javascript blog (SlayerOffice), the author wonders whether a connection exists between obesity in the US (vs. Europe) because our soft drinks contain High Fructose Corn Syrup as opposed to sugar. Here are my thoughts on the matter:
After having recently returned from visiting 4 western European countries, I'm not sure that the sugar/hfcs comparison is significant when compared to the quantity of soda consumed. In Europe, soda is treated like a cocktail. I ordered a large Coke at McDonalds in Hamburg and it looked like the same 22oz. 'Medium' in the US. When soft drinks are served at a nice restaurant, the glass contains only about 8 ounces. Europeans live with less square footage, smaller fridges, and less room for 2-liter bottles. This and other life-style differences cause much less soda to be consumed. On the second point of Ethanol, my trusty source The West Wing indicates that it takes more than the equivalent of a gallon of gasoline to create and deliver a gallon of ethanol. Ethanol is cheaper but only because of subsidies and beneficial tax treatment. It is also much more volatile making transportation increasingly dangerous. Growing up in South Dakota (and in a town where a new ethanol plant has recently been erected) I'd like to see grain-based fuels succeed, but I think those days are still some time in the future (at least at a self-sustaining rate).
After having recently returned from visiting 4 western European countries, I'm not sure that the sugar/hfcs comparison is significant when compared to the quantity of soda consumed. In Europe, soda is treated like a cocktail. I ordered a large Coke at McDonalds in Hamburg and it looked like the same 22oz. 'Medium' in the US. When soft drinks are served at a nice restaurant, the glass contains only about 8 ounces.
Europeans live with less square footage, smaller fridges, and less room for 2-liter bottles. This and other life-style differences cause much less soda to be consumed.
On the second point of Ethanol, my trusty source The West Wing indicates that it takes more than the equivalent of a gallon of gasoline to create and deliver a gallon of ethanol. Ethanol is cheaper but only because of subsidies and beneficial tax treatment. It is also much more volatile making transportation increasingly dangerous. Growing up in South Dakota (and in a town where a new ethanol plant has recently been erected) I'd like to see grain-based fuels succeed, but I think those days are still some time in the future (at least at a self-sustaining rate).
What are your thoughts on the matter? Anyone have a site to back up West Wing's assertion regarding the inefficiencies of producing ethanol?
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