Why does Canadian ketchup contain sugar and US ketchup high fructose corn syrup?
“The American sugar quota taxes any imports above a small amount at a very high rate. As a result, the US price of sugar is typically about twice the world price of sugar. The higher price of sugar means that US consumers spend billions more for candy, soda and other products and American sugar farmers increase their sales and profits. But the high price also incentivizes producers of goods that need a sweet kick, including Heinz, to substitute with high fructose corn syrup. Americans are the biggest consumers of HFCS in the world.”
From Marginal Revolution, High Fructose Corn Syrup and the Sugar Quota
“After Shoaib and I spoke, I noticed that relatively few vape shops in New York carry cigarettes. Their exclusion is telling, a clear hint at the grander context of how—and why—the vape market has spawned so many small businesses so quickly. The vapor industry is, in short, one of relatively few unconsolidated consumer-product markets in America. There is no Coca-Cola or ConAgra or Walmart of vapes. There is still Big Tobacco, yes, and there is still Juul, whose e-cigarettes the FDA is trying to banish from the country. But Juul’s once-dominant market share has declined sharply, thanks to the legal blowback and increased competition from the makers of disposable vapes, such as Elfbar.”
Vape Shops are everywhere. Here is an explanation of why, and spoiler alert, it doesn’t involve tobacco. From The Atlantic, How the Vape Shops Won.
Whether you believe that everyone has a right to carry a weapon or not, if an individual is carrying an illegal gun, there should be consequences, yes?
“In Washington, DC where I live, the trend has unfortunately gone in the opposite direction and we are on track for a 12% increase in murder. … — the federal government actually plays a crucial role in District law enforcement. Even under Home Rule, the city does not have a court system. Instead, our local courts are Article III federal courts, and the presidentially-appointed United States Attorney prosecutes the vast majority of serious crimes in the city.
This is noteworthy because a very large share of arrests for carrying a pistol without a license (CPWL) and unauthorized possession of a firearm (UPF) in DC do not result in charges, as this chart from the excellent DC Crime Facts blog shows.”
From Matthew Yglesias’s sub-stack, Slow Boring, Why most gun arrests in DC don't lead to charges
This article is singing ACSH’s song.
“Over the past few decades, a growing number of foods and behaviors have become the regular subject of vague, ever-changing health warnings—fake sweeteners, real sugar, wine, butter, milk (dairy and non), carbohydrates, coffee, fat, chocolate, eggs, meat, veganism, vegetarianism, weightlifting, drinking a lot of water, and scores of others. The more warnings there are, the less actionable any particular one of them feels. What, exactly, is anyone supposed to do with any of this information, except feel bad about the things they enjoy?”
Breaking down the worries over what we eat. From the Atlantic, Being Alive Is Bad for Your Health
Chuck Dinerstein, MD, MBA
Director of Medicine
Dr. Charles Dinerstein, M.D., MBA, FACS is Director of Medicine at the American Council on Science and Health. He has over 25 years of experience as a vascular surgeon.
