WALMARTING THE FOOD CHAIN - Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America - page 38

Archer Daniels Midland exemplifies the market power and the political clout to change public policy
and the American diet. The corporation paid $279 million in criminal fines, settlements, and litigation ex-
penses stemming from antitrust investigations in 1998, when it was convicted of engaging in a worldwide
conspiracy to set prices on lysine, a critical ingredient in factory-farmed animal feed, and citric acid, used
as a preservative and an ingredient in soft drinks.
ADM was established in the mid-1880s as a linseed-crushing business and now operates 270 plants
worldwide that process grains and oilseeds into ingredients used in food, beverages, nutrition products,
industrial processes, and animal feed. Processed foods obtain their taste and texture from the sweeteners,
oils, and chemicals derived by the giant multinational from corn, soy, cottonseed, sunflower seed, and other
plants.
One of ADM's main businesses is processing ethanol from corn, and the corporation is pursuing biosyn-
thetics for future energy production. The company, often called the ExxonMobil of crop-based fuels, has
lobbied voraciously for alternative fuel subsidies. The hiring of Patricia Woertz as CEO in 2006 demon-
strates the company's commitment to the fuel side of its business. She is an accountant who previously
held executive positions at Gulf Oil and Chevron. As the largest grain processor in the world, no company
has benefited more than ADM from finding new uses for corn or from lobbying for commodity crop sub-
sidies.
ADM's other corn business is sweetening junk food. The company pioneered the development and mar-
keting of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the 1970s because it had the ability to market it. It created
a sweetener that enhances processed food by acting as a preservative and increasing the stability of car-
bonated beverages and condiments, such as ketchup and fruit preserves. HFCS inhibits microbial spoilage,
resists crystallization, gives bakery goods a soft texture, and withstands temperature fluctuations.
Food industry consultant Bruce von Stein, formerly employed as a senior marketing executive at
Nabisco and General Mills, explains: “If a food company is presented with a cheaper ingredient, they will
figure out how to operationalize it. Suppliers of food manufacturing firms have marketing teams literally
trying to sell their big customers new product ideas and new ways to use their ingredients in the food they
make. They know that food processors are looking for a steady supply of ingredients that are cheap, stable,
have a long shelf-life, and process easily.” 11
And that is exactly how HFCS became the sweetener of choice. By 1984, as the price of sugar increased,
ADM persuaded PepsiCo and Coca-Cola to announce a switch to HFCS. Of course, the cost of sug-
ar was skyrocketing because ADM had worked with Florida sugar interests to successfully lobby the
Reagan administration for a sugar tariff, which has remained in place. Rather hypocritical for the free-
trade crowd—but a brilliant move for ADM. Since that time, food manufacturers have embraced the cheap
sweetener that is also a key ingredient in the processed foods that make up the bulk of the American diet.
Americans spend 90 percent of their food budgets on processed food—those foods manufactured and
sold in a box, bag, can, or carton. The food industry defines processed food broadly and includes fruits
and vegetables that have been cut, chopped, cooked, or dried, such as items in a salad bar and canned ve-
getables, dried fruit, and bags of baby carrots. But a quick perusal of any grocery store reveals that most
offerings are ultraprocessed—manufactured through a combination of processes that are prepared with un-
pronounceable additives that include coloring, preservatives, emulsifiers, binders, flavors, taste enhancers,
fillers, and stabilizers. Despite evidence that consumption of these calorie-heavy and nutrient-light foods is
associated with high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, the immense power of the food industry
has prevented the changes in public policy necessary to address those connections.
Several recent studies show a relationship between processed foods and cancer. A seven-year study of
200,000 people at the University of Hawaii found a 67 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer in those
who eat processed meat, such as hot dogs or sausages. Studies have linked high-fat diets to breast and