Rachel Maddow Takes Aim at Rick Berman and Center for Consumer Freedom

Noting that Washington, D.C.-based industry lobbyist Rick Berman will be on her MSNBC-TV program during the week of October 5, 2009, Rachel Maddow this week discussed the most recent campaign Berman’s Center for Consumer Freedom has undertaken on behalf of the producers of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Maddow showed viewers the clip of a new TV ad that directs those wanting to know more about how sugar and HFCS are the same to a website that Maddow said was, “brought to you by something called the Center for Consumer Freedom . . . headed by . . . Rick Berman, the D.C. public relations guy who runs these operations as nonprofits so they don’t have to disclose the names of the companies that fund them.”

Maddow also said that the center “is not just here to convince you to stop worrying about sugar, they also link to their other sites like TransfatFacts.com. Where under a picture of a delicious looking cheeseburger and meatballs, you can learn how—at least according to TransfatsFact.com—trans fats are actually good for you.” And she stated that, “Berman is also behind FishScam.com, where you can learn that the tiny amounts of mercury in fish aren’t harmful at all.” See The Rachel Maddow Show Transcript, September 29, 2009.

A center spokesperson, discussing the new HFCS advertising campaign, reportedly refuted claims that the sweetener is less healthy than sugar, calling the idea “a viral urban myth.” According to senior research analyst Justin Wilson, “A sugar is a sugar and a calorie is a calorie. Period. It’s very hard to stop urban myths. We are trying to give some legs to the hard science.” While the Corn Refiners Association is not
apparently involved in the ad campaign, its president commented on it, saying, “It is refreshing to see the food industry defend high-fructose corn syrup and put to rest the misinformation about this ingredient.” See FoodNavigator-USA.com, October 1, 2009.