• About Us
  • Activity
  • Advertising
  • Books
  • Business
  • Contact
  • Dashboard
  • EB5
  • Entertainment
  • feedback
  • Forgot Your Password?
  • Government
  • Home
  • Home 20723
  • Interviews
  • Login
  • Members
  • Meme generator
  • National
  • Nevada
  • Nevada News and Views
  • Newsmax
  • NN&V Ads
  • Opinion
  • Pick a New Password
  • Politics
  • Polls
  • Privacy Policy
  • Profile
  • Recent comments by me
  • Recent comments on my posts
  • Register
  • Submit post
  • Subscribe
  • Subscription Confirmation
  • Survey
  • Survey
  • Terms of Service
  • Today’s Top 10
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Welcome!
  • Yop Poll Archive
Nevada News and Views
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • More
    • Opinion
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Pinterest

  • RSS

Opinion

Did the U.S. Sugar Program kill Oreo cookies?

Did the U.S. Sugar Program kill Oreo cookies?
Chuck Muth
September 1, 2015

Oreo cookieChuck Muth(Chuck Mutch, Citizen Outreach) – In a recent Daily Signal column, Bryan Riley was in near hysteria over the loss of 600 jobs baking Oreo cookies in Chicago after Nabisco announced it was moving its manufacturing operation to Mexico.  According to Riley, the decision was directly related to the current U.S. sugar program of relatively minor import tariffs and quotas.

“The leading ingredient in Oreos is sugar,” Riley wrote, “and U.S. trade barriers currently require Americans to pay twice the average world prices for sugar.”

As such, Riley continued, “Sugar-using industries now have a big incentive to relocate from the United States to countries where access to their primary ingredient is not restricted.”  He went on to claim that the “obvious connection between the lost jobs and sugar quotas was missed by many observers.”

Well, to the extent it was missed, it’s because it isn’t there.

The fact is a pound of sugar today costs almost the same as it did in 1984 – way back when Ronald Reagan was president.  And after doing a little checking at FoodTimeline.org, I learned that in 1984, the cost of a 20-ounce package of Oreos cost $1.79.  Today, a 14.3-ounce bag of Oreos costs $4.49.

So, the price of a bag of Oreos today costs more than twice what it cost back in 1984 – and for a smaller bag! – while the cost of the sugar itself in those cookies costs pretty much the same.

Clearly, it is NOT the cost of sugar that has driven up the price of Oreos or driven Nabisco out of Chicago.  In fact, Nabisco’s move from the U.S. to Mexico has nothing whatsoever to do with the cost of sugar in Chicago.  It’s the cost of labor in Mexico.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the bakery was being relocated “because the three unions that represent workers either did not make a proposal to keep the work or their concession packages were inadequate.”

Laurie Guzzinati, a spokeswoman for the company, explained that there was a “$46 million gap between the cost of operating in Chicago and in Mexico” and that the unions representing the workers “did not provide a measurably impactful way to close the gap.”

Look, I have no problem with folks such as Mr. Riley criticizing the U.S. sugar program.  I criticize it myself.  But it is intellectually dishonest – when you look at the facts – to blame the U.S. sugar program for the decision of a cookie-maker to relocate its manufacturing operation from Chicago to Mexico.

It’s just not true.  The facts speak for themselves.  You could look it up.

 

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and the publisher of www.NevadaNewsandViews.com.  He personally blogs at www.MuthsTruths.com.

Prev postNext post

Related Items
Opinion
September 1, 2015
Chuck Muth

Related Items

More in Opinion

Amodei Statement on Debt Ceiling Bill

Chuck MuthJune 1, 2023
Read More

Tark: Trans “Rights” … and Wrongs

Chuck MuthMay 26, 2023
Read More

Stone: The Truth About AB 250: Will Patients Really Benefit?

NN&V StaffMay 26, 2023
Read More

“Ungrateful Miscreants”: Miller, Segerblom Insult Local Small Business Owners

NN&V StaffMay 24, 2023
Read More

Quarter-Million Dollar Ad Campaign Targets Nevada Legislators for Trapping Hispanic Families in Unsafe Schools

NN&V StaffMay 22, 2023
Read More

Nevada News & Views: May 20, 2023

NN&V StaffMay 20, 2023
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Subscribe Free By Email

Looking for the best in breaking news and conservative views? Let Chuck do all the work for you! Subscribe to his FREE "Muth's Truths" e-newsletter.

* indicates required
Nevada News and Views
Nevada News & Views is an educational project of Citizen Outreach Foundation, a non-partisan IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. It is not associated or affiliated with any political party or group. Nevada News & Views is accessible by the public at no cost. It funds its operations through tax-deductible contributions from donors and supporters and does not accept government money or grants.

TAGS

Featured Article Muths truth

Copyright © 2023 Citizen Outreach | Maintained by VirtualAlly

Mitchell: Is the solar energy bubble about to burst?
Drop in industrial electricity consumption tells the tale of the no-growth U.S. economy