Marketers know very well how to sell ideas to consumers. They've had decades and decades to hone their craft. In cahoots with supposed consumer protection agencies and backed by lawyers, lobbyists and flawed science skewed to their benefits, they WILL take every opportunity they can to sell their product. 

Why? Because that's what they're paid to do. They're not paid to verify information or test products or results. They're paid to sell. Therefore the key decision point on what to say about a product is unfortunately not "What's true?" but "What will sell it?"

Ascorbic Acid is a perfect example of this in action. At a rough guess, approximately 95% of consumers have been led to believe that ascorbic acid is a naturally-occurring, safe to consume, form of Vitamin-C.

Unfortunately, that's just not true. 

Let's break this down, starting with the history of ascorbic acid.

Back in the 1930's, Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi discovered a method of extracting ascorbic acid from a type of small red pepper. He was actually nominated for, and won, a Nobel Peace Prize for this work.

However, that work was multifaceted, and previously ignored data of his also pointed to the fact that the ascorbic acid was actually far more biologically available nutritionally while it was still in the pepper.

But, food scientists, manufacturers and marketers, as they frequently do, set out to do better than mother nature.

You see, while ascorbic acid became a popular additive and supplement, it was expensive to extract from peppers or other plant matter.

So they had to find something else.

And they did.

They discovered that they could create ascorbic acid in a laboratory much more inexpensively, much more efficiently and — better yet — much more profitably.

This is the exact process that was discovered: Scientists found they could use GMO-derived corn syrup (now from Glyphosate-contaminated corn) mixed with hydrochloric acid, and poof — ascorbic acid.

Or, more correctly, something "called" ascorbic acid.

Surprise though, scientists found out exactly what Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi found, which is that ascorbic acid is not as effective when it's removed from the whole food it was derived from.

You would think this would lead to using a more natural source. But no, that would cost more money.

Instead, the above revelation led to more laboratory modifications of the derivative to make it seem more absorbable and bioavailable to human biology.

But genetic and laboratory modification of vital micro nutrients comes at a high cost.

Conventional food manufacturers cannot avoid the temptation to put profits ahead of principles.

Nearly all juices, sports drinks, energy drinks and fruit based products are now laced with ascorbic acid. These products, in almost all cases, refer to this synthetic substance as healthy, natural, immune boosting, etc...

And some of these are products you would never think to question, like the popular cold remedies and sports drinks.

Synthetic versions of essential nutrients, such as Vitamin C, act more like drugs in the body than their natural counterparts and cause imbalances.

Some proponents of ascorbic acid quote Linus Pauling who discovered high doses of vitamin C positively impact the common cold and the symptoms associated with it.

However, I would like to point out that... synthetic Vitamin C did not exist at the time of his discovery, so his revelations are not a valid claim for lab-created Vitamin C.

Compounding this mess is the fact that Glyphosate-contaminated GMO corn is the basis of current ascorbic acid.

It doesn't stop with synthetic vitamin C though. There's synthetic Vitamin A marketed as beta carotene, synthetic folate marketed as folic acid, menaquinone-7 marketed as vitamin K2, thiamine HCL marketed as vitamin B1, choline bitartrate marketed as choline, and so many more.

The key to success? Stick with brands that are known for honesty and integrity in manufacturing, and concentrate on whole foods in your diet.