Episode Summary
In this episode, Johnny Mueller discusses a variety of topics related to expat life in Latin America. He begins by announcing plans for a new 'fast-track' expat wisdom seminar aimed at expat wannabes in the United States and Europe. He explains that due to high demand and limited capacity, he has been unable to host more seminars in Latin America and is now considering organizing shorter, more accessible seminars in the U.S. and Europe. He highlights the growing interest in expat life, especially among those who are unable to attend the full seminars in Latin America due to time, cost, or scheduling constraints. He also mentions a friend, Brandon, who has successfully transitioned to expat life in Nicaragua and is being featured as a resource for those interested in the expat lifestyle. Additionally, he mentions another friend, Robert Culpepper, who will be hosting a one-day seminar in London for Europeans interested in becoming expats in Latin America.
Next, Johnny discusses health insurance options for expats in Latin America. He emphasizes the availability of first-world medical care in larger cities, while noting the challenges in sparsely populated countries like Belize. He also highlights the cost-effectiveness of local healthcare compared to the U.S. and explains the historical and current landscape of health insurance access for expats, including the role of car insurance in providing coverage.
In a deeper dive, Johnny explores the state of health insurance in Latin America, highlighting the contrast between the low cost of coverage and the lack of enforcement of insurance mandates. He explains how the 'lag time effect' has allowed for the emergence of first-world-style health insurance plans at a fraction of the cost seen in the U.S. and Europe. These plans often include full family coverage, no physical exams, and coverage up to age 99, with some plans even avoiding pre-existing condition exclusions. Johnny also notes that these plans are often tied to banking systems and that the low cost is due to the cultural and economic differences from the first world, such as lower taxes and a more work-centric society. He concludes by addressing the international coverage of these plans, noting that they are often limited to specific countries or regions.
Johnny continues the discussion on the cost and availability of health insurance in Latin America, comparing it to the United States. He explains that regional coverage in countries like Panama, Costa Rica, and Colombia can provide coverage in most South American countries, except Venezuela due to political tensions. International coverage is more expensive but still cheaper than U.S. healthcare. He notes that hospitals in Latin America, especially on the tourist trail, often accept first-world insurance plans, which can save money for expats. Johnny also mentions that while U.S. insurance may cover some costs abroad, expats often have to pay upfront and then seek reimbursement. He highlights the affordability of healthcare in Latin America, suggesting it's one of the best-kept secrets for expats, especially those with chronic illnesses. However, he warns that opening a bank account in Latin America for insurance purposes is becoming more difficult due to regulations, and recommends working with a local lawyer to set up a corporation for this purpose. Finally, he briefly touches on the Hostess Twinkie situation, noting that Bimbo, a Latin American bread company, acquired the brand and replicated its products, which has been met with mixed reactions.
In the final segment, Johnny discusses the impact of Bimbo bread on Latin American diets and health, highlighting its role in the rise of obesity and diabetes. He explains that Bimbo, the world's largest bakery, has expanded its influence by acquiring American bakeries and selling its products in areas with significant Hispanic populations. Johnny also mentions the controversial addition of sawdust to Bimbo bread, which was reported in Spanish media but largely ignored by international outlets. He connects the shift from traditional foods like tortillas to Bimbo bread with economic factors and health consequences, emphasizing the long-term effects on Latin American populations.
Topics
Expat life in Latin America, Expat wisdom seminars, Transition to expat life, Expatriate lifestyle, Retirement in Latin America, Cost of living in Latin America, Expat resources and support, Healthcare in Latin America, Health insurance for expats, Cost comparison between Latin America and the U.S., Car insurance and its role in health coverage, Residency requirements for insurance access
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:17 Introduction to the Show and Host 00:00:20 Overview of the Expat Files Podcast 00:00:27 Announcement of Upcoming Seminar 00:00:49 Explanation of the Expat Wisdom Seminars 00:01:10 High Demand for Seminars and Waiting List 00:02:28 Fast-Track Seminars in the U.S. and Europe 00:03:03 Brandon's Success Story in Nicaragua 00:05:00 Robert Culpepper's Seminar in London 00:06:25 Health Insurance for Expats in Latin America 00:06:30 Availability of First-World Healthcare in Latin America 00:08:36 Cost of Hospital Stays Without Insurance 00:09:35 Historical Access to Health Insurance for Expats 00:10:38 Car Insurance and Its Role in Health Coverage 00:11:06 The Insurance Mandate and Enforcement Gap in Latin America 00:11:29 The Lag Time Effect and the Rise of First-World-Style Health Insurance 00:11:51 Cost and Coverage of Health Insurance Plans in Latin America 00:12:21 Waiting Periods and Coverage for Pre-Existing Conditions 00:12:51 Escalating Payments and Renewal Uncertainty in Insurance Plans 00:13:20 Banking Ties and Enrollment in Health Insurance Plans 00:13:50 The Mystery of Low Premiums and First-World Coverage 00:14:20 Emergency Room Crowding and the Lag Time Effect 00:19:15 Regional Health Insurance Coverage in Latin America 00:19:39 International Health Insurance and Cost Differences 00:21:39 Affordability of Healthcare in Latin America 00:23:06 Banking and Insurance Regulations in Latin America 00:24:37 Bimbo's Acquisition of Hostess Twinkie 00:24:59 The Digestibility of Bimbo Bread vs. Traditional Foods 00:25:04 Bimbo's Invasion of Latin American Markets 00:25:09 Bimbo's Global Influence and Acquisitions 00:25:14 Bimbo's Expansion and Health Implications 00:25:43 Bimbo's Role in Health Decline in Latin America 00:26:03 Shift from Traditional Foods to Bimbo Bread 00:27:00 Sawdust in Bimbo Bread and Media Coverage
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wonder My thoughts ever straight Hi everybody I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files Living in Latin America the show that tells you what it's really like to live work play and or retire in Latin America I tell it just like it is so let's get started Before I get on with the show today I've got a little announcement to make now I know most of you who listen to my show and Richard Martin's show Well, it's you guys and gals who eventually want to get out of the US and become an expat I mean, why else would you be listening to me blather two times a week on the subject?
[00:49] Anyway, as you certainly know by now every so often I offer an expat wisdom seminar down here in Latin America and so far there's been a lot of interest they've all filled up and I even end up with people on a waiting list and Believe me. A lot of people have been disappointed because they couldn't make it for one reason or another In fact, I haven't even announced for that matter even planned my next seminar yet And I've already got nearly a dozen people on the waiting list ready to put deposits down and remember I only can take 24 people otherwise it gets out of hand and you lose the personal touch and besides that no small boutique colonial hotels that I like Almost never have more than 30 rooms Now in the last year or so since I've been doing these seminars I've gotten plenty of emails from people who say they'd love to attend and like I said before for one reason or other
[01:37] They just haven't been able to swing it whether it be the money the scheduling or the time you have to take off work I hear a lot of reasons why people just can't make it down on the dates I've planned and related to that theme I also get a lot of people asking me if I'm ever coming up to the States to do some kind of seminar or an expat wisdom Presentation or two. Well, of course I could never do my whole seminar because you do need boots on the ground here in Latin America to do that Cuz you know if I came up to Cleveland We'd have to skip the business the real estate the IT and the health care part of the tour and all those boots on the ground activities like the maquilas and the markets the malls or shopping centers the coffee plantations the restaurants meeting the locals and just your general slogging around and exploring as a group down here now I have been toying with the idea of organizing an abbreviated
[02:23] Fast-track introductory seminar at a couple of selected locations up in the states You know give you the basic bullet points and give you some inside tips and show you some tricks on how to retire like a king Or queen down here on just a plain old social security check basically show you how you can still live a first world life or retire on 1500 bucks a month and at the same time have absolutely first world health care provided in the deal So that said here's what me and my expat wisdom crew have in the works We have a plan to reach out to you expat wannabes closer to home closer to where you live that is Now a good friend of mine who is a part-time expat a guy who's been to my seminar down here And he has two separate thriving businesses on the coast of Nicaragua He's one of those expats that loves beachfront coastal living as opposed to where I'm at in the Altiplano
[03:13] and you know it seems like expat wannabes are split half and half between Sun and fun and sand and having that eternal spring like Weather in the Altiplano, and I say to each his own you know anyway Brandon's a perfect example of the kind of guy Who on his own has been able to make a successful transition from being stuck on that treadmill up in the first world To having a much more free and easy life down here in Latin America not to mention things in Nicaragua Like Salvador Honduras and Guatemala for example are dirt cheap in fact so cheap sometimes that you have to do a double take when you see the price tags and Brandon's just a young guy in his 30s and he had the foresight to see what's happening in the states and had the balls To come down to Nicaragua and start a couple businesses all by himself, too
[04:00] And he didn't come down here 20-something years ago like I did he just started doing his expat thing a couple of years ago Which makes him a great resource for expat wannabes who are just about ready to make the plunge themselves So here's what we're thinking if you're interested in taking a half a day to one day expat fast-track seminar That's guaranteed to get you one step closer to becoming that expat I'm sure y'all want to be in fact it'll give you more than a running start at it And if you need a little push or encouragement this could be the perfect thing for you So now instead of spinning your wheels up in the states or in Europe for that matter Waiting for things to get worse up there, and they will and you know it Instead of getting depressed about it do something you could attend one of these short expat wisdom fast-track seminars and hear it from the
[04:49] Horse's mouth from an expert expat like Brandon in the states and my friend Robert Culpepper Who you probably know from the expat wisdom website and Robert who of course is an expert expat, too Has lived with his family in Panama, Costa Rica and now in Europe and Robert will be doing a one-day expat Fast-track seminar in London for all those Europeans who want to make a goal of it as expats in Latin America, too And as you know Europe is falling apart even faster than the US these days Europe is full of wannabes, too And like you guys they need to get their ducks lined up and don't know quite how to go about doing it And that's what these short half to one day seminars will be focusing on so That's the idea, but I do want to gauge how much interest there is out there and how spread out everyone is up north
[05:36] So we can start organizing these things So if you're interested in coming to a short seminar like that Just send me an email at the expat files at gmail.com or Johnny at expat wisdom calm And if there is enough interest you'll be hearing a lot more about it shortly and hopefully we can get a few of these mini Seminars in and get you all prepared to come down before the next big crisis Whatever it is drags the u.s. In Europe further into the crapper So again if you're interested in how to avoid all that just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com Or Johnny at expat wisdom calm. Oh, and don't forget to tell me what city you're in Now in the last few shows I spoke a little bit more about health care issues down here in Latin America
[06:21] And just to finish up what I couldn't get to I want to talk a little bit now about Health insurance plans for expats and gringos when they come down here now You already know that there really is first world health care down here Especially in the mid to large-sized cities all throughout Latin America And you also know that in very lightly populated countries like Belize and Suriname and Guyana the health care systems are lax and very spotty Simply because the population can't afford or support big first world style hospitals or clinics What with all that expensive technical equipment coming from the first world and for that matter any country that doesn't have its own medical school For example Belize they have a host of problems when you're looking for consistent first world style medical care
[07:06] Because you see a country without a medical school has to count on all of his doctors nurses and specialists To somehow find their way down to that place from another country not an ideal situation at all Which is another reason I don't recommend Belize except for all but the most adventurous expats However in the rest of Latin America and any city over 50,000 or more you can practically always find first world health care facilities And a decent percentage of doctors who did their specialist training up in the first world And like I said if you come down to one of my expat wisdom seminars I'll show you exactly what I mean in fact I'll take you by the hand myself and walk you through some very good clinics and medical facilities To prove to you that it's first world medical care all the way
[07:52] Okay, by now I think I've convinced you of that But what's it cost well we talked about that before too If you're off the tourist trail And you don't have insurance you're looking at a quarter to a sixth of what it would cost you up in the first world for the same medical treatment And that's why so many gringos and expats down here in Latin America have decided not to have insurance at all They choose to go raw and pay as they go For example one expat in front of mine was in the hospital last month for five days, and he doesn't have insurance he said it cost him about a hundred and eighty dollars a day complete and that included the room the Medicine the doctors the nurses the works so his whole bill without insurance came to slightly under 1000 bucks for five days in the hospital
[08:39] Which is what some people pay for their monthly insurance premium up in the states and here's another thing you know up to about two Or three years ago nearly all my expat friends did not have medical insurance Why because it simply was too hard to get or wasn't available to expats or non-residents now of course if you're an expat And you work for a big transnational company like Quaker Oats or Walmart And you're working down here because you signed a contract with the company up in the first world well of course the company's gonna supply Private health care insurance for you because that's what's expected when you have a job like that up in the states But expats down here working for transnational companies. That's the oddball case in fact I would say only maybe one in 50 expats that I've met is on contract to a first-world company like that
[09:26] So chances are that's not gonna happen with you anyway like I said up to about two or three years ago You could get health care insurance if you were an expat gringo But only if you had residency in a latin country a process that could take anywhere from a year to three years and back then a gringo expat could get health care insurance if he or she actually worked for a local company and got paid a Salary and in that case your manager or your boss would add you on to his health care coverage But you see the thing is only a tiny percent of latin american companies have health care plans for their employees If you could believe it way under five percent so that option was generally an impossible dream to back then but in most big latin cities there have always been a handful of insurance companies that mostly do car insurance and they always had a
[10:15] very small division that took care of health care insurance too and believe me up to a few years ago very few people knew that these car insurance companies even offered health care insurance because it just wasn't on the table the latin population just wasn't interested and 95% of the population couldn't afford it anyway and even now only five percent of latin american people are covered by any insurance at all and the vast majority of that five percent are people covered by car insurance and not because they want to be it's because like in the states if you buy a new or used car and finance it the finance company or bank forces you to get insurance coverage so they don't lose their investment if you get it stolen or getting a big crack up and it's always included in your monthly payment So when you've paid it off in full it's your call whether you maintain that insurance policy or not and guess what down here in latin america you guessed it people just don't
[11:06] oh and by the way even crazier is the fact that most latin american countries mandate car insurance if you drive a car it's the law and yet only about five percent of the people have it so what happens when you get into an accident well as usual nobody's checking and nobody's enforcing and that means a lot of cash deals go down when you get a fender bender if you know what i mean but now surprise surprise the first world lag time effect with insurance has been catching up slowly but surely in latin america and it's all in our favor i mean it's really in our favor in fact just in the last year or two i've been seeing ads for health insurance in all the big latin newspapers and i'll tell you in all my years down here i've never seen that before
[11:51] that's full family coverage hmo style just like up in the first world with some amazing differences for one the cost it's not unusual to get a full first world style hmo plan for 50 bucks a month if you're an individual and 60 to 75 bucks a month for your whole family including grandma and grandpa too if they're living in the household and also there are some plans down here that don't even require a physical no matter how old you are and pre-existing conditions well they'll ask you about that and you'll have to put that down on your application form that is if you feel like it because no one's checking on that stuff either now i'm not recommending that you be dishonest here and mostly it doesn't matter anyway because like it says in most policies pre-existing conditions will not be covered for the first six or nine months which means after that everything's covered so you just have to bide your time during the waiting period that's all and another thing a lot of these plans will carry you to age 99 and some
[12:51] of the plans do not have escalating payments in other words some will raise your rates a bit when you hit 40 and then again when you hit 50 and 60 and so on and other plans don't have escalating clauses like that at all however like any insurance plan there's no guarantee that when the renewal comes up they won't raise the whole insured group i mean after all you have to account for inflation but that happens with all insurance companies so nobody knows and about those pre-existing conditions well there are some plans that don't even bring up the subject at all once you sign up you're automatically in no matter what now let me explain that a bit one of the most amazing things about these new health care plans that have been popping up left and right is that quite a number of these insurance companies are owned by big banks and the way you get on the plan is open a bank account at one of these big banks and that's it that's all there is to it then you and your family are automatically eligible as long as you sign up for the plan and pay that monthly
[13:50] premium and actually what they prefer you do is to deduct the monthly premium from your credit card or your current account you know banks anything for a fee right now i just can't say enough about these insurance plans and you gotta wonder how they stay in business with such low premiums and absolutely first world health care not to mention that pre-existing condition kind of fades away and with some of these plans you get coverage up to age 99 well you know that puzzles a lot of expats because they just don't believe it how could that be how can an insurance company survive like that with that kind of coverage doesn't everybody just rushed to the emergency room for every little hangnail like they do in the states well in a word no in fact i proved that at my latest expat wisdom seminar i brought my group to a first world hospital that has just such an hmo plan like that and i brought them to the emergency room where there was just one person waiting to get treated one and that was a midday visit on a sunday night
[14:50] no less a weekend so how do you go about explaining that since us emergency rooms are balls to the wall all the time especially on weekends when there's a lot of weekend drunks and the gang bangers are all out shooting each other up well the fact is it's that lag time effect again you have to look at the state of the insurance industry down here like you would have looked at the insurance industry in the 1950s and 60s in the united states when blue cross and blue shield were king they were the gold standard of insurance plans and if you had them man you had no worries and we're proud to whip out that card because you had bragging rights now if you were alive back in the 60s to see it or heard stories from your parents who lived through that era they too would tell you that in the 60s even with blue cross blue shield which was the best insurance coverage known to man at that time back then if you walked into an emergency room it was never filled just like today's private hospital emergency room
[15:49] here in latin america and how do you explain that well that's because in the 1960s the average us working person who had blue cross blue shield or in fact any insurance coverage back then a person who had an insurance card was a different kind of person altogether culturally and socially these were the hard working salt of the earth american people that had their noses to the grindstone these were tough no nonsense factory working guys who worked their asses off and just loved overtime so they could give their kids things they never had when they were young and even send them to college back then we didn't have the drugs and the gangs and the broken homes the huge government the big taxes and the massive welfare system that's when people got to keep most of the money they earned there was no such thing as a 50% tax bracket not back then and the entitled me generation just did not exist back then it was the marcus wellby father knows best and leave it to beaver generation i'm talking about those kind of people
[16:49] would not take off work and go to the emergency room if they had a hangnail or hangover in fact it was coming back then for the average working stiff to be quite proud of the fact that he never took a sick day in fact my own dad and uncles were exactly like that but the us today these days most people squeeze every single sick day they can out of the system and even go for more and for some it's sad to say the goal is not to really work forever but to qualify for a permanent disability somehow and a permanent check that comes with it i know quite a few people up in chicago who were pulling that one off people my age people i went to high school with that's the attitude now that never existed back in the fifties and sixties and those same long gone values exist down here right now in the latin working classes so bottom line three cheers for the lag time effect that's what allows gringos and expats to get first world health care for 50 bucks a month and all the perks that go with it
[17:48] like for example totally uncrowded emergency rooms and in most cases brand new state of the art first world equipment and often because of lack of crowds that stuff barely gets used now i also get emails from people concerned about health care asking me if insurance down here is international in other words if you get in a car accident let's say in honduras and you had your policy written in panama well would you get covered in honduras now that answer is a bit complicated well you see there are actually three or four different types of coverage down here in latin america depending on the policy and plan you sign up for for example there are a lot of hmos that only have their affiliated hospitals within one country and some are only affiliated in one large city
[18:35] so for example if you have that coverage in guatemala and you have a medical problem in costa rica you're basically out of luck but remember like i said first world coverage down here is one quarter to one sixth of what you'd pay for it up in the first world so if you do end up spending a few days in a hospital in a country outside of your plans coverage it's not going to break the bank and if you don't want to be in that country in that hospital paying out of your pocket just go ahead and travel back to the country you're insured in once you're stabilized of course and then there's a second type of hmo coverage which is a regional style coverage with that type you buy a policy that covers you within a region of countries for example central america if you have a policy like that you're covered in panama costa rica honduras guatemala belize salvador in nicaragua
[19:22] and if you have regional coverage that you took out let's say in columbia then you've got full coverage in most of the countries in south america the exception being venezuela because the columbians and the venezuelans just do not get along so they don't make many deals like that then there's a third type of medical coverage which is international and always a little more expensive than the standard plan but not much anyway if you were to take out a health care policy like that with a big insurance company and let's say salvador and you ended up in the emergency room in peru well sure you'd be covered but let's say you had that same coverage and you ended up in an emergency room in atlanta georgia you do have international coverage but guess what you're going to have to pay a big chunk of those expenses out of your own pocket because like i said first world
[20:10] health care coverage is like four to six times more expensive than down in latin america and for example if a cat scan down here in latin america costs a hundred bucks and the same thing costs 700 bucks in the states well your insurance is only going to cover 100 of it the reasonable and customary fee where that policy was taken out and here's another email health care question i often get asked people want to know if their insurance coverage up in the states will work down here for example if they end up in an emergency room in bolivia will their state of illinois teacher's health insurance cover it well i know this might sound hard to believe but there are a lot of hospitals in latin america especially on the tourist track noticed i said on the tourist track anyway some of these hospitals actually advertise in the english speaking newspapers on
[20:59] the tourist trail saying they accept first world insurance plans and of course it makes sense since your first world insurance plan will actually be saving tons of money on any kind of medical claim in the third world since like i said it's a quarter to a sixth of what they'd have to pay if you got hurt or sick up there believe me you're actually giving them a gift now of course most of the time if you're in a hospital in a country that's different than the country that you took the policy out in you'll certainly have to pay cash up front or with a credit card and then fight it out with your insurance company when you get back home that's the usual plan right but still your first world insurance company back home will not put up much resistance to paying the bill and secretly they probably wish it stayed there so let me summarize here by saying one of the best
[21:45] deals known to man on the planet right now is health care insurance in latin america and in fact i think it's one of the best kept secrets in the world i don't know why expat wannabes especially older expat wannabes aren't forming a human chain to come down here right now or even stampeding like cattle in a john wane movie after all sky high medical costs are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the united states and anyone with a chronic disease like parkinson's diabetes arthritis cancer you know just what i'm talking about but it's your call you can either tough it out and grow old in the states and get bankrupted by the diseases of old age or you can come down here and live like a king or a queen for 1500 bucks a month though i have to warn you it might cost you up to 2000 a month if you have a chronic disease and you need
[22:36] constant care and you have to hire a full-time nurse 24 7 to live in now i hate to break this to you but a full-time live-in nurse an lpn or nurse's aid might cost you anywhere from three to five hundred dollars a month sorry but they don't come any cheaper and if you come down to one of my expat wisdom seminars i'll show you exactly how to find one now i did mention that a lot of the big banks down here are affiliated with insurance companies are actually owned by insurance companies or vice versa and in order to sign up for some of these great insurance plans you have to have a bank account that's it and here's the bad news about that it's getting harder and harder for first world americans to open bank accounts down here in latin america what with all those
[23:23] first world banking and government regulations that banks down here have to adhere to if they've got us clients anymore and that's why you have to have a good relationship with a lawyer in the country you're going to live because you see your lawyer will always be able to get you a bank account even if you are a u.s citizen he'll act as your reference or fiador as they call it down here or through him you'll create one of those sa corporations a society dot anonymous corporation then your corporation will open the bank account and of course your lawyer will help you fill out all that paperwork at the bank specifically indicating that you're an employee of that sa corporation and now you qualify for that insurance and there are a few other ways to accomplish that too but you'll have to come down to one of my expat wisdom seminars to get the full scoop on that
[24:12] and to get those certain tips and secrets i don't talk about on the show okay enough said about that now i'd like to talk about something that's been in the news up in the first world lately and that's hostess twinkies now you probably all know the story that the bakers there went on strike and nearly put one of our early favorite junk food companies right out of business okay so what does that have to do with latin america well i'll tell you you know who bought the hostess twinkie company the bimbo bread company that same bread company that i mentioned in a previous show was the wonder bread of latin america in fact they actually bought the wonder bread recipe talk about trying to emulate everything and anything gringo including the worst that we have and latin's as it turns out like the same smooshy squishy texture and the happy
[24:59] plastic package it comes in and i bet the wrapper is more digestible than the bread and you know it's sad to see how bimbo bread has invaded the shelves all throughout latin america 20 years ago it was only in mexico now i bet you didn't know that bimbo is the biggest bakery in the world and they just bought hostess twinkies and that's part of a bimbo buying spree of late which includes their recent purchase of well-known long-time american bakeries like strowman's free hoofers brownberry bread thomas english muffins and entomans cakes and yes you can find bimbo bread in certain stores in the states mostly where hispanic populations live because it's a mexican product and lately scientists and nutritionists are saying that bimbo is one of the companies that's most responsible for the steady health care decline including the huge increase in
[25:50] obesity and diabetes in the latin american public the fact is over the last 30 years the middle and lower class latin populations have shifted from the traditional meal of cheese beans and corn tortillas to you guessed it bimbo bread why because it's cheaper than tortillas and has so many preservatives and additives in it that it has about a 300 year shelf life just like wonder bread and tortillas only have a shelf life of about two days so that's the kind of stuff that's creeping into the latin american diet and why an estimated 75 percent of the latin american city population the urban dwellers are either significantly overweight or obese and that's why an estimated
[26:35] one in four latins over 50 are either diabetics or undiagnosed diabetics so that good old wonder bread that we'd slather with peanut butter and jelly when we were kids watching the bozo show is now owned by a mexican company bimbo and right about now every kid in latin america has got a lump of it lodged somewhere in his small intestine but here's what you didn't know down here in latin america about two or three years ago it was discovered that bimbo bread had sawdust in it and it was in all the spanish papers down here for a day or two and i doubt the media in the first world ever picked up on it which is often the case with news stories down here in spanish and you know when expat eddie heard about the sawdust and you know eddie owns a number of
[27:20] restaurants he just laughed out loud and said sawdust what's wrong with sawdust i don't get it in my sushi restaurants people pay damn good money for a plate of seaweed you've been listening to the expat files living in latin america coming to you each week from somewhere south of the border and don't forget you can email me on anything at all about latin america the expat files at gmail.com see you next time most famous