It's in everything.
It's going to bring down American society.
It's pure evil contained in a bottle.
It's going to bring down American society.
It's pure evil contained in a bottle.
This is what a woman told me at a party the other week as she popped piece after piece of cheese into her mouth. I couldn't help but think that she was missing the point. Arguably HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is not good for you, but I have a hard time believing it's as awful as some people claim. So, being that I know very little about what HFCS actually is, I decided to look it up. The production process is described in detail in this Wikipedia entry: (1) mill corn to get corn starch, (2) process starch to get corn syrup (which is mostly glucose), (3) add enzymes to convert the glucose to fructose, (4) distill / blend to achieve the desired sweetness. Ok, so it's basically just liquid sugar?
With respect to the "it's in everything" phenomenon, it has slowly been substituted for sugar because (1) it is cheaper to produce in the U.S. and (2) it is easier to blend and transport because it is a liquid. Both of these things seem reasonable to me, so I really don't understand what has people all up in arms. And then I stumbled upon the real problem. The reason why obesity is such a problem in the U.S. is not because of high fructose corn syrup... it's because we are eating more sweet foods. Sweets, by nature, are high in calories regardless of what is used to sweeten them (with the exception of the 0 calorie artificial sweeteners of course). It just so happens that this increase in consumption corresponded with a switch to HFCS. So, in conclusion, high fructose corn syrup is probably not going to kill us... but I might go ahead and eat an apple instead of candy corn just to be on the safe side! #20
Yes, Meghan, you hit the nail right on the head. Sugar is sugar, whether it's corn syrup or cane syrup, & it has lots of calories. The end. And correlation is not causation! The simultaneous rise in obesity and the use of corn syrup is a case in point.
ReplyDeleteThe "it's in everything" line is wrong, too. It's in junk food is what it's in, and in things you probably shouldn't be eating, anyway. If someone wants to avoid corn syrup, there's a handy thing called a "list of ingredients." Read it! And if that bottle of tomato sauce has corn syrup, then put it back & pick one that doesn't have any. No brainer!
Food Nazis sure do get under my skin!
no, candy corn is much better for you than fruit !
ReplyDeleteI miss candy corn being on sale!
ReplyDeleteBased on the articles I read, high fructose corn syrup is bad to our health. It can cause many health problems like insulin resistance. Just to be safe, I rather not eat foods or drink beverages with HFCS on it.
ReplyDelete