Anyone seen the commercials for HFCS?
It appears the corn syrup producers have gone into damage control mode. In case you haven't seen them, these are commercials promoting HFCS as nutritionally equal, and no more harmful than any other natural sweetener. You can look at their information on Sweetsurprise.com . I'm a little skeptical, just due to personal experience. What's your take on the issue? As for me, I'll just continue to avoid it.
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18 Comments:
The profitable ingredient is being less used these days. I am reading labels and not buying anything with HFCS in it at all. I go out of my way to buy drinks without it. I am hoping that Coca Cola gets the hint and starts putting out coke without it as a choice. I never liked New Coke which was minus sugar and had HFCS instead. I don't see it being cheaper anymore with corn being very expensive anymore.
They can dress it up all they want I am not buying it.
JerzeeTomato at 1:33AM on 09/03/08
That sucks and THANK YOU for the enlightenment. I have not rank Coke Cola for decades or any soda as for that. But if it is in other things, need to look out for labels.
pjracz10 at 1:48AM on 09/03/08
PJracz10, keep an eye peeled for Coca Cola bottled in Mexico (so far only in glass bottles). It's made with sugar and it's so delicious and crisp. My dad always used to go on and on about the superior taste of Coca Cola in a glass bottle, and I think what he was really remembering was the sugar-sweetened coke.
I've also been craving chocolate milk a lot lately, especially after I bought the organic stuff made with sugar. Sooo much yummier. And I just found a chocolate syrup--also Mexican--made with sugar.
So for me, it's even more about taste and mouthfeel than about the health issues. HFCS just doesn't taste as good.
renzata at 2:49AM on 09/03/08
Kind of reminds me of when cigarettes were advertised as "a healthy alternative to sweets."
therealchiffonade at 5:12AM on 09/03/08
For the "real-sugar" Coke lovers- look out for the bottles (usually with yellow caps) marked Kosher for Passover.
Usually they're only around in the spring, but sometimes you can find leftovers. Same formula as Mexican Coke, same price and bottle as American!
Lilly at 9:36AM on 09/03/08
Lilly, awesome tip!
simon at 10:31AM on 09/03/08
I'm sick to death of it being in everything! Why do I need that crap in my tomato juice??? Why on earth do I need it in salad dressing???
I buy real sugar cane sugar made in Mexico - much better flavor! We don't buy anything with HFCS in it if we can avoid it. Much better to avoid all that processed food anyway!
Fanciesmom at 10:43AM on 09/03/08
Yeah, the ubiquity of the stuff really bothers me too. The next time you buy heavy cream for example, take a look at the ingredients... There shouldn't even be an ingredients list on heavy cream!!!
simon at 11:09AM on 09/03/08
Talk about HFCS in foods: have you checked out breads? Now really, how does that work? And the list of ingredients on any baked good from the store is amazing! Thank goodness that I like baking bread at home...
...speaking of which, I should do that tonight...I have some really nice rye flour that I have been meaning to get to...
Traveller at 11:47AM on 09/03/08
I haven't been very conscious about searching for HCFS when looking at lables (though I will now!). I don't buy a ton of processed foods anyways and have switched to agave nectar as my sweetner of choice for most things.
However, I am never giving up my Heinz ketchup. I just won't do it.
joyyy at 11:56AM on 09/03/08
Look for Heinz "Organic"! We saw it at Costco a week or so ago - no HFCS!
Fanciesmom at 12:28PM on 09/03/08
Okay, given that this stuff is worse for you than sugar, isn't this the sort of ingredient that becomes a problem when you consume too much of it, as opposed to small amounts? Besides soda/pop, where people might consume vast quantities, where are people actually eating enough of this stuff to make a difference?
I was thinking about this last night, and aside from things like ketchup, I couldn't think of any place where corn syrup was sneaking into my house. Well, except for the bottle of corn syrup, which I use when I'm making nut brittles at Christmas.
And if it is in my ketchup, it's not like that's something I'm consuming every day, or even every week. If you've got kids that drench all their foods in ketchup or other sauces, I can understand the concern. But if ketchup isn't classified as a vegetable in your house, the little bit that's in there can't amount to enough to panic over, can it?
dbcurrie at 1:33PM on 09/03/08
The less processed stuff you buy, the better off you are. But again, somethings things you didn't think might have more than one ingredient in (like the heavy cream I mentioned above) actually does. Check the labels on EVERYTHING. You will be surprised.
simon at 1:41PM on 09/03/08
@simon, I buy milk from a local dairy and there's no corn syrup in any of the milk products, including the chocolate milk. Maybe there is in the eggnog, but it's not that season, and it's not listed on the website.
I'd be darned surprised if there was corn syrup in the flour, salt or sugar that I buy, and I doubt it's being pumped into my carrots, dried beans, rice, or meat products. I checked the canned tomato products I have, as well as the jam from a local orchard and those are fine. So is the mustard.
The sweet pickle relish has HFCS, but the dill relish doesn't. Then again, about the only thing I use pickle relish on is hot dogs, so we're talking about something I eat a few times a year.
I also checked the more processed items I have -- jarred mole paste, chipotle chilis, black bean paste and similar sauces...and they're all clean, too.
Considering how sweet the sweet pickle relish is, that wasn't a surprising find. I dunno, maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but I'm not seeing a lot of HCFS lurking anywhere.
dbcurrie at 4:44PM on 09/03/08
One important thing to note: high fructose corn syrup is different than regular corn syrup (although HFCS does appear in some bottled "corn syrups").
I do like the "when i can avoid it" idea: when can't you avoid it? When its not, for whatever reason, important enough to you to be worth giving up whatever product it shows up in. Is there anything that HFCS is in that's actually essential?
ccbweb at 5:58PM on 09/03/08
@ccbweb, for me, it's not that I think there are essential products that HFCS is in (and where no HCFS-free alternatives are available) that is the issue.
Instead, unless someone can show me where small amounts of HFCS, consumed on occasion, is a health risk, I'm not going to be stressing out over food labels on things like ketchup and relish that I don't use often and don't use in large quantities when I do use them.
Either that, or someone is going to have to point out where these vast quantities of HFCS exist in my kitchen. I'm just not seeing it as an issue that I need to get stressed about.
I guess I'll check out the corn syrup labels next Christmas when I make brittles, and if there's a HFCS-free product available, I'll for that one.
dbcurrie at 7:26PM on 09/03/08
I think the problem with HFCS is with the people who aren't concerned with what they buy and consume. Most people I know think that I am a freak because I am a label reader. I am a bit excessive, I know that, but I read the label and if it has ingredients that I wouldn't use I don't buy it. Really I should make it myself, but I admit that I am lazy.
I see it at school where the kid's lunch boxes are full of it. It is in their bread, lunch meat, condiments, chips, yogurt, fruit snacks, drinks. You would be amazed. Wonder why there are so many behavior problems at school. I think that even if those things were made with sugar it is still too much.
I am pretty sure that the people who read this feed are not likely to consume too much of this and other cheap and easy synthetic additives the monster food companies are using. Monster, hmmm. Even Cookie Monster has changed his ways.
see http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=174545
I think that it is sad that corporate America thinks that it is necessary to deceive the public in order to pad their bottom line.
passion4eating at 1:07PM on 09/04/08
HFCS is in many, many low fat dressings and products. They take out the fat and have to replace it with something for mouthfeel. Look at fruit juices, pre-made drink mixes (it's even in some bloody mary mixes!!), breads, and lots and lots of processed foods.
I'm a firm believer in cumulative effect. We just don't know all the ramifications. HFCS and anything partially or otherwise hydrogenated do not get into my kitchen if I can help it.
Fanciesmom at 8:28PM on 09/04/08