You know those commercials where the woman is having a picnic with her man and eating a chemical-laden Popsicle and he says, "You know what they SAY about high-fructose corn syrup!" And she's all, "What? What do they say? That it's the same thing as ... sugar?!" Then if you look really closely at the bottom of that commercial, you'll see it's paid for by The Corn Refiners Association. They want you to believe that their product -- high-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS -- is natural. It is anything but. HFCS is manufactured from corn syrup (primarily glucose), which undergoes "enzymatic processing" to increase the fructose content and is then mixed with glucose.
It's no wonder a group of sugar farmers and refiners has filed a lawsuit against several corn processors and their lobbying group for their effort to rebrand high-fructose corn syrup as "corn sugar." They want to put a stop to that creepy campaign you're sure to have encountered by now that markets HFCS as a natural product.
It sounds kinda like a junior high popularity contest. "We're, like, the real volleyball team, but the intramural team just says they are!" or some such ... As juvenile as it sounds at first glimpse, though, I gotta say I'm totally on Team Sugar. Who would have thought I'd ever go to bat for the sugar people, cuz it's not like they're innocent either. But they sure beat the corn people, as far as I'm concerned.
It's clear from research that the corn industry is outright lying to us. They want us to believe that their product has the same effect on our bodies as regular sugar, and that is simply not the case. HFCS is made of roughly 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. Research from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centers shows that our bodies make fat from fructose more readily than other kinds of sugar. Their studies showed that after eating fructose, the liver boosts fat storage. Other evidence finds that unlike glucose, fructose doesn't trigger the process by which the body tells us it's full. And in men, HFCS appears to elevate triglycerides, which increase the risk of heart disease.
Awesome. So, in other words, HFCS is definitely contributing to our country's obesity epidemic.
Not that regular sugar is all that great for us, but at least it really IS what it says it is. And being that it's not made in a lab, our bodies know what to do with it.
As Inder Mathur, President and CEO of Western Sugar Cooperative, says:
This suit is about false advertising, pure and simple. If consumers are concerned about your product, then you should improve it or explain its benefits, not try to deceive people about its name or distort scientific facts.
Amen. Here's hoping the sugar farmers take the corn industry's campaign down.
How do you feel about HFCS?
Image via Richard Bitting/Flickr
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Comments 16
I loved the SNL spoof they did of it a while back- but yes, the commercials are condescending and misleading. Good for the sugar farmers!
Regardless of how it is digested in your body, why would it be a good thing at all to eat something that is so processed?! Yea, sugar isn't great for you, but if you're gonna eat a freakin' cookie, it one with real ingrediants. I haven't seen these commercials, but I'm sure they're ridiculous & I hope there isn't anyone out there falling for the corn company's bull. Another reason I don't have cable.
Well, either way you slice it sugar is bad for you and wreaks havoc on your body. The ratio of glucose to fructose in both table sugar (1:1) and HFCS (55% fructose) is nearly the same, so it is metabolized in almost the same way. In a way, they are right that your body can't tell the difference, but they are also misleading people intentionionally by not mentioning leptin resistance and it's affect on satiety.
And while we're at it, refined carbs basically ilicit the same response in your body as sugar.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/diabetes/
Sorry, I just read that in baked goods and some processed foods they use a "blend" of HFCS that is 90% fructose. So, yeah that would be different. They use the 55% in sodas mostly. Again, I really hope people start looking at sugar and carbohydrates (mostly grains) and realize what they do to your body.
You know, I was really skeptical about the whole sugar/hfcs thing until I did my own little test. I used to be a Mt. Dew Addict - from way back. We're talking 10 years old here. I loved the stuff. (still do, if I"m honest) Well over the years, they went from sugar to HFCS and I didn't notice. Who does, when you're a teenager?
Couple years ago, they came out with the "Throwback" line - Mt. Dew and Pepsi made with real sugar, rather than HFCS. At this point, I was drinking multiple cans of Dew each day. Out of curiosity, I tried the Throwback Dew. It was the Dew that I remembered from my childhood. So I bought a case.
And amazingly, after I drank one full can, I didn't want another. Not for the rest of the day. I went from several cans per day to one or two. And then one. And now, none. The difference was that quick. My body was, apparently, continued looking for something after I finished the cans of HFCS Dew. The regular sugar Dew satisfied that craving.
HFCS, in any form, is not the same as real sugar. I really don't care about the percentages. I trust my body.
HFCS is banned in my house. I'm not a fan of any food item that needs a lab tech to make it, and I also avoid processed foods and we don't drink soda, so it's not a hard decision.
I hope the sugar farmers win on this. I would also like to see some regulations on labeling GMO foods - hopefully a battle that isn't too far in the future.
If I can not buy it in the store to use on my own I don't want it in my food. You can buy plain corn syrup but this HFCS is the work of the devil. My one son have problems with it. His face gets red and his behavior changes and I do believe it had a helping hand in his developmental delays. I say this because when I removed it from the home his whole attitude and behavior changed for the better. I use sugar and splenda, but mostly sugar. Splenda is great though in tea and coffee.