Last Updated on November 16, 2011 by Jimson Lee
The consumers against HFCS may have won the battle, but they haven’t won the war.
Due to increasing concerns and bad press about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has resulted in losing credibility and in effect, losing sales. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reported an 11% drop in consumer demand for HFCS.
So the Corn Refiners Association are fighting back.
The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) has applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this month for permission to rename (or rebrand) high fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar”. They claim is “sugar is sugar”. But the real reason is to “trick” the consumers that the evil HFCS is now called some form of “sugar”. Think about it. Consumers will be “fooled” into purchasing products made with “corn sugar” instead of HFCS.
Why stop there? Soon they will ask to remove the word “corn” from “corn sugar” because it could come from beets, sugarcane or corn.
Sugar is sugar, right?
At an energy level, yes it is, as sugar is 4 calories per gram (protein is 4.5 cal/g and fat is 9 cal/g), no matter what kind of “sugar” it is.
But the confusion lies in the fact that HFCS has three different grades for human consumption:
- Cornsweet 42
- Cornsweet 55, used for sodas and soft drinks
- Cornsweet 90, intensely sweet used for low-calorie products
The numbers 42, 55, and 90 denote the percent of fructose.
Sucrose, or table sugar, has 50% fructose. (see the article on Cancer Cells Love Fructose over Glucose for more information)
Is the excess fructose we have been ingesting over the last 40 years (or so) really the cause of all our health issues, from obesity to diabetes to cancer? For weight gain, see my previous article on Why Am I Fat? Here is the Simple Answer
Stay tuned…
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