The High Price of High Fructose Corn Syrup

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a nasty sweetener many people don't even know they're eating.  You look at a label and see it there and figure its sweetened corn, how bad can that be?  It's everywhere so it must be OK to eat.  Well, what you may not be aware of is that this sweet syrup is made from federally subsidized corn and it is cheaper to use than sugar.  It's a big money making business for those companies tucking it into everything from ice cream, to soda, bread, ketchup, cereal, and protein bars to name a few.  It accounts for half the sweetener used annually in the US today.  Production in the US went from 3,000 tons in 1967 to 9,227,000 tons in 2005.  HFCS production has increased 350% since 1980 alone.

Why is it bad for you?  It has more fructose (up to 80%) while sugar has 50% sucrose and 50% fructose.  The sucrose is metabolized in the blood stream and either used for fuel or stored as fat, while the fructose (containing no enzymes, vitamins, or minerals) is entirely metabolized in the liver where it turns rapidly into fat.  Fructose is a lipogenic food, which means it has fat storing properties, boosting our fat storage hormones.  It also increases triglycerides which are an indicator for heart disease.  When you make a low fat food choice such as yogurt, you may think you are eating something heart healthy and that it will lead to weight loss however, much of the fat removed in yogurt is replaced with high fructose corn syrup.  Instead you are getting fatter because of the added carbs and fructose.

Recently there has been a lot of press about how bad HFCS is for you.  Some companies are responding by removing HFCS and replacing it with plain old sugar.  Recently I have seen in the grocery store "Throwback Pepsi".  This has no HFCS and only sugar....like we used to drink when we were kids.  I bought a bottle to see if it tasted any different.  It was much less sweet.  Interestingly, though, my kids didn't care for it.  They said it wasn't as sweet as what they are used to.  Our kids have grown up on this HFCS.  They don't even know what real sugar in soda tastes like.  They are used to the extra sweetness of HFCS.  Not good at all.  Look around for items labeled "Simply" on the front.   That is a key that HFCS has been replaced with sugar.  I have seen this on Ketchup and on pudding.

Here is Heinz new Ketchup: 

and Pepsi Throwback:


Here is the Pudding: