The Truth About High Fructose Corn Syrup - The Science Behind the Sweetener

QSR Magazine ^ | May 2008 | Blair Chancey

[neverdem]

Dr. John White is the founder & president of White Technical Research, a consulting firm serving the food and beverage industry for nearly 15 years. He has worked with high fructose corn syrup for more than 25 years, and his expertise has been quoted by numerous news outlets. Organizations such as the American Council on Science and Health in Washington, D.C., the Institute of Food Technologists in Atlanta, and most recently the Corn Refiners Association have turned to him and his expertise on the sweetener for answers. Now, QSR talks with him to set the record straight about the similarities and differences between sugar and the contested HFCS.

Can you explain how high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was developed? What was on the market before its creation? We’re going back into the 1970s. At that time sucrose was the dominant sweetener. It has a composition that is half fructose and half glucose. Those are two monosaccharides. In sucrose there’s a bond between them. So sucrose is called a disaccharide, but in composition it is half fructose and half glucose.

The other dominant or common caloric sweetener was honey, and it has roughly the same composition but is mostly monosaccharides. So it’s about half fructose and half glucose and its monosaccharous, so there’s no bond between them. So those were the two common caloric sweeteners at the time.

There was a little bit of fruit juice concentrate that also happens to have the same composition, half fructose, half glucose, depending on the fruit that is being concentrated.

So how did HFCS come into the picture? The driving force was twofold for the development of HFCS. One was that it was not always easy to use sucrose in food applications where you had to dissolve the sugar to use it in...

[Ditter]

One Dorito, Frito or corn in any form gives me a migraine headache, I'll bet your husband is allergic to corn like I am.

[Don W]

The Costco in Woodburn Oregon carries the Coke you speak of. It tastes exactly like the Coke I used to drink as a kid.

Looks like I’m due for another trip to my buddy John’s place...

[Mr. Jeeves]

I think there is something more going on with HFCS than can be explained by chemistry. It's almost as if the body reacts to two tablespoons of the stuff as if you had actually eaten the twenty ears of corn needed to make it. Cane sugar doesn't seem to lead to the same drastic weight gain, though doubtless it would be better to give up all refined sugars.

You'll never convince an armchair chemist, but the results of mass HFCS consumption over the last three decades are hard to argue with.

[Think free or die]

"If it says pure 100% maple syrup, then that’s what it should be. It costs about $12 a half pint."

That's very expensive syrup. I typically pay about $10-12 for a quart of pure maple syrup. When I'm in New England, it's readily available, and when I visit my family in Michigan I can sometimes find it at a roadside stand for even less. Here in PA, it's available at most grocery stores and Trader Joe's - no problem.

[Mr. Lucky]

10,000 lbs. of corn is 178 bushels, which is about the average yield per acre for the heart of the corn belt.

[antisocial]

From Dr. Blaylock:

The worst diet is one high in N-6 fats, because it suppresses natural, cell mediated immunity while dramatically increasing inflammation. Americans eat 50 times the amount of these harmful fats as needed for health, mainly at the recommendation of the same government and medical geniuses who force vaccination programs on us.

Inflammation “boosters”

N-6 or omega-6 fats, including corn, safflower, sunflower, canola, peanut and soybean oils
high meat diets, which are high in iron and glutamate
soybean products
trans-fats
Inflammation “busters”

omega-3 oils (N-3 oils), found in fish and flaxseed
some white meats like chicken and turkey
a high intake of vegetables and some fruits
The following supplements help reduce inflammation:

curcumin
quercetin
hesperidin
ferulic acid
silymarin
magnesium
omega-3 (low EPA and high DHA)
vitamin C.
N-acetyl–L cysteine (NAC)
natural vitamin E (with high gammatocopherol)
Read more about the healthful effects of omega-3 oils in my special report “Omega-3: Nature’s Miracle Panacea” by going here.

[maine-iac7]

There are just too many studies out on the health hazards of HFCS to promote it over sucrose.

yes.

My rule of thumb is: Is it man-made or nature-made?

High Fructose Corn Syrup sounds benign - sounds natural. It is not.

I use honey and maple syrup (my grandson just brought me a bottle he boiled down) - both are nature-made.

I use organic sugar -

another rule of thumb is: If I can't recognize or pronounce the ingredients, I don't eat it...

[jps098]

I’ve often wondered if this is why so many under the age of 30 are so fat. (Pardon the expression). I wonder if many children balloon up because of the HFCS in everything.

[jps098]

Me too. My wife used to suffer from MSG migraines, and now suffers from a painful condition brought on by additives with potassium. We read every label. At least she no longer suffers from the migraines since she found MSG Buster.

[khnyny]

bump. Thanks for posting.

[SunkenCiv]

Lowfat salad dressing is (and other lowfat products are) often loaded with HFCS. Thanks neverdem.

[neverdem]

I’m curious . . . what about maple syrup? What kind of sugar is that? (I just bought a bottle — had a crazving for pancakes.)

Maple syrup, concentrated from the sap of maple trees, is a uniquely American product. It takes from 30 to 40 gallons of sap (3% sucrose) to produce one gallon of syrup (65% sucrose), and is only produced for 4 to 6 weeks in the spring when the sap first begins to flow. Unless labeled "pure maple syrup", a product is likely to be mixed with corn syrup to cut expense.

You're free to search for other sources. It doesn't describe what the remaining 35% is. Water? Other sugars?

[GOPJ]

thanks for the ping

[grey_whiskers]

Like, thanks dude.

Private FReepmail coming.

Cheers!

[matthew fuller]

"Then you'd be wrong. Two different types of corn are used for ethanol and human foods. "

I plead guilty to listening to media sources bemoaning the price increases of commodities worldwide and blaming the rise on corn being "diverted" to manufacture ethanol. I should have been more suspicious, however, it was very easy to agree that the environmentalists and politicians had cost us money again.

[ketsu]

I plead guilty to listening to media sources bemoaning the price increases of commodities worldwide and blaming the rise on corn being "diverted" to manufacture ethanol. I should have been more suspicious, however, it was very easy to agree that the environmentalists and politicians had cost us money again.

It *is* part of the problem. The issue is arable land used, not necessarily using more of a certain type of crop. That's why American hops production is now virtually nonexistent. It's more profitable to produce corn thanks to ethanol subsidies.

[traviskicks]

bookmark

[neverdem]

ping

[kruss3]

You are correct about the composition of sucrose. The problem with HFCS is that it does not generate the same metabolic response as sucrose. Leptin is part of the satiation response to sucrose/glucose. People will unconsciously consume more fructose than sucrose. The glucose is metabolized in all of the muscles and fructose must be metabolized in the liver (fat generating consequences).

Fructose also causes the absorption of extra iron in the gut. Iron is a major component in diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

[HamiltonJay]

Good luck with that... you want real sugar in your food anymore, you better make it yourself.

Especially when you want to talk soda/pop... there is only one company I know that uses 100% cane sugar to sweeten its product, and its a small regional outlet based in Natrona Heights, PA. There may be some others, but they are few and far between.

HFCS is in EVERYTHING... I can’t recall picking up and reading the label of ANYTHING sweet, that did not have this as an ingredient.