The Corn Syrup Lobby

The high-fructose corn syrup lobby is working hard to counter all those pesky notions floating out there suggesting that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is generally not a great thing, that its production is killing the American farmer, and the soil that farmer farms, and that it is the cornerstone of a system of synthetic nutrition that has led to epidemics in obesity, diabetes, and more.

In the commercials (click here to view), the hapless corn-syrup detractors have no idea what they're talking about, only stammering, "well, you know what they say about it...."  The "educated" pro-syrup person in the ad, however, is always smug, armed, and ready to gently chide and convince the person to take a bite - two! - of a Popsicle, or help themselves to a mug of fruit punch at the kids' party.

One fact that's mentioned in every ad is that high-fructose corn syrup is "fine in moderation."  I don't disagree with that, actually, in theory.  But in reality there's nothing about HFCS that actually reflects the concept of "moderation."  I read in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle that we consume 54.8 gallons of soda per person per year in America.  CNN has reported that soda makes up 10% of American food calories. The consumption of HFCS doubled from 1980 to 2004, to 78 pounds per capita in '04.

Where's the moderation there? 

And that doesn't even touch the production side, where farmland is crowded with genetically-modified corn plants that are made for processing, not nourishing.  Fine in moderation.  In theory, maybe.

What's your view of HFCS?  Do you avoid it religiously, or try to steer clear of it when you can?  For my part, I cut out soda from my diet a few years ago and don't regret that at all.  Like everything else in my eating life, I am trying to be faithful to a true concept of "everything in moderation."  That's why the corn syrup lobby ads bother me so much. 

In the spirit of moderation, meanwhile, David Lebovitz has a fantastic post that explains when to use corn syrup in baking (it's an "invert sugar," meaning it keeps crystals from forming, a great thing when you're making shiny, smooth things like caramels or chocolate sauces).  The Karo syrup that's used in baking, though, is not "high-fructose," it's important to note. And often there are more natural substitutes (like honey in caramels) that can stand in for corn syrup.  Often, but not always.  Moderation.

Comments

[Bev]

I read labels and simply put it back on the shelf if it contains HFCS or partially hydrogenated fats. I did give up my favorite soft drink (am totally unwilling to drink artificial sweeteners)and was suprised at how little I care about it now that I have changed my habits.

It was totally worth it though, because I lost almost 50 pounds by avoiding these products along with any product for which the ingredient list reads too much like a chemistry experiment. In the days I was consuming HFCS products, it was extremely hard to lose weight. Now it's easy to keep it off, even though I do eat some sweets made with regular sugar.

We metabolize HFCS differently than sugar. If I understand correctly, both are a molecule of fructose and glucose, but the HFCS breaks apart faster in your body and causes your levels of ghrelin to rise (hormone that increases appetite) and leptin (hormone that tells you that you're full) to fall. I was shocked at the difference it made when I gave up HFCS.

I am a little miffed that I can't eat Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia anymore since they started putting HFCS in it, but if enough of us don't eat it, perhaps the food companies will start using real less-processed food as ingredients.

[Holly]

You're absolutely right, Maxine - of course soda isn't remotely the only food that contains HFCS, everything from cereal to bread to cookies to cough syrup has it. The Accidental Hedonist put together this list of products: http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php/2005/06/09/foods_and_products_containing_high_fruct

Thanks for your comment, love your blog!

[Maxine]

You're post fails to mention that HFCS is in more than just cokes; it's hard to find anything on a grocery shelf that doesn't contain the nastiness, unless it's organic. Because even though the corn syrup lobby was able to get it labeled "natural" they haven't so far been able to get it labeled organic.
When everything you eat contains HFCS, there is no such thing as "moderation". I talked about this back in September when I first saw the commercials. http://greenacrosstexas.blogspot.com/2008/09/not-so-sweet-surprise.html

PS - love the idea of your new blog, came over from Tiny Choices

[Betsey]

I try to avoid HFCS. I do almost all of my grocery shopping at Whole Foods, which makes it a lot easier - there are far fewer products there which contain it. It is in our ketchup - the family mutinies when I purchase anything but Heinz. When I have to shop at a "regular" grocery store, I don't stress too much if I can't find the product I want without HFCS, because the bulk of our diet is unprocessed fresh foods, which by definition don't have HFCS.