HFCS Why?

[Mouse House Mama]

Why do they need to put this in everything? It is not even a food! We never had this junk when we were younger. Why now? Since we are trying to eliminate it from our diets I am sickened by just how many food have it. Seriously- ketchup? You need it in ketchup? Never needed it before. Now we do apparently. It just makes me so mad that so many foods scream HEALTHY! on the box only to read the ingredients and find out it is loaded with junk like HFCS. Sorry jsut had to get that off my chest. As you were.

 

[java]

There is a huge thread over on the budget board with some great info on products that are HFCS free. They have done a lot of the taste testing and I have had good luck with their suggestions. Here is the link
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1595131

 

[crazyforgoofy]

High fructose corn syrup is cheap and has become the 'taste' Americans want. I think it may be one of the root causes of obesity and Type II Diabetes becoming commonplace.

You have to search for products without it. Imagine how much your kid is ingesting every day in bread, cereal, soft drinks, packaged foods of all kinds. Yep, ketchup. It's the taste we've come to crave. But it just may kill us.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Thanks Jave I'll check it out.

I don't buy foods that have it in it. It just annoys the tar out of me that they load foods up with it. Especially food that is marketed to kids.

 

[Seahunt]

I'm thinking maybe that you might start seeing less and less of high fructose corn syrup in food products in the future because corn is being touted to use to manufacture ethanol (biofuels) now, and so it won't be as cheaply available to process into the "cheap" sweetner for foods as in the past

The trouble is, I wonder if that happens what the scientists will come up with to replace hfcs - probably something equally as bad or worse!

 

[CPT Tripss]

ADM!
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/5/10/135951/485
http://www.politicalaccountability.net/files/TAArcherDanielsMidland05-01-07.pdf

 

[shortbun]

This is why we do most of our grocery shopping at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Much healthier ingredients for the most part. I have found two types of bread at my regular grocery without it. One style of Sara Lee (label says 100% natural) and another off brand are both sweetened with brown sugar. I'm trying to help my child avoid the issues of fighting overweight that I had as a young person. Of course, my mother taught me to count with M&M's.
We're actually headed for one of the 3X a year we have candy in the house-
Easter. I still love candy and of course, my son does too but we now know it as a treat rather than a tool, lol!! Yes, hfcs is everywhere. So is food dye. Trans fat is still in so many things. It's tough to eat healthy. Bravo to those who are trying to do it!!!

 

[Green Tea]

I have seen the mentioned thread, but have not read it to know why we are supposed to avoid the product. What is wrong with it, other than it is sugar.

 

[java]

I have seen the mentioned thread, but have not read it to know why we are supposed to avoid the product. What is wrong with it, other than it is sugar.

Not really sugar- a processed product that is being added into almost everything - and things that don't need the processed crud built in. (perhaps it has something to do with the obesity problem in kids these days- when you can't buy a bread in your average grocery store without HFCS in it how are they supposed to avoid it.)
People say just eliminating those products have improved their health. Quite frankly it is nearly impossible for us to eliminate it completely but I am on the hunt for as many HFCS products that I can find. How about sweetened it with plain old SUGAR.

HFCS is a highly processed corn syrup to chemically up the fructose %. It is the cheaper alternative to sugar that is why it is now in everything from Cereal to milk.

 

[SetzKitten]

I'm glad it is finally getting some attention. I've been screaming about it since way, way back when Coke went from the original recipe to the new recipe to the classic recipe, the classic switching sugar for HFCS. Now it is in everything. I just want my food without any sugar or HFCS. It is a daily challenge.

 

[lemondog]

I believe I read somewhere that HFCS is illegal everywhere except in the US, because it is THAT BAD for you!

I try and buy foods without it. All of my snack-type products, cereals, etc. come from Whole Foods, so I know they are HCFS free. I carefully check labels on everything else. Pretty much anything that says all-natural is going to use real sugar instead of HFCS.

Re: Ketchup...someone told me that Heinz makes an organic ketchup that is HFCS-free and tastes really good!

 

[JimFitz]

I am positive we will look back at food companies in 20 years like we did on Tobacco companies. I am sure HFCS is addictive and I would not be surprised if food companies have studied how to make Americans addicted to the foods they sell.

 

[becka]

Lemondog - The Heinz ketchup that is HFCS is labeled as Heinz organic. DS eats in and really likes it but it is of course much more $$$. A smallish bottle runs me almost $5 and DS is your typical 5 year old that really likes ketchup.

I can certainly commiserate about finding foods without HFCS. My DS has a corn allergy in addition to a milk allergy. Trying to find him foods to eat is almost an impossible task somedays. We don't have Whole Foods or Trader Joes but I sure wish we did. Much of my shopping for DS is in the small organic section of one of the supermarkets in town.

I was amazed how hard it was to find simple items like bread that didn't have HFCS in them. The few I found without HFCS had milk in them so they were off limits to DS as well. I was making all of our own bread for a while when I finally found one brand - 100% Wheat Amana bread - that is OK for him to eat.

 

[SetzKitten]

Lemondog - The Heinz ketchup that is HFCS is labeled as Heinz organic. DS eats in and really likes it but it is of course much more $$$. A smallish bottle runs me almost $5 and DS is your typical 5 year old that really likes ketchup.

I buy Delmonte ketchup. It is regular price and it has no HFCS.

 

[Kath2003]

It does seem to be in everything - I know that when Brits visit the USA they remark that everything tastes much sweeter; even things like bread.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Arnolds All Natural wheat bread does not have it in it. Thanks for the tip on the ketchup. I will look for the organic and the Delmonte.

 

[Cindyluwho]

I'm glad it is finally getting some attention. I've been screaming about it since way, way back when Coke went from the original recipe to the new recipe to the classic recipe, the classic switching sugar for HFCS. Now it is in everything. I just want my food without any sugar or HFCS. It is a daily challenge.

We're so lucky around here, we can buy Coke from the local Mexican market and it's imported from Mexico and is made with sugar instead of HFCS. The weird thing is that it's actually against the law for them to sell it? Brilliant! Anyway, I'm not much of a soda drinker but I really like the "old" coke. In fact, most of the Mexican made sodas are made with sugar!

 

[katerkat]

I had the hardest time finding bread without it. This year, Franz/Snyder's in the NW started making a bunch of different loaves, all named after NW sites. I love them!

My son has real issues with HCFS. He really just can't handle having it in his body.

 

[becka]

Thanks for the tip on the ketchup. I don't even remember seeing Delmonte ketchup at our store. Maybe they don't carry it.

I figure since we don't live in a big city we are just so limited as to what the grocery stores carry. There is only one store in town that I can find the Amana bread. Breads for us get much more complicated because most of them include some milk as well.

 

[Beth76]

I'm going to have to read up on this. I'd not heard this before, I thought it was just another form of sugar. What about things like just fructose or just corn syrup? Are those just as bad too or is it just the HFCS?


Becka, you should write to Trader Joe's to suggest opening a store in Columbia. I bet they would do really well there. I don't know what's there now, but the only place I would shop when I lived there was Schnucks and it was expensive.