High Fructose Corn Syrup in Disney Desserts?

[angelmav]

Another thing I love about the food in europe, you almost never see HFCS! The soda tastes better (No comparison with Coke or Cherry Coke mixed w sugar vs HFCS IMO, much better with Sugar), A little treat made with sugar satisfies my cravings much better too, though I have noticed some of the same products that are made here with sugar are not nearly as sweet.

 

[dburg30]

Interesting discussion. I still don't know whether HFCS is actually bad for a person or not so I'll still stick to the my moderation rule.

Yep, that IMO is the best advice, unless of course you are literally allergic / sensitive to it, then that's a whole other issue. The problem is many people dont follow that rule. I'm one of them . I try to be good, but I just dont do what I should. I like the stuff too much, eat more then I should, then get mad at myself. Instead of grabbing that <insert snack> I should grab an apple or something. Or better yet, lots of times when I do that I'm just 'bored'. What I should do at that point is go outside and pull some weeds, or go get on the treadmill for a while if it's too dark outside or..... I just dont do it.

 

[NJ2Boardwalk]

and I completely agree with you about the Chefs! TS was amazing, they catered to my dietary issues really well (I don't eat dairy either!) I really don't eat much of anything, so it's pretty easy if they just throw me some fruits and veggies!

CS was much harder for me, I'm making sure we have at least 1 TS a day on our next trip!

So are all gluten/dairy free products free of HFCS as well? I don't normally eat processed stuff, but if they are, that would be a nice treat at WDW that wouldn't make me sick.

In our experience...all of the gluten/dairy free products are NOT always HFCS free as well. There have been times where my daughter thought she could have the product (such as sorbet) because it's dairy free, but has HFCS in it as a sweetener. The only products I have seen that are HFCS free are organic.

 

[RMulieri]

I'm not claiming to know any of the science behind any of this, but I'm glad some people came along to explain. Thanks!

I try to stay away from HFCS as much as possible. I'm a Type I (juvenile/insulin-dependent however you want to classify it) diabetic, and have been for awhile. Foods with HFCS in it tend to spike my sugar levels quicker and higher than foods that are made with cane sugar and other "natural" sugars.

A nutritionist told me it has something to do with the high glycemic index of corn and corn products.

So, in the interest of keeping my levels under control I make it a point to avoid as many HFCS products as possible. Obviously, in this day and age that is very difficult, so when I'm out at restaurants or other places I just make sure to test my levels a little more often, since the HFCS can creep up on me pretty quickly.

For the rest of my family it's just one of those, "If we don't have to, why should we?" type of things. Since the products made with cane sugar are out there, why subject ourselves to something created in a lab? Or something that supports the subsidized corn industry that has destroyed the lives of many farming families (debate for another place and time).

Exactly...HFCS does have a high glycemic index.It causes a massive insulin spike, moreso than naturally occuring sugars.Which to me = excess stored as fat.Once I cut out most HFCS out of my diet that I could, My moods improved..no more afternoon coma, and the weight that wouldn't come off ,started to come off.I don't care WHAT the government tells you, it is not good for you.

 

[RMulieri]

Some have posted that HFCS is only prevelant in the US because it is a "cheap" sweetener. Cheap is relative. HFCS is cheaper than sugar because of massive government subsidies to the corn industry, plus tarrifs on sugar imports that keep the price of sugar in the US about twice the price of pretty much everywhere else in the world. If the government would just get out of the way, HFCS would probably naturally go away.

You are right.I don't care what the government is selling as "healthy and safe" ANYTHING that I consume that causes me to have mood swings, become jittery, cause weight gain instead of loss despite the amount of exercise and just makes me feel all out terrible is not Good for you

 

[U2_rocks!]

Anything that is processed enough to contain HFCS shouldn't be eaten in the portion sizes that people tend to eat anyway. Dessert portions have gotten ridiculous! Our diets should mostly be fruits, veggies, whole grains (not processed cereals) and moderate amounts of meat (if you eat it). Even processed starches like white rice and pasta should be eaten in small amounts. If people ate a well-balanced meal of mostly veggies and a protein source, they could probably safely (barring true allergy/intolerance) eat a few bites of something with HFCS in it. Trouble is, most people don't eat that way. They either eat the processed food as a meal, or as a snack on an empty (ish) stomach. That allows the high-glycemic nature of the HFCS to cause a real spike in blood sugar, followed by a serious boost of insulin that is triggered by that blood sugar rise. If your body is sensitive to big swings in blood sugar, you will suffer.

When it comes to HFCS, or any sugar for that matter, it is always best to aim for slow absorption into the blood stream. And the best way to do this is to eat it after a meal that is high in protein (and not too high in simple starch), and limit the amount of it that you do eat (i.e. the correct portion size is not what the package or the restaurant implies!).

All of that to say that you don't have to have an all-out avoidance of HFCS unless you react to any amounts of it - you just have to be aware of what "small" or "moderate" really is. And if your diet is generally good (i.e. low in processed foods), you probably aren't eating all that much HFCS on a daily basis anyway.

 

[MusiqChic99]

I think people are missing that thanks to the sugar industry.

All things in moderation.

I had an employee that ate too many bannanas.

It caused his potassium to be too high and it was a problem.

AMEN!!!

I had a friend who cut out soda completely and only drank water. Apparently she drank too much of it and became overhydrated.

Moderation is key in many aspects if not all of life, not just food!

 

[cbg1027]

Exactly...HFCS does have a high glycemic index.It causes a massive insulin spike, moreso than naturally occuring sugars.Which to me = excess stored as fat.Once I cut out most HFCS out of my diet that I could, My moods improved..no more afternoon coma, and the weight that wouldn't come off ,started to come off.I don't care WHAT the government tells you, it is not good for you.

My friend is a medical student and said this is what they're currently teaching them - that HFCS is worse for you than sugar. Ounce for ounce, the calories in HFCS and sugar are practically the same, but the body metabolizes HFCS in a different way that leads to more of it being stored as fat.

 

[RMulieri]

My friend is a medical student and said this is what they're currently teaching them - that HFCS is worse for you than sugar. Ounce for ounce, the calories in HFCS and sugar are practically the same, but the body metabolizes HFCS in a different way that leads to more of it being stored as fat.

There are alot of studies right now about this ...They seem similar enough in calories, but the way the body reacts to them is completely different.High glycemic index=spike in insulin=more body fat stored.I am convinced this is why countries other than the US who use mostly cane sugar in their foods are not as obese as Americans( granted we are also more sedentary than other countries as well).Our diet is full of HIGHLY processed crap, and crap with very high glycemic indices.

 

[4orm]

Anything that is processed enough to contain HFCS shouldn't be eaten in the portion sizes that people tend to eat anyway. Dessert portions have gotten ridiculous! Our diets should mostly be fruits, veggies, whole grains (not processed cereals) and moderate amounts of meat (if you eat it). Even processed starches like white rice and pasta should be eaten in small amounts. If people ate a well-balanced meal of mostly veggies and a protein source, they could probably safely (barring true allergy/intolerance) eat a few bites of something with HFCS in it. Trouble is, most people don't eat that way.

spot on

 

[Colleen27]

And if your diet is generally good (i.e. low in processed foods), you probably aren't eating all that much HFCS on a daily basis anyway.

I don't know that this is a given. There are plenty of things that the average person isn't likely to think of as overly processed that contain HFCS, sometimes in fairly large amounts... Bread/buns, most sauces/dressings/condiments, pickles, most varieties of yogurt, even certain meats (sausages and cold cuts). Plenty of things that are part of a good diet have HFCS, frequently in greater quantities than the sugar content of naturally sweetened alternatives.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I don't know that this is a given. There are plenty of things that the average person isn't likely to think of as overly processed that contain HFCS, sometimes in fairly large amounts... Bread/buns, most sauces/dressings/condiments, pickles, most varieties of yogurt, even certain meats (sausages and cold cuts). Plenty of things that are part of a good diet have HFCS, frequently in greater quantities than the sugar content of naturally sweetened alternatives.

All of those foods you mentioned are processed foods. I wasn't talking about only OVERLY-processed foods.

Sure, it's hard to eat a "real food" diet. But people have to realize that they can't eat all the sauces, cold cuts, sweetened cereals, sweetened yogurts etc., and then a large dessert. Even if HFCS wasn't in them, and only regular sugar was, that's still too much sweetened stuff for the human body. No wonder there is such an obesity problem! People eat what they think is a reasonably healthful diet, and still they are gaining weight.

Having said all that, though, I do recognize how hard it is to eat the way the human body needs to be fed. I struggle with it daily. The point I was really making was that our general level of sugar consumption is way too high already - we should be doing something about that. I wish the response of the food industry could have been to save money by cutting out some of the added sugar, instead of trying to make a sweetener even sweeter so that they could use less of it.

 

[Elmo9607]

OP - to reply to your origional post, I'd agree with the first poster here and say if a dessert is made on-site there is likely no corn syrup. Even if it is made off-site in a commissary it may contain corn syrup or it may not. Note I'm talking about the dessert itself, and not about any ice cream, sauces, ect that are added to it. If it is something that is mass-produced to be distributed in the parks, then yes it is likely to have corn syrup.

Interestingly, the other day in my baking/pastry class one of the chefs (who is British and raised in Jamaica) was talking about the whole allergy thing we have going on here. She says overseas you never hear about that kind of stuff and she was amazed when she came over here about how odd our diets are compared to the rest of the world.