high fructose corn syrup

[Colleen27]

A few people have mentioned buying different bread to avoid HFCS, and that's one of the foods I've not been able to switch yet. (I have successfully switched ketchup, and not-quite-so-successfully maple syrup.)

Anyway, we currently eat a store brand whole wheat, which does have some HFCS in it, but I've tried 3 other breads without it, and DS hates them all! It seems all the good ones contain big bits of added stuff - more multi-grain than just whole wheat. (And I don't just mean they're including all parts of the wheat, and it's a little grainier - I mean like throwing in sunflower kernals to make it stand out to shoppers. Yummy to me as a grown-up, but "disgusting" texture-wise to a kid.)

So, if you've switched, what brand(s) do you buy?

I make a lot of our bread, but like to keep a store-bought loaf or two in the freezer for when I'm feeling lazy. Aunt Millie's and Koepplingers (sp?) both have "natural" product lines with no high fructose corn syrup that offer plain old white and wheat breads as an option, and Aunt Millie's is one of very few mainstream brands I've found that makes hot dog/hamburger buns without HFCS. Our locally-owned grocery also carries Spartan brand (I don't know if you'd find that outside of Michigan/the Great Lakes region), which doesn't use HFCS in their "homestyle" line. Also, if your store has an actual bakery department, that often gives you more options because most small bakers don't use HFCS or other "industrial" food additives due to cost/storage/logistics.

 

[Colleen27]

This brings to mind the difference in taste of canned/bottled coke to fountain coke. I wonder if the boxes for the fountain had sugar and not the HFCS. I always noticed a difference, always preferred the fountain soda. I personally haven't had fountain soda in years, so I don't know if this still holds true.

Fountain soda, at least in the places I've worked and seen ingredients, is no different than store bought. The reason it tastes different is age - the fountain mixes the soda when it is dispensed, resulting in a more bubbly product than a soda that was mixed months ago and packaged to keep in a warehouse-truck-store-pantry-fridge until you're ready to drink it.

 

[Colleen27]

Honestly, once you do eliminate it you get used to food being less sweet but more flavorful. And when you try it again, it just doesn't taste good anymore.
.

Funny thing, that. When I was a kid, my grandmother sometimes used to fix us burgers, no bun, with Heinz ketchup from a glass bottle a big ol' slice of watermelon. I loved that, it was one of my favorite dinners. As a teen/adult, though, I could hardly stomach the smell of ketchup much less the taste. For years and years I chalked it up to growing up, and finally gave up on trying to recreate that "perfect" kid meal. Then I started eliminating HFCS from my family's diet. Guess what? I like ketchup again! It wasn't me that changed, it was Heinz. The organic ketchup I buy now tastes just like what I remembered from my childhood, thick and tomato-y and not over sweet.

Mexican (imported) Coke taught me the same lesson about soda - it isn't the glass bottle that makes the difference, those baby bottles at the grocery store taste just the same as the stuff in the 2ltr. It is just that HFCS was phased in around the same time glass packaging was phased out, and the blame landed on the wrong change.

 

[englishteacha]

I'm trying to reduce my sugar consumption, so I've been reading labels more carefully. I can't believe all the foods that have sugar or HFCS! Yogurt and bread both really surprised me. Yogurt (some of them at least) has sugar, fructose, and HFCS.

 

[MosMom]

I make many items from scratch. Anything tomato based, I make. A little garlic, onion, herbs, and crushed tomatoes (fresh or canned) make an amazing marinara. Way better than anything that comes in a jar. It doesn't take much longer than using jarred either. Add in some green pepper, mushroom, big chunks of onion, ground turkey and you've got a wicked spaghetti sauce.

We are a red sauce kind of family so I make big batches of different sauces and freeze them.

I make my own baked goods, sweet and savory. When I do buy bread, I buy either Aunt Millie's or Healthy Life.

 

[FireDancer]

A few people have mentioned buying different bread to avoid HFCS, and that's one of the foods I've not been able to switch yet. (I have successfully switched ketchup, and not-quite-so-successfully maple syrup.)

Anyway, we currently eat a store brand whole wheat, which does have some HFCS in it, but I've tried 3 other breads without it, and DS hates them all! It seems all the good ones contain big bits of added stuff - more multi-grain than just whole wheat. (And I don't just mean they're including all parts of the wheat, and it's a little grainier - I mean like throwing in sunflower kernals to make it stand out to shoppers. Yummy to me as a grown-up, but "disgusting" texture-wise to a kid.)

So, if you've switched, what brand(s) do you buy?

Trader Joe's has a variety of breads that not only have no HFCS but also have less then 5g or sugar (in some cases 2 per slice). TJ's has a lot of good food alternatives. They have marinara sauce that has only tomatoes and other vegetables with no added sugar for example.

 

[MosMom]

I love Trader Joe's. Unfortunately, I live in a small town with nothing but Walmart, Kroger, and Save-a-lot. Kroger is our best bet so we have to go with what is offered. In most cases, we end up just making our own.

 

[Aristocath]

I avoid HFCS. Mostly because I used to drink 3 Cokes a day and when I quit, I lost fifteen pounds. I started reading labels and buying products without it and took off the last five pounds I wanted to lose.

The best thing about it is the example I set for my three sons. My husband doesn't drink sodas either and my kids rarely drink them now. They always wanted sodas when I drank them, now the boys want water.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

more info:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090826110118.htm

not familiar with the source of this article, but there is a link to the actual study at the bottom.

seems they are feeding bees HFCS and this could be implicated in the decline in bee populations. Also, possible dangers in the chemical breakdown in humans.

Interesting.

 

[princessmom29]

We eat Nature's Own bread made with organic whole wheat flour. It is sweetened with brown sugar and raisin juice concentrate for the 100% whole wheat variety. There is also a honey wheat variety with added honey. All Nature's Own varieties are HFCS free. I buy it at the bakery outlet so I usually don't pay more than $1.50 a loaf (less if they have a special sale). I have kids and they like it.

The honey wheat here DOES contain HCFS. I don't know if it is regional, but we buy the 100% whole wheat instead.

 

[princessmom29]

Funny thing, that. When I was a kid, my grandmother sometimes used to fix us burgers, no bun, with Heinz ketchup from a glass bottle a big ol' slice of watermelon. I loved that, it was one of my favorite dinners. As a teen/adult, though, I could hardly stomach the smell of ketchup much less the taste. For years and years I chalked it up to growing up, and finally gave up on trying to recreate that "perfect" kid meal. Then I started eliminating HFCS from my family's diet. Guess what? I like ketchup again! It wasn't me that changed, it was Heinz. The organic ketchup I buy now tastes just like what I remembered from my childhood, thick and tomato-y and not over sweet.

Mexican (imported) Coke taught me the same lesson about soda - it isn't the glass bottle that makes the difference, those baby bottles at the grocery store taste just the same as the stuff in the 2ltr. It is just that HFCS was phased in around the same time glass packaging was phased out, and the blame landed on the wrong change.

I cannot taste the difference between the organic heinz and the regular, but i can taste the difference in a soda with sugar vs HCFS.

 

[sbell111]

more info:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090826110118.htm

not familiar with the source of this article, but there is a link to the actual study at the bottom.

seems they are feeding bees HFCS and this could be implicated in the decline in bee populations. Also, possible dangers in the chemical breakdown in humans.

Interesting.

Some disagree

 

[Nette]

Some disagree

Anyone else note the "Corn Refiners Association" logo at the bottom of that page?

 

[Colleen27]

Some disagree

Well, of course they disagree. SweetSurprise.com is the pro-HFCS site that the Corn Refiners Association set up to try to oppose the growing number of consumers choosing to avoid HFCS. That's one of the reasons I'm so skeptical about all of the food additives that have filtered into the American diet - there's virtually no oversight or regulation, and often the industry itself sponsors/funds (and in some cases even conducts) the research that "proves" an additive's safety. And should a peer-reviewed journal publish anything to the contrary, they immediately go all-out to discredit the research and researchers.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Well, of course they disagree. SweetSurprise.com is the pro-HFCS site that the Corn Refiners Association set up to try to oppose the growing number of consumers choosing to avoid HFCS. That's one of the reasons I'm so skeptical about all of the food additives that have filtered into the American diet - there's virtually no oversight or regulation, and often the industry itself sponsors/funds (and in some cases even conducts) the research that "proves" an additive's safety. And should a peer-reviewed journal publish anything to the contrary, they immediately go all-out to discredit the research and researchers.

This is the problem I have with the whole GMO debate. The "industry" does not want to have label foods that have been made with GMO's. Why not? If it is so safe, than why do you want to hide what's in it?

As a consumer, I shouldn't have to figure it out for myself. HFCS is another "shortcut" that the food industry has created. Not only is it possible that it is creating an unhealthier America, but it is also part of the Super-Corn industry that has driven the prices of corn to such a low that it is destroying the corn growers' livelihoods.

The food industry is out of control, and, I fear, it can never be wrangled in again. For every bit of "free thought" that some people want to have about what they put in their mouths, groups, like the Corn Refiners have more money and power to put other things right back into your mouths. It's disgusting.

 

[rie'smom]

HFCS is processed in the body differently than regular cane sugar. Think about this- it was in the late 70's early 80's that companies started using HFCS instead of sugar. It was a few years later that the obesity rate started to go through the roof.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/79/4/537



Obesity is a major epidemic, but its causes are still unclear. In this article, we investigate the relation between the intake of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and the development of obesity. We analyzed food consumption patterns by using US Department of Agriculture food consumption tables from 1967 to 2000. The consumption of HFCS increased > 1000% between 1970 and 1990, far exceeding the changes in intake of any other food or food group. HFCS now represents > 40% of caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages and is the sole caloric sweetener in soft drinks in the United States. Our most conservative estimate of the consumption of HFCS indicates a daily average of 132 kcal for all Americans aged >= 2 y, and the top 20% of consumers of caloric sweeteners ingest 316 kcal from HFCS/d. The increased use of HFCS in the United States mirrors the rapid increase in obesity. The digestion, absorption, and metabolism of fructose(HFCS) differ from those of glucose. Hepatic metabolism of fructose favors de novo lipogenesis. In addition, unlike glucose, fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion or enhance leptin production. Because insulin and leptin act as key afferent signals in the regulation of food intake and body weight, this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased energy intake and weight gain. Furthermore, calorically sweetened beverages may enhance caloric overconsumption. Thus, the increase in consumption of HFCS has a temporal relation to the epidemic of obesity, and the overconsumption of HFCS in calorically sweetened beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity.

De novo lipogenesis is the metabolic route by which mammals convert excessive dietary carbohydrates into fat. In other words, HFCS converts to fat. HFCS also doesn not activate insulin and leptin which signal the body that it is full.

So yes, there are commercials put out by the HFCS lobby that state HFCS isn't different from cane sugar but it is.

 

[buckler]

The honey wheat here DOES contain HCFS. I don't know if it is regional, but we buy the 100% whole wheat instead.

Have you checked the labels recently? The Nature's Own website says they have reformulated all of their varieties to be HFCS free.

"Now, in response to consumer requests, Nature’s Own has removed HFCS from all its bread and bun varieties—including Whitewheat. Look for "No high fructose corn syrup" on the packaging."

 

[LuvOrlando]

This is the problem I have with the whole GMO debate. The "industry" does not want to have label foods that have been made with GMO's. Why not? If it is so safe, than why do you want to hide what's in it?

As a consumer, I shouldn't have to figure it out for myself. HFCS is another "shortcut" that the food industry has created. Not only is it possible that it is creating an unhealthier America, but it is also part of the Super-Corn industry that has driven the prices of corn to such a low that it is destroying the corn growers' livelihoods.

The food industry is out of control, and, I fear, it can never be wrangled in again. For every bit of "free thought" that some people want to have about what they put in their mouths, groups, like the Corn Refiners have more money and power to put other things right back into your mouths. It's disgusting.

You're right. Remember when some farmers started to label their milk 'non irradiated' and the whole industry got the labels banned on the grounds that saying something wasn't irradiated inferred radiation was bad Where do the manufacturers rights to sell end and our right to reject poor options begin?

I think all these fads would die down a bit if people could trust the supposed safeguards more. At this point the scientific community ect have lost so much credibility that every snake oil salesman seems to be just as valid as the big gov't acronyms.

 

[TheZue]

I am trying to stop buying food with this stuff in it as well. It's in SO MUCH though. The croutons we regularly bought had it, and when I switched to the organic version of the same brand they were of course more money and it took us a few uses to adjust to the tase again...I still don't get why croutons need sugar.

I really wish they would STOP the corn subsidies. It would open up space for other crops and bring the prices down for them, and maybe they'd stop feeding it to cows. I just can't believe how many things corn is in now

 

[Wishing on a star]

HFCS is processed in the body differently than regular cane sugar.

De novo lipogenesis is the metabolic route by which mammals convert excessive dietary carbohydrates into fat. In other words, HFCS converts to fat. HFCS also doesn not activate insulin and leptin which signal the body that it is full.

So yes, there are commercials put out by the HFCS lobby that state HFCS isn't different from cane sugar but it is.

People can choose to believe that HFCS is 'okay'... and continue to justify their 24/7 soda habits... (and it is not just in soda, but in most EVERYTHING that goes onto our tables) but, after sifting thru all the hype... THIS is what is known to be true....

I avoid modified HFCS whenever humanly possible.