Sunday, October 12, 2008

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Have you seen those commercials on TV promoting the health of high fructose corn syrup? I totally thought that I was watching Saturday Night Live. This had to be some kind of joke.

"Don't give that to the kids. It has high fructose corn syrup in it."
"You know, that's just a fancy smanshy name for corn."
"Great! Let's feed it to the kids with a side of mercury and lead paint."

Hang my head in shame, but while I knew to stay away from HFCS I had no idea why. As a girl with a major sweet tooth, I knew that I needed to do a little research.

Disclaimer: I am not a scientist. I don't even wear white (black is way more flattering).

Fact #1 HFCS is made from genetically modified corn and is then processed with genetically modified enzymes. Frankenfood

Fact #2 Most companies use HFCS instead of sugar because of the expense of importing sugar. Corn crops are subsidized in the US and therefore are much cheaper than corn. Cheaper ingredients equal great profits.

Fact #3 Studies have found that soft drinks sweetened with HFCS are up to 10 times richer in harmful carbonyl compounds than diet soda. Carbonyl compounds are elevated in people with diabetes and are blamed for causing diabetic complications such as foot ulcers and eye and nerve damage

Fact # 4 Glucose is metabolized in every cell in the body but all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. That's a lot of extra stress on the liver.

Now the Corn Refiners Association has begun to realize that the American people are waking-up and not making their food purchases blindly. Cue the horrible commercials.

I poked around on YouTube (what could be more fun on a lazy Sunday afternoon) and found a few parodies of the Pro-HFCS commercials. Funny I tell you. This one in particular is a hoot. Anytime you can compare companies blindly leading American consumers to the Nazis, it really drives the massage home.


10 comments:

Annette said...

Great post. And that video really drives the point home. I always feel a little dirty after I see one of those commercials.

Cassandra said...

Amen, sister! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw those commercials!

Shaina said...

Thanks for the comment! You reminded me that I need to make a new post soon. I actually found your blog through one of my writing jobs. I'm paid to write the comments for "GreenOfficeBlog," so when you see that name, it's me! You're definitely one of my fave blogs to read, which makes it a pretty easy gig.

Donielle said...

That video was hysterical! I just saw my first magazine ad from the corn refiners assoc. It was an ad with two women, one saying "my hairdresser said HFCS is bad for you", the other replies, "oh, so your hairdresser is a doctor?"
Who says doctors like HFCS?!?

Grasping at straws otherwise all their profits go down the tubes.

katrina berg said...

hi kerry :) just wanted to say hello, i've enjoyed your eureka article and look forward to writing along side you. luv your blog by the way. this HFCS post is great. i think we'd all be surprised to find what horrible things we are eating to save a litle time...scarry!

Akkire said...

nice post gruppie!

the soda companies could use sugar they choose not to! Canada had HFCS free soda and we in the US deserve it too!!

Hope said...

Hubby and I try to avoid HFCS at all costs, I was amazed the things it was in, not just sodas but yogurt, ice cream, canned fruit, even ketchup!

Ruth Dynamite said...

We live in a scary, scary world.

Thanks for the good info!

Gruppie Girl said...

Treen~ Thank you for the welcome!

Hope~ Great point. At breakfast this morning I turned over my jar of jelly only to find it contained HFCS. I have been eating that brand of jelly forever. Yuck!

Anonymous said...

Our best fight against high fructose corn syrup might be the advancement of Michael Pollan for Secretary of Agriculture even if it is only in name.