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High fructose corn syrup in my bread???

Blog entry posted by cesar in Food on February 19, 2024 - 10:23am
Key words: Food, Vegetables, Resolution, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Fruits, Food, Fairway, Blog.

Before talking about the high fructose corn syrup in bread, I just wanted to say that since my trip to Fairway on 125th St was successful, I have been more interested in buying fresh fruits and veggies! The other day I bought a box of prunes. I figure, it's a dried plum so that counts.

So about high fructose corn syrup:

I poked around this site a little bit because I think someone posted a comment about it. I ended up watching a video about high fructose corn syrup in food by a film maker. The second video was pretty interesting (there are 3 videos) in that it shows how much of our food has this substance in it. EVEN BREAD!!!! Because of this, I try to read the labels of what I am buying. I found a loaf of whole wheat bread that didn't have high fructose corn syrup, but it took a little digging. The brand was Arnolds.  Check it out.

These videos are in the food section on this site. Here's the link:

http://gethealthyharlem.org/category/food/video

 

 

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Comments

zoester wrote

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Thanks for the post! This is a really important topic and the film "King of Corn" is really well done.

Unfortunately there has been backlash against this new awareness about how unhealthy corn syrup is. There has been a recent add campaign and TV Commercials launched by the Corn Refiners Association claim that high fructose corn syrup "is natural" and "has the same natural sweeteners as table sugar."

But in fact this syrup contains fructose sugar which is harder for your body to digest than regular glucose sugar and is more often converted into fat instead of energy. High fructose consumption has been fingered as a causative factor in heart disease. It raises blood levels of cholesterol and another type of fat, triglyceride. It makes blood cells more prone to clotting, and it may also accelerate the aging process.

It is true that a little fructose won't hurt you but the problem comes with the huge amount of "hidden" fructose being consumed through the high fructose corn syrup used in processed foods including bread! Soda almost universally contain 11 percent HFCS by weight-2.2 pounds per case! This syrup is much worse for you than sugar and should be avoid - thanks again for the post!

Stayin Fit wrote

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zoester, thanks for a very informative comment. this is very useful. there is another reason WHY people use HFCS as a sugar substitute. And thats because its much cheaper than sugar. And there is a reason why sugar is expensive - because there is a trade restriction on how much sugar can be imported. This leads to increase in price of home grown sugar as you cant import sugar from outside. it is believed that a few families in florida control the sugar industry in the US and have lobbied very strongly on lifting import restrictions!

See this from the washington post " The government restricts imports through a series of quotas, pushing U.S. sugar prices to between two and three times the global market rate. As a result, a handful of sugar producers, notably in Florida, a battleground electoral state, pocket $1 billion a year in excess profits. To protect this cozy arrangement, the sugar barons plow a chunk of their revenue back into the political system." You can read more on the washingtonpost.com

annamaria wrote

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The movie Zoester mentioned is great, King Corn. And even better, you can watch it for free on google videos!

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=king+corn&emb=0&aq=f#

Stayin Fit wrote

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great! will see the movie - thanks annamaria for the link!

cesar wrote

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I saw those commercials by the corn refiners association promoting high fructose corn syrup as natural and what not. I don't buy it. Very clever though. There have been recent news stories over the past month or so about major companies removing high fructose corn syrup from their products, at least temporarily. I think pepsi and snapple were some I heard were doing this. If I find a link to these stories, I'll add it.

And as an update to my blog, I've seen many more brands of bread that don't have high fructose corn syrup. Me thinks these folks are making this is a trend much like the recent boom in popularity of organic/natural/green products, so I expect more to pop up!!

concerned wrote

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Good grief. People, I'm all for removing HFCS from the diet but please educate yourself. You want to remove HFCS AND SUGAR!!!

It's statements like this that make it quite clear why America has obesity and diabetic problems: "But in fact this syrup contains fructose sugar" and "This syrup is much worse for you than sugar" .... NO NO NO.

Simple chemistry: HFCS = Glucose + Fructose. Table Sugar (aka Sucrose) = Glucose + Fructose.

The difference is that Sucrose is 50/50 Fructose to Glucose and HFCS is 55/45 Fructose to Glucose.

The problem IS NOT FRUCTOSE (which btw exists in EVERY fruit). The problem is the use of Glucose and Fructose simultaneously due to the impact each as on blood sugar and liver metabolism respectively.

I guess a clearer way to say this would be, applauding the removal of HFCS only to be replaced by Sucrose is like applauding the removal of poison from your orange juice so that you can replace it with another poison.

How about this: dont eat processed crappy food and you wont have to worry what has HFCS or Sugar in it.

cesar wrote

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concerned-- yes, we shouldn't eat crappy food and eat sugar in moderation. But the point of my blog was even when you think you are making a good choice (like wheat bread/whole grain bread), the fact that HFCS is in there removes that 'security' that even when not eating crappy food that there are still things to look out for. I am not an expert but I still think there is something 'more' sketchy about HFCS than table sugar. In any case, I suppose this conversation makes the case for reading labels for 'natural','organic' or otherwise few/no chemical processes....

romankates wrote

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There have been recent news stories over the past month or so about major companies removing high fructose corn syrup from their products, at least temporarily. Health Remedies

Sandrageorgia wrote

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I think we should always check out what we are buying. We need to make the habit of checking the food labels before buying them. This small habit will really contribute our healthy life. Regarding high fructose corn syrup, it is really not needed at all.