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!

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#

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

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!!

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.

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....

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

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.