I was watching one of the news channels Friday night when I saw this startling commercial:
What it doesn’t tell us — although it’s not hard to guess — is that the Corn Refiners’ Association is behind the SweetSurprise website. It’s fairly even-handed, if selective. For instance, the FAQ entry about how sweeteners are metabolized says they are metabolized “similarly.” There’s no mention of the theory that HFCS is more readily converted to fat than sugar is, as mentioned by the Mayo Clinic’s article, High-Fructose corn syrup: why is it bad for me? The same article mentions studies using animals showing a link between HFCS and health problems such as diabetes, a link which Mayo says is “not as clear in human studies.”
This stuff is everywhere — it’s cheaper than sugar — and it’s prevalent in processed foods. Convenience foods such as bottled salad dressing and barbeque sauce are loaded with it. I make my own (see posts tagged Sauces/Dressings) and read a lot of labels to avoid HFCS whenever possible.
To learn more, the entry at wikipedia includes a good list of links to references and external sites.
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Hi Ella,
I saw a similar commercial and was just as surprised and even angered at the blatant disregard for the epidemic that is obesity in this country. I strongly feel that these people and/organizations should be held accountable.
Like you, I read all labels and purchase nothing that contains HFCS.
Thanks for blogging about this important issue; I will do the same in a future post.
Natasha
Natasha’s last blog post..Caramelized Red Pepper and Garlic Flat Bread
Hi, Natasha – I totally agree with you. I know we’re all busy and looking for shortcuts, but some just don’t seem worth it.
I’m going to visit your blog right now; it sounds as if we’re kindred spririts. And I love flat bread!
Thanks for your comments.
I just saw this commercial last night. It’s incredible. How can they come out and say that its safe with all of the research flying around saying that it isn’t.
I work in advertising and there are rules. They toed the line but this commercials are misleading and as dangerous as cigarette commercials.
Paunchiness’s last blog post..High Fructose Corn Syrup is Bad For You.
How good it is to hear from someone in the business! I think your “toed the line” is a perfect assessment. Everything is technically true, but then so is “I put the jet on ebay.”
Thanks!
Have been seeing this ad with greater frequency.
The “tobacco industry” of food, indeed.
Shameless, and like most things in this culture which surreptitiously slither carrying profit and personal gain loaded on their backs, all wrapped up iconically in wholesomeness and home spun “values,” political allusions intended.
While those horrible progressives have managed to ban transfats in some sectors of the public, now we’ve got to fight this kind of nonsense.
Reprehensible.
Blue Smoke of Paradise’s last blog post..For My Father
It is an amazing bit of chutzpah, this commercial, and your characterization is spot-on, as usual. I think I’m most bothered by its tactic of trying to assuage guilt about ingesting this stuff, even though many remain “blissfully” unaware of its presence and steadfastly refuse to read labels for any reason. No accident that I’ve been seeing this in shows that skew pretty high in terms of demographics.
And yeah, the nerve of those darn progressives – hee!:)
Thanks for the insightful comments.
I am disgusted with these ads! Why aren’t more people raising hell about this shameless lying to the American people?? My best friend’s mother was overweight and began to cut out ALL HFCS from her diet. Within a year, she lost almost 90 pounds! She looks great and is a lot healthier. My best friend and I have tried to do the same thing but it is sooo hard to find things without it. It’s in everything! Anyone have a list of everyday foods that are HFCS-free?
Hi, Courtney – first, congratulations to your mom! Wow, that’s not easy to do.
It certainly can be hard to find products without HFCS if you buy a lot of processed foods. So many things in bottles, from salad dressings to bbq sauce to ketchup are full of the stuff. I don’t make ketchup from scratch but I do make the others. The recipes are here, just use the search box in the side bar.
Another good source of foods without it, but a brief source, is foods that are certified Kosher for Passover. Corn and other grains are forbidden during Passover so there are many, many special products available every spring for the holiday – even soft drinks made with real sugar again. There might be places online that sell KFP foods year round, I’m not sure.
Thanks for your comment!
For some years, my need to cook corn-free because of allergies made HFCS a non-issue. Now, free from the allergy worries, some things get past me.
I opened some applesauce two days ago and happened to look at the ingredients. There it was – HFCS. In applesauce? NATURAL applesauce?
Apparently it’s time for me to start paying attention again. And making time for more cooking from scratch (!!)
And it’s also time for some reading. I had no idea this was a hot topic. I’m glad I came back to do a little light browsing to see what I missed while I was occupied with Ike!
shoreacres’s last blog post..In Vino, Communitas
HI, shore! The stuff is everywhere. I wish I had the wherewithall to make ketchup. I love ketchup and of course, it’s there too — substantially.
I’ve been looking for my good applesauce recipe for a couple days. I have some Paula Reds left and they’d be perfect. It’s one of the few recipes I don’t have on a hard drive and all I remember is my notation that it uses too much sugar. When I find it I will make some and post it. Love applesauce too.
Between HFCS and the gawd-awful trans fat, there’s more reason than ever to cook and bake from scratch. Look at the ingreident and nutrition labels on cookies, cake mixes and canned frosting some time. Your jaw will drop.
Just found this site looking for hfcs free ketchup recipes…my favorite applesauce recipe calls for apples, a knife, a heavy pot and a stove.
Core, peel and cut apples–I usually quarter
Put in a heavy sauce pan–cover with the lid
Cook on low, check after 20 min or so and mash up
take off the stove when it’s as chunky or smooth as you like it
Hi, Cindy. Welcome. You must be a bit psychic because I’ve been looking at ketchup recipes and I’m going to post in the next few days about the HFCS-free ketchup I found at the supermarket. It’s Kosher for Passover, which makes sense since grains are forbidden at Passover and that eliminates corn. So buy it while you can, if you see it. It’s only around once a year, like Kosher for Passover coke which uses real sugar and is much in demand among gentiles for that reason.
The applesauce looks quick and easy — thanks for sharing it.
I have an organic business in the Oklahoma City. It is amazing to me how some mothers and fathers are so uninformed about their children’s health. How hard is it to read a label and insist on your child eating healthier. Well I ate it when I was a child. That is what I hear. Yes, and now times have changed and children are eating more and more harmful ingredients. And many of us who ate it, are suffering from new diseases. How do you convince someone who doesn’t want to believe in the science?
I agree, those who choose to remain ignorant, whether about science, nutrition politics or whatnot, are distressing. That’s not to say there’s only one valid opinion about anything, but to hold an unshakable opinion without considering all sides to a story is intellectually lazy, in my view.
I think what galls me so much about these commercials is their use of guilt, with the character promoting HFCS making the one objecting feel like a fool for even raising the issue. I just feel in my bones that attitude is transferring to at least some who see the spots and I’ve recently seen companion print ads. Big bucks at work here.
Thanks for your comment and best wishes with your business in these tough times.