Flash in the Pan

The headline has a lot of letters, but what it comes down to is that the Corn Refiners Association - the people who make high fructose corn syrup - must be nervous because of all the bad press that the liquid sweetener has been receiving. They've created a site called HFCSfacts.com. Let's look at some of the statements in it:

HFCS, table sugar, honey, and several fruit juices all contain the same simple sugars.

Not exactly, as I remember my high school chemistry. There are a number of relatively basic sugars, including fructose (fruit sugar), sucrose (the table sugar we use), lactose (a sugar found in milk), maltose (malt sugar found in beer and malt whiskey), and glucose (also called dextrose, found in plant saps and fruits). They are similar, but not exactly the same.

HFCS is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like table sugar and honey.

Now we're entering some real word twisting, so far as I can tell. Suddenly they are trying to pretend that the sugars are equivalent, and they aren't necessarily. Some people are "lactose intolerant," meaning that the particular form of sugar called lactose is something their bodies do not digest.

HFCS is equal in sweetness to table sugar.

Interesting, as I've always heard that industries like HFCS because 1) it's cheaper than regular sugar, and 2) it's sweeter, so they don't need as much.

Instead of just listening to these people, how about some nutritional information from the MayoClinic.com?

Labels: health, HFCS, nutrition, sugar