Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Corn Refiners Association Tries HFCS PR
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:
Instead of just listening to these people, how about some nutritional information from the MayoClinic.com?
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?
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Cocoa Surges While Mexico Controls Food Prices
Get ready for your chocolate fix to be a little more dear. Cocoa prices have hit a 28-year high. According to a story in the Financial Times, the reason is concern "over the size and quality of this year’s crop from Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer." This basic component of chocolate has climbed 52.3 percent this year alone:
In the meantime, in another Financial Times story, food prices are hitting hard enough in Mexico that the "center-right goverment" - which I take to mean on the conservative side - has put price controls into place on 150 basic items, including beans, cooking oil, canned tuna, and fruit juice. Prices will remain frozen from now until the end of the year. But given the hefty jumps we've been seeing in the underlying goods, what happens to the merchants and wholesellers? I understand that people with no money are hurting, but this seems to be a short-sighted approach of addressing a problem. The government shifts the burden onto businesses, which might end up losing money in the long run and possible start cutting jobs, because it wants to appear as though it's active toward the problem. But the dynamics don't change, and the effect is to sweep the pain under a carpet and out of site. The eventual price for this approach may be higher and longer-lasting, but, hey, maybe that will be for someone else to deal with.
The International Cocoa Organisation is forecasting a small supply surplus of 71,000 tonnes in 2008/09, but a poor crop in Ivory Coast could push the market into a supply deficit for a third year in a row.Similarly, Brazil has reported that its sugal crop will be delayed and smaller because of rain, so sugar prices rose by 3.2 percent. Now here's the real interesting part, I think: prices for October sugar are 12.83 cents a pound. How much do you pay for a pound of sugar? Who gets the rest of that money, and what value do they add to justify their cuts?
In the meantime, in another Financial Times story, food prices are hitting hard enough in Mexico that the "center-right goverment" - which I take to mean on the conservative side - has put price controls into place on 150 basic items, including beans, cooking oil, canned tuna, and fruit juice. Prices will remain frozen from now until the end of the year. But given the hefty jumps we've been seeing in the underlying goods, what happens to the merchants and wholesellers? I understand that people with no money are hurting, but this seems to be a short-sighted approach of addressing a problem. The government shifts the burden onto businesses, which might end up losing money in the long run and possible start cutting jobs, because it wants to appear as though it's active toward the problem. But the dynamics don't change, and the effect is to sweep the pain under a carpet and out of site. The eventual price for this approach may be higher and longer-lasting, but, hey, maybe that will be for someone else to deal with.
Labels: chocolate, government, news, prices, sugar
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
High Fructose Corn Syrup - A Sticky Ingredient
My wife has gone on a tear about high fructose corn syrup because of some widely publicized health concerns. Companies treat corn syrup with enzymes to increase its sweetness, and import restrictions on sugar keep the price artificially high - supposedly twice that in the rest of the world - in this country, so many food manufacturers rely on HFCS to reduce their costs.
It's in wide use - a Tufts study in 2005 suggested that whereas bread was once the major source of calories in the diets of Americans, drinks sweetened with HFCS have now taken that position. For more personally empirical data, go to a grocery store and see how many products include HFCS: everything from sodas to snack chips. We've undertaken an interesting experiment of trying to eliminate HFCS as much as possible from our house. That still leaves anything at a restaurant that might fly under the radar, but I can say that even just within the house, making the switch is difficult. But any ingredient that has Archers Daniels Midland (ADM) spending heaven knows how much in lobbying fees to protect it can't be all good.
It's in wide use - a Tufts study in 2005 suggested that whereas bread was once the major source of calories in the diets of Americans, drinks sweetened with HFCS have now taken that position. For more personally empirical data, go to a grocery store and see how many products include HFCS: everything from sodas to snack chips. We've undertaken an interesting experiment of trying to eliminate HFCS as much as possible from our house. That still leaves anything at a restaurant that might fly under the radar, but I can say that even just within the house, making the switch is difficult. But any ingredient that has Archers Daniels Midland (ADM) spending heaven knows how much in lobbying fees to protect it can't be all good.
Labels: drinks, ingredients, processed foods, sugar
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
New Low-Sugar Watermelon Varieties
The Agricultural Research Service, part of the US Department of Agriculture, has developed two new varieties of watermelon that have less than half the sugar of conventional varieties. The researcher, Angela Davis, is "currently sharing the new watermelon stock with interested growers," which I'm guessing means that you shouldn't be looking for them this summer. It will take time to create enough for commercial seed stock and then for growers to actually have them in stores.
The sugary taste we associate with watermelon is apparently a recent development. Companies have bred the fruit (OK, technically a berry) to be ever sweet. Heirloom varieties actually have about 25 percent less sugar than contemporary types. They had some difficulty getting a real red color, as that often goes hand in hand with sugar, but apparently they've conquered that barrier. And they also have a variety part way between the usual types and this more astringent version.
The sugary taste we associate with watermelon is apparently a recent development. Companies have bred the fruit (OK, technically a berry) to be ever sweet. Heirloom varieties actually have about 25 percent less sugar than contemporary types. They had some difficulty getting a real red color, as that often goes hand in hand with sugar, but apparently they've conquered that barrier. And they also have a variety part way between the usual types and this more astringent version.
Labels: agricultural research service, agriculture, ARS, sugar, USDA, watermelon
