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High Fructose Corn Syrup

Started 4 years ago by credmond
Latest reply from credmond

credmond
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I was somewhat shocked recently to learn that nearly all products with a Nabisco label and all products with a Kellogg label contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. This has been implicated in a number of health-negative effects (obesity being one, possible liver damage being another). By contrast, General Foods (Chex, Cheerios) and Post (Kraft) cereals and most Keebler products contain sugar, invert sugar or brown sugar. None of these has been implicated in negative effects other than being empty calories.

As a consequence, my family decided we would not buy Rice Krispies, Oreos, Fig Newtons, or Corn Flakes until such time as these manufacturers get on the ball and drop their use of High Fructose Corn Syrup. In this forum, I\'m calling for the rest of us to do the same. Express our concern over this unhealthy but cheap food additive by boycotting Kellogg and Nabisco products. Yeah, nothing\'s better than Corn Flakes with banana or Rice Krispies with raisins, but Corn Chex and Rice Chex taste pretty close even if their texture is different and Shredded Wheat contains only wheat - nothing else (well, BHT in the packaging material).

Posted 4 years ago #
WSB
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An excuse to mention that the selection of soda is growing for people who don\'t mind the empty calories but do want to avoid HFCS - for us, it\'s the Mexico-manufactured Coca-Cola sweetened with sugar, available at Costco!

Posted 4 years ago #
Wes
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Is this because of that indie film \"King Corn\"?

Posted 4 years ago #
TheVelvetBulldog
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I\'ve read reports about HFCS inhibiting (something - an enzyme(?) a brain signal(?)) that tells your body you\'re full, so as a result you continue to eat beyond necessity - hence the connection to obesity. I\'ve pretty much stopped drinking any sodas/juices with HFCS - I don\'t need help gaining weight!

Posted 4 years ago #
credmond
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Heard about King Corn, but didn\'t see it. This is a result of improving my skills at reading the NY Times science section and reading food labels. Think about it. Since I was a kid, in the \'60s, I\'ve been eating Hostess cupcakes. Since that same time I\'d been reading the label and two-thirds of the ingredients were things I didn\'t recognize as real food. Over the years, as studies into these strange chemicals have come out, I\'ve reduced my consumption of items containing them. Much as I loved that gooey white stuffing in the middle of a chemically-tasting chocolate cake covered with two different kinds of frosting which you could peel off, I just can no longer eat them. Many of us baby boomers grew up drinking Strontium-90-laced milk (Northeast US from atmospheric tests and rain on then farm fields used by cows), it\'s no wonder our body systems are in such disarray.

Posted 4 years ago #
JanS
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Chas...being form the east coast, do you remember Tastykakes? just curious...there\'s a palce where you can buy them in Seattle....and Scrapple, too - lol.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in March...I\'m a sugar-holic...and I now read every label I pick up. HFCS is poison for a diabetic, as is sugar. I succumb to Splenda on occasion, but mostly I use Agave Nectar from PCC (raw, organic) as a sweetner. I don\'t eat sweetened cereal at all, and yes, it\'s boring. Shredded Wheat tastes to me like the box it comes in...so I have adopted organic steel cut oats as my favorite breakfast. I\'m happy to boycott those products along with you. Keep up the label reading..you\'ll be surprised at where you find HFCS. And sugar? Remember that there are 4grams of sugar in a teaspoon of sugar...when looking at the carb content, it\'ll say how many grams of sugar. If you have an 8 ounce glass of juice with 26 grams of sugar...you\'ve got yourself 6.5 tsp. of sugar...killer for a sugar-holic - lol. It\'s definitely an education :)

Posted 4 years ago #
Franci
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When I first learned of HFCS I was quite dismayed to find that it was in almost all my favorite salad dressings as well as other foods. I too am a type 2 diabetic - it is amazing the foods that have high sugar content.

Posted 4 years ago #
credmond
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Jan, - Ah yes, Tastykake - I think they were out of Philly and everyone I knew wanted the three-pack of caramel icing-covered cakes. You could eat the whole package in - like - six bites. Perfect for teenagers with no sense of diet (that was me, btw). I used to work in the Harrisburg Farmer\'s Market and sold souse, scrapple and tons of other \"exotic\" items. Scrapple wasn\'t that bad if you fried it and poured real maple syrup on top of it. But then, Spam wasn\'t that bad either if you sliced it thin and fried the dickens out of it. Almost had a bacon (cheap, albeit) taste and with the addition of maple syrup was totally edible.

Posted 4 years ago #
JanS
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well, Chas...if you ever get a hankerin\', just go to Philadelphia Fevre Sandwich shop near 23rd and Madison....scrapple imported from the east coast and Tastykakes, too...

http://www.phillysteakshop.com/pages/2/index.htm

Posted 4 years ago #
deepak
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Not sure if this is common knowledge or not, but PCC doesn\'t carry any items that contain HFCS.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/341888_fructose01web.html

Posted 4 years ago #
Kayleigh
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I guess the HFCS is a thickener in the salad dressings. Maybe this is why all the low-cal bottled salad dressings and most of the regular salad dressings I\'ve tried were awful. Why would you put corn syrup on vegetables?

Can anybody recommend a good bottled salad dressing that isn\'t $14 a bottle or loaded with sugar, HFCS or MSG?

Posted 4 years ago #
cheyenne
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There are a number of cereals that have wall cleaner in them, including Cheerios. If you have ever painted a wall and prepared it by washing with TSP, you have used it.

Truly, I think I\'ll do more shopping at PCC.

Posted 4 years ago #
Aim
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<i>Can anybody recommend a good bottled salad dressing that isn\'t $14 a bottle or loaded with sugar, HFCS or MSG?</i>

Kayleigh, we use balsamic vinegar. Get a hig quality one and heat it in a saucepan for just a few minutes, until it just barely begins to thicken. It will still seem too \"thin\" but it will continue to thicken, so take it off the heat earlier than would be instinct.

As it cools it thickens more, and you will end up with a nicely textured dressing that\'s got all the sweetness of balsamic and no \"vinegary\" taste. If you like the vinegary taste, add a few drops of uncooked balsamic back in.

You can cook up a couple of teaspoons at a time, and it\'s so easy and delicious.

Lower-effort alternative: extra virgin olive oil and balsamic. Go half and half in an empty glass jar, put the lid on and shake. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Posted 4 years ago #
JanS
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and throw in a little dijon mustard for variety :)

Posted 4 years ago #
acemotel
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thanks for this tip, Aim. never heard of it before.

Posted 4 years ago #
Kayleigh
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Thanks Aim, Jan...I love the flavors of balsamic and dijon and don\'t often have the time to measure out a homemmade dressing.

Posted 4 years ago #
JanS
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Kayleigh...I had a neighbor move out recently and she left me quite a few things, one of which is a nice hard plastic bottle that has lines...where to fill with vinegar, where to fill with oil...and then you can add your mustard, salt, pepper, whatever...it has a stopper, and is really handy. Not sure where it came from, but has recipes for Dijon Vinaigrette, Italian Vinaigrette, French Herb Vinaigrette,and Balsamic Vinaigrette on the bottle. You use olive oil, so it will harden in the fridge..you just nuke it for 30 second or so with the lid off, and it\'s good to go. And NO HFCS :)

Posted 4 years ago #
JanS
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kayleigh...actually, pampered Chef has something similar for 11 bucks...:)

Posted 4 years ago #
JanS
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kayleigh...actually, pampered Chef has something similar for 11 bucks...:)

Posted 4 years ago #
add
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Tastycake ... the butterscotch krimpets were the BEST!!!

Non-HFCS soda .. try Jones Soda - they have many flavors that are made with Pure Cane Sugar.

Posted 4 years ago #
JanS
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Add...nothing better than the butterscotch krimpets...geez, now I\'m going to have to go get some...:)

Posted 4 years ago #
add
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Jan - I wonder if they still package them in that waxy paper? That was part of the experience, peeling each little cake very carefully off the wrapper so the icing didn\'t get left behind. We used to eat them upside down so the icing wouldn\'t stick to the roof of your mouth. Mmmm, my mouth is watering!

Posted 4 years ago #
credmond
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It\'s funny, in the Wiki entry for Pennsylvania, they mention Tastykake as being one of the local food traditions - previously citing Pennsylvania as the capital of the snack food world. Yum, I think I can even remember one of their radio jingles. I\'d said caramel earlier, obviously I meant to say butterscotch. That\'s probably also the only butterscotch item I ever liked - hate the stuff, otherwise. I always thought they put something in the recipe so that it would become addicting. Also, apparently Philadelphia is the heart of the American food flavor and scent industry. Knew someone who worked there and they were always inventing new compounds which totally tasted or smelled like - a Jones Soda. Wonder who does the chemistry work for Jones.

Posted 4 years ago #