The October 29 article “Wanted: Good Buns…as in the bread that holds your burger,” may mislead consumers about high fructose corn syrup.
High fructose corn syrup, sugar, and several fruit juices are all nutritionally the same. High fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as sugar and is handled similarly by the body. In 1983, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally listed high fructose corn syrup as safe for use in food and reaffirmed that decision in 1996.
The American Medical Association in June 2008 helped put to rest misunderstandings about this sweetener and obesity, stating that “high fructose corn syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.”
Consumers can see the latest research and learn more about high fructose corn syrup at www.HFCSfacts.com and www.SweetSurprise.com.
Audrae Erickson,
President Corn Refiners Association,Washington, D.C.
This article appears in Nov 6-12, 2008.
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Audrae, nutritionally speaking you might be right. But the science of nutrition is considered to be in its infancy by many of us. May I suggest you read up and listen in on Michael Pollan’s latest publications so that you may consider some points of view that might change your opinion.
In defense of Food: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17850369
Food as a NAtional Security Issue: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95896389
Ben
The author of this article is the president of the Corn Refiner’s Association and both of the web links in the article are sponsored by the same industry-funded organization. This is propaganda not news.
Note that the corn industry’s flak says: “High fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as sugar and is handled similarly by the body.” Even the paid PR person can’t overlook the fact that high fructose corn s!&$# is NOT handled by the body in the same way as sugar. For many of us, hfcs causes (this is just for starters) bloating and cramps … no fun in a world where even cheerios (contains whole grain oats!) are chockful of highly processed indigestibles from cornfields.
High fructose corn syrup is Poison! 75% of the corn is genetically engineered Poison! High fructose corn syrup is unnatural. It is made by a chemical process and using genetically engineered enzymes-Poison! Since its introduction into our food supply, obesity and diabetes have skyrocketed!
The Food and Drug Administration is a corrupt puppet for big agribusiness! Concerned consumers are trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup poison!
Ms. Erickson,
You state that “(h)igh fructose corn syrup, sugar, and several fruit juices are all nutritionally the same.”
That may well be, though the statement is in and of itself highly misleading. How so? Because it fails to address the fact that HFCS has been found in studies to have high concentrations of harmful carbonyl compounds, such as methylglyoxal.
Granted, these carbonyl compounds aren’t considered nutritive. But does that make them therefore not worth talking about? Some would beg to differ.
Furthermore, if HFCS were so safe for consumers, why is the production method used to create this chemical a non-disclosed proprietary trade secret? Don’t you think that transparency in the method of manufacture of HFCS would go a long way to alleviate public skepticism about the safety of your product? Or would letting the public know the steps involved in this production be so close to Frankenfood horror stories we’ve read before that it is better to treat the public like mushrooms, i.e. kept in the dark and fed a lot of horse droppings?
Sadly, the corn sweetener industry is simply not sufficiently forthcoming about its processes and its product for the public to take it on faith that we are being well served by your industry.