High Fructose Corn Syrup

You know that commercial “Sweet Surprise” about the “truth” behing high fructose corn syrup? Believe me, the first time I saw it, I was in a surprise myself, but not so much of a “sweet surprise” as how they put it. It is a fact that high fructose corn syrup is not simply a corn syrup, but it has been enzymatically processed to highten the fructose level (making it sweeter.) Unfortunately, not organic, and unhealthy.

But then of course, any type of sugar is okay in moderation, right? This is true, but there are much more options out there than sweetening your food with high fructose corn syrup and/or even regular white sugar. Try organic cane sugar, that “sugar in the raw” stuff, or honey, or maple syrup. There are much less processing to those products, and since there isn’t much need for shipping, it is more nutritious (no need for extra preservatives).

Sure, the FDA stated that it is “Generally Recognized as Safe” and the American Medical Association concluded that it does not contribute to the increasing level of obesity in America… This is because high fructose corn syrup is not deadly / poisonous (we all know that), and of course, the increasing level of obesity is not because of high fructose corn syrup itself, but the products that it is in. When is it that you see an organic healthy food containing high fructose corn syrup. Although it may not be as unhealthy by itself, healthier foods often opt for healthier sweeteners, and high fructose corn syrup isn’t it.

A recent reading in the Washington Post, “High Fructose Corn Syrup: Not so Sweet for the Planet” also concluded that the production of high fructose corn syrup is not environmentally friendly. Ouch. Since the production of corn requires large amounts of land specifically for corn, there is no diversity. Also, corn production requires extra fertilization and insecticides causing the top soil to “die” and become nutrion-less and leads to erosion. An area in the Gulf of Mexico the size of New Jersey already is a dead zone, because there is a soil runoff from Mississippi and therefore nothing could grow there.

So, I’m sorry “Sweet Surprise”. Your high-fructose-corn-syrup-is-healthy advertisement is not completely true.