HFCS:
The Controversy Rages On
HFCS, or high fructose corn syrup, has initiated a universal camp of defenders and detractors, probably more than almost any other product that is being used in the food service industry. Because the corn crop in the United States is subsidized by the US government every year, farmers have the advantage their crop is sold at reasonable rates to the food service industry. Elements of nature, poor crop yield or insect or bug pollution is not a devastating concern because the government is there to help with a monetary allowance. What Is HFCS?High fructose corn syrup is a combination of 100% glucose syrup and fructose. The regular field of corn gets milled and processed to deliver cornstarch. Further processing of this starch yields corn syrup, which at this stage is almost 100% glucose. Proteins are then added, commonly referred as enzymes, which enhances a chemical reaction changing the 100% glucose to fructose. Therefore HFCS is a blend of different percentages of glucose and fructose.Each of the normal blends has a purpose in the food service industry. Some examples are HFCS90 (90% fructose/10% glucose) is the sweetener of choice for the soft drink and sweetened fruit juice industry in the United States. HFCS45 is often used to sweeten baked goods. Both glucose/fructose mixtures and the common table sugar do have almost the same sweetening power, amount of calories etc..HFCS though, because it is derived from corn, is much cheaper than cane sugar or beet sugar for use in manufacturing. Why The Controversy?If the general characteristics of each sweetener are almost equal, why the continuous controversy over HFCS? Detractors point out that ever since HFCS became an ingredient of first choice in the food industry, obesity rates have skyrocketed. Also the rates of diabetes and kidney stones has increased considerably.Research though has proven that the ingestion of sweets and soft drinks has risen sharply while at the same time, exercise has decreased. Therefore the defenders of HFCS are stating poor health habits by many individuals is leading to the rise in rates in many medical conditions- not the HFCS. If sugar had remained the sweetener of choice in manufacturing, the same rates of obesity and diabetes would still be showing a dramatic increase. Currently there is no definitive answers, so each person needs to decide for themselves whether they feel the choice of using HFCS is worth the possible risks. Public pressure though is rapidly mounting against the use of HFCS in their food products. Many major manufacturers in the food industry are therefore re-thinking their use of this sweetener in their production facilities. Because of this increased pressure and the public's recognition of the name, a movement is in process to try to change the name of high fructose corn syrup to "corn sugar". Watch your ingredient labels and if the term corn sugar does come up, it is just another name for HFCS.
Return to "Types Of Allergies" from "HFCS"
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This site is not intended to replace the advice and supervision of your professional medical treatment plan. Although all of the information is true and accurate to the best of our knowledge, we still recommend you carefully check all food labels before consuming any food product. We can not assume any legal responsibility for any illness obtained while following the advice contained on this site.
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