High-Fructose Corn Syrup

I was advised a couple of months ago to stick to some specific guidelines in order to get me through my Crohn’s Disease flare-up and back to feeling better. The list I was given, included the following 5 suggestions:

• Mix one packet of Zija in 20 oz of water and drink ⅓ before every meal
• Drink one serving of Zija tea before bedtime
• Eat one navel orange a day
• Take 10,000 mg of Vitamin D3/day
• Take in absolutely no HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP (HFCS)

When my neighbor passed on these suggestions from a friend of hers that works for Zija, I was thrilled. At that low point I was willing to try anything and everything and was just excited to hear that someone out there thinks food has a lot to do with the effects of Crohn’s Disease. I began right away and have since been checking every label before I buy or eat. As part of this process, it’s been interesting to read various articles, opinions, and studies on HFCS. Not everyone thinks it’s a problem, although others feel very strongly that it is. I’ve been doing my best to stay away from it and I thought you might be interested to take a look at what I’ve seen and heard.

Wikipedia describes HFCS as this:
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) — comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose to produce a desired sweetness. In the United States, consumer foods and products typically use high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. It has become very common in processed foods and beverages in the U.S., including breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments.[4]
The most widely used varieties of high-fructose corn syrup are: HFCS 55 (mostly used in soft drinks), approximately 55% fructose and 42% glucose; and HFCS 42 (used in many foods and baked goods), approximately 42% fructose and 53% glucose.[5] HFCS-90, approximately 90% fructose and 10% glucose, is used in small quantities for specialty applications, but primarily is used to blend with HFCS 42 to make HFCS 55.[6]
In the U.S., HFCS is among the sweeteners that have primarily replaced sucrose (table sugar) in the food industry. Factors for this include governmental production quotas of domestic sugar, subsidies of U.S. corn, and an import tariff on foreign sugar; all of which combine to raise the price of sucrose to levels above those of the rest of the world, making HFCS less costly for many sweetener applications. Critics of the extensive use of HFCS in food sweetening argue that the highly processed substance is more harmful to humans than regular sugar, contributing to weight gain by affecting normal appetite functions, and that in some foods HFCS may be a source of mercury, a known neurotoxin.[7][8] The Corn Refiners Association disputes these claims and maintains that HFCS is comparable to table sugar.[9] Studies by The American Medical Association suggest "it appears unlikely that HFCS contributes more to obesity or other conditions than sucrose", but welcome further independent research on the subject.[10] HFCS has been classified asgenerally recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 1976.

The Mayo Clinic has a good article on this subject, if you are interested in reading it go here. They admit that there are mixed feelings about HFCS, but concerns have been raised. The main concern being the way that HFCS is chemically processed resulting in different reactions from your body (compared to other sugars).

Other interesting articles that dig deeper into the reasons HFCS is said to be bad for us:
Four Reasons To Avoid High-Fructose Corn Syrup (Yahoo News)
The Devil in Fructose (Blogger Dr. Shannon Weeks)
High-Fructose Corn Syrup, Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
And probably my favorite article, A Newsweek Article The Fight Over High-Fructose Corn Syrup
There are millions of articles...you could read on and on!

After reading hundreds of labels over the last couple of months, I thought it would be interesting to do a little rundown in my own kitchen. Using products I purchased before avoiding HSFC to the products I’ve turned to.

Here is a list of items from my fridge/pantry that have HSFC and then the HSFC free alternative:

HFSC: Heinz 57 Steak Sauce
Better Alternative: A1 Steak Sauce (Although it still has corn syrup, just not high-fructose)
HFSC: Sweet Baby Rays Bbq Sauce or Famous Dave’s
Better Alternative: Bull’s Eye
HFSC: Lee and Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce
Better Alternative: Find one that uses malt vinegar instead, I haven’t looked for that yet.
HFSC: Yoshida’s Marinade
Better Alternative: Kikkoman Teriyaki
HFSC: Powerade
Better Alternative: G2 from Gatorade and Propel Water
HFSC: Hungry Jack (and most maple syrups)
Better Alternative: Log Cabin Maple Syrup (Although it still has corn syrup, just not high-fructose)
HFSC: Great Value Hamburger Dill Chips
Better Alternative: Mt. Olive Pickles

HFSC: Hunts Pasta Sauce
Better Alternative: Hunt’s No Sugar Added Pasta Sauce or Prego
HFSC: Spahetti O’s
Better Alternative: Homemade Spaghetti!

HFSC: Keebler Graham Crackers
Better Alternative: Nabisco Graham Crackers
HFSC: Heinz Ketchup
Better Alternative: Hunt’s Ketchup
HFSC: Coke
Better Alternative: Glass bottled coke are the original recipe - which include sugar instead (and seem to have fewer ingredients)
HFSC: Hershey’s Syrup
Better Alternative: Homemade
HFSC: Heinz Sweet Relish
Better Alternative: Wickles Relish
HFSC: Kellogg’s Raisin Bran
Better Alternative: Total Raisin Bran
HFSC: Frosted Flakes
Better Alternative: Good luck!
HFSC: Breads: hot dog buns, hamburger buns, even some Great Harvest Breads have HFSC
Better Alternative:  Your local bread companies (Granny Delights, Aspen Mills, and others...), Dave’s Killer Breads (Costco)

For an extensive list on foods without HFCS, go here. A great place to shop is Trader Joe's (I saw many free HFCS products were available there), here is to hoping they bring one to Utah soon. Lacey and Nikki you'll have to take advantage of that store, it's fantastic!

The good news, companies are learning that we don’t want our food packed with HFCS, so they are beginning to remove it! Take a look at this article that ran in the Chicago Tribune last August Sara Lee Latest to Curtail Use of High-Fructose Corn Syrup.

All and all, the research isn’t extensive enough to say HFCS is much worse than table sugar. Although, it’s hard to deny that HFCS is doing damage after learning how it’s chemically processed. As well as some of the testing results indicated in the above articles. In conclusion, I guess we just do our best to feed our families as much organic, natural, home cooked food as we possibly can.

Kiwi magazine had the following suggestions on doing just that in their online article “Lunch Boxes to Love”.
The Good
If you follow these guidelines when food shopping, you’ll be on the right track to packing healthy lunches.

• Try to buy as many organic and all-natural foods as possible.
• For bread and grain products, look for whole grains, whole wheat and flour that hasn’t been enriched or bleached.
• Buy pesticide-free fruits and vegetables, and look for dried fruits labeled “unsulphured” and “unsweetened.”
• For all dairy products, the best options are lowfat and organic.
• In the protein category, choose nitrite-free lunchmeats, low-mercury tuna and soy products that haven’t been genetically modified.
• Stick with canola or olive oil for dressings or cooking, and remember that plain lowfat yogurt can often be used as a substitute for mayonnaise.

The Bad

Here are the ingredients to avoid.

• High-fructose corn syrup
• Partially hydrogenated oils
• Trans fats
• Nitrite (an additive often used in lunch meats that becomes a carcinogen in our bodies)
• Artificial Sweeteners (often found in products marked "light" or "sugar-free," or you may see aspartame, Splenda, sucralose or saccharin in the ingredients list)

Thanks for hearing me out. I hope you learned just a little something to take away. Happy label reading:-)!