ABSTRACT: High Fructose Corn Syrup is found in a large variety of beverages and foods, but how safe is it?
CONTENT: Only a few days ago, several articles came out about the new health dangers about High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFSC) as tests were conducted in several products containing this ingredient and it was found that there were levels of mercury in certain foods due to this added ingredient. I was initially going to do an article just about this new health warning, but first I decided to look up information about High Fructose Corn Syrup in general.
What is High Fructose Corn Syrup?
First, I was curious just what High Fructose Corn Syrup was to begin with, as this is an ingredient that is found in practically every processed food going, even those foods that aren't that sweet to the taste, such as snack crackers like Wheat Thins or all salad dressings. High Fructose Corn Syrup is indeed a naturally made product, made from milled corn that is first made into cornstarch, that same type of cornstarch one uses to thicken foods such as gravies. That cornstarch is then processed to make a basic corn syrup, and then further treated with a whole array of enzyemes, such as aplha-amylase, Glucoamylase and Xylose isomerase. (1) There are several types of High Fructose Corn Syrups that can be produced, from HFCS-90, which is the purest and sweetest form. HFCS-55 which is the type used in sodas, and HFCS-45, the less sweet form which is used in most other processed foods such as juices, breads, crackers and so forth. (2) While High Fructose Corn Syrup was first developed in 1927 by Richard Off. Marshalle and Earl P. Kooi, it wasn't used extensively in processed foods until the mid-1970s. Supposedly one of the reasons HFCS gained in popularity as a replacement for regular table sugar was that it was found that food and drinks products made with HFCS not only had the same sweet taste as regular sugar, but had longer shelf lives, and more importantly, processed foods could be made less expensively than using refined table sugar.
Now many people might be confused between the two kinds of fructose, thinking they are similar or the same due to the fructose name itself. True fructose, in it's purest form is a type of natural glucose or sugar that is found in all fruits and vegetables. High Fructose Corn Syrup, on the other hand, while also from a natural source, that is corn, is a heavily processed, manufactured, and chemically altered form of glucose, in other words, a scientist's concoction.
You may be asking yourself, what foods contain High Fructose Corn Syrup? When I started researching into this topic I couldn't believe all the processed foods and drinks that contain this ingredient, the list was absolutely staggering and mind-boggling. Yes, of course I expected HFCS to be in sugary tasting beverages, but I found listed food items one would never guess containing this ingredient. I list here just a partial listing of foods or drinks with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
Ketchups
Jams and Jellies
Cool Whip
Cereals
Chocolate Syrup
Cookies
Canned Fruits
Sodas
Enhanced Flavored Waters
Wheat Thins,
Ritz Crackers
Candy Bars (including Health Food and Granola Types)
Breads, Rolls (especially white)
All Juices (except Welch's Grape and Mott's Organic Apple Juice)
Pancake Syrups
Miracle Whip
Salad Dressings
Heinz Relishes
Some Soups (such as Campbell's Tomato)
Yogurts
Most Spaghetti Sauces
I was able to make up this listing, not only by looking at the photograph that illustrated the "No Sweet Deal With High-Fructose Corn Syrup" article by Dr. Mike Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz(3), but by simply looking at certain drinks and foods I had in my own home: Tropicana Fruit Punch, Smucker's Raspberry Jam, Heinz's Ketchup, Wishbone Italian Salad Dressing. I was even amazed to discover that my cough syrup contained HFCS!
Now if one was to go by all the information that is presented in the
HFCSfacts.com website, and there is quite a lot of information there, one is led to believe that High Fructose Corn Syrup is the greatest invention since perhaps the wheel itself. Then why are there so many reports about the health risks? When one starts doing research in general about High Fructose Corn Syrup, for health consciousness sake one wouldn't want to go near this stuff with a fifty foot pole.
What are the health risks with HFCS?
As one article points out, if consumed in small amounts, HFCS would probably have no detrimental affects(4). However, that is for small amounts, but unknowingly we have been consuming amounts of HFCS in just about every processed food going, as indicated in my listing. Given time, this large consumption of HFCS can lead to weight gain, raising cholesterol levels, diabetes, hypertension, and there is some indication of triggering off cirrhosis of the liver, formation of kidney stones, gout, and even accelerates the aging process in people in general.(5)
A New Danger About HFCS?
As if these potential health problems can arise from constant consumption of HFCS isn't enough, now there is a new health warning, which unfortunately that HFCSfacts website seems to be downplaying, and that is the recent discovery of finding traces of mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup. So far only a few food and beverages have been tested and had traces of mercury in them due to the HFCS used, but one part of the processing of HFCS, besides the enzymes previously mentioned, is also the use of caustic soda and hydrochloric acid which have been mixed vats with solutions of mercury in them . (6)
So far the list of food and beverages tested for and found with traces of mercury is rather small and include such processed foods as:
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt
Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
Minute Maid Berry Punch
Yoo-hoo Chocolate Drink
Quaker Oatmeal to Go Bars
Hunt's Ketchup
For a full listing of the foods tested that had traces of mercury in them due to the HFCS ingredient, go to the Webmd.com Article(7)
What Can One Do?
After reading so many sources about the detrimental health hazards HFCS can trigger in general and now with these new findings of the traces of mercury found in some foods that use this rather "toxic" ingredient of HFCS, how are we to know first of all, if all foods containing it will have mercury in them? I'm just betting more and more foods that are to be tested will find mercury in them and lets face it, I'm not a big fan of our FDA as they seem to take forever in testing our food products in general.
So what can one do? First of all, I plan to make a real conscious effort and read every label of every processed food item I buy from now on. If I see it has HFCS in it, no thank you, I'm going to pass on it and get something equivalent that doesn't have it, and yes, that might mean giving up on some of my favorite foods. For instance instead of getting the Tropicana Fruit or Berry Punches I'll purchase Welch's Grape juice which does not have any HFCS in it at all. Also, I plan to buy more organic type foods which use purer ingredients in the first place. And no, they don't have to be high-priced organic brands. Even something as simple as a spaghetti sauce, such as the newer line of Organic Prego Sauces do not have HFCS in them. Lastly, If I do buy sweetened processed foods I'll buy the ones that list either sugar or molasses as part of the ingredients label rather than HFCS.
Resources:
Wiki High Fructose Corn Syrup(1)
Questions/Answers About HFCS(2)
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