A Trojan Horse to the American Diet
Larry J. Fontana
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) was introduced into the American diet in the 1970’s. Since its inception, the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) has relentlessly tried to convince us that HFCS is a natural and safe additive because it is derived from corn. In spite of the CRA’s claims, doctors, nutritionists and health and medical associations continue to warn us about the dangers of HFCS. Organizations such as the American Heart Association and the Food and Drug Administration are finally stepping-up and offering specific recommendations regarding the use of refined sugars and HFCS. Even Vice President Biden ranked Corn Syrup as more deadly than terrorism in regards to the potential loss of American lives.
The controversy regarding HFCS is rooted in three key areas: (1) scientific studies showing that refined sugars and HFCS contribute to diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease, (2) deceptive marketing practices of the CRA claiming HFCS is safe and natural, and (3) how widely and insidiously HFCS has infiltrated its way into our food supply. High Fructose Corn Syrup, like a Trojan Horse to the American diet, is not a safe sweetener despite claims by the manufacturers; studies show it to be a major contributor to Americas most common and deadly diseases.
By the mid 1900’s the average person in the United States consumed about 38 pounds of sugar per year. In early 2000, thirty years after the introduction of HFCS, “the average American wolfs down 142 pounds a year [176 grams per day],” according to Dr. David Ludwig of Boston Children’s Hospital, in the CBS news report “Is America Too Sweet on Sugar” (Johnson). Dr. Ludwig goes on to say that sugars from fruits are not the main concern since it is surrounded by fiber and digests slowly keeping blood sugar under control.
The problem is when we take sugars and concentrate and refine them, and serve them in massive amounts throughout the food supply. That’s causing hormonal changes that in many people drive hunger, cause overeating, and increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Sugar in our diet comes from a number of sources such as the carbohydrates in grains, legumes and vegetables, directly from fruits, and as added-sugars in many of our processed foods. You can be sure if you see a word with, “ose”, at the end, such as sucrose, fructose, glucose, dextrose, lactose and maltose that it most likely denotes a sugar.
Most of us would be surprised to learn that the majority of sweeteners used in processed foods today do not come from sugar cane or sugar beets, rather from corn. The creation of High Fructose Corn Syrup is a complex process which extracts corn starch to yield clear glucose syrup. It is then transformed back into a fructose-glucose formula through a series of procedures using enzymes, bacterium, fungus, and other chemical and fermentation processes to eventually produce HFCS. If there was anything corn-like in the beginning of the process it becomes something very different in the end product.
High Fructose Corn Syrup is metabolized by the body differently than other sugars, making it potentially harmful as compared to the natural fructose that is contained in most raw fruits and vegetables. Natural fructose is more easily digested by the body without depleting minerals or adding stress to the system. Natural fructose does not cause roller coaster blood sugar and is not addictive. High fructose corn syrup; however, actually inhibits digestion, is addicting, and causes many other biochemical problems.
The American Heart Association released a new scientific study in August of 2009 confirming the relationship between excess sugar intake and metabolic abnormalities, adverse health conditions and shortfalls in essential nutrients. The statement provides recommendations for specific limits on the daily consumption of added-sugars to be 25 grams for woman and 37.5 grams for men. That’s about six teaspoons of added-sugar per day for women and nine teaspoons for men. According to the American Heart Association News Release (Appel):
High intake of added sugars, as opposed to naturally occurring sugars, is implicated in the rise in obesity. It’s also associated with increased risks for high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, other risk factors for heart disease and stroke, and inflammation (a marker for heart disease), according to the statement’s lead author Rachel K. Johnson, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., associate provost and professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont in Burlington.
In an attempt to shift the rapidly declining reputation of a product commonly referred to as Public Enemy #1, the CRA unleashed a dumb-down, multi-million dollar media campaign, attempting to challenge the health and medical community assertions that links HFCS with the most common and deadly diseases (“High-Fructose Corn Syrup Ad 1”). The CRA Media Ad claims the benefits of HFCS are: (1) it’s made from corn, (2) it does not have any artificial ingredients, and (3) like sugar it is fine in moderation. In a follow-up article by Consumer Reports, “The whole truth about high-fructose corn syrup,” (McCarthy) the benefits of HFCS were examined, and they found: (1) It is true that HFCS is derived from corn; however, you will not get the same nutritional-benefits as you would from eating an ear of corn, (2) it is partially-true that HFCS does not contain artificial ingredients; however, HFCS is processed using artificial ingredients, sidestepping FDA guidelines and definitions, and (3) HFCS is fine when used in moderation; however, people could argue that the use of HFCS is so widespread in the American diet that in order to use it in moderation you would have to leave most processed foods and drinks on the shelf. In reality, the primary beneficiaries of HFCS are the CRA and the processed food producers, because it’s sweet and it’s cheap!
The CRA’s deceptive advertising practices finally caught the attention of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), says Sarah Hills, in her article “HFCS ad campaign accused of deception.” The CSPI demanded that the CRA change some of the text used in the campaign, stating that “high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has the same natural sweeteners as table sugar.” CSPI’s executive director Michael F. Jacobson says the text is deceptive because HFCS consists almost entirely of glucose and fructose without a single molecule of sucrose. Jacobsen also claims it is deceptive to imply that HFCS is natural because it starts out as cornstarch and is chemically or enzymatically degraded into glucose and then further converted into fructose. “High fructose corn syrup just doesn’t exist in nature,” Jacobson said.
The case came to trial before Judge Mary Cooper from the US District Court of New Jersey, who ruled that it was up to FDA, not the court, to define ‘natural’. The FDA does not officially define the term ‘natural’, “however, the FDA has said products containing HFCS cannot be considered ‘natural’ and should not be labelled as such – consequently, we would object to the use of the term ‘natural’ on a product containing HFCS, according to the agency’s Geraldine June” (Hills).
In the article “The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup,” Christopher Mohr says “HFCS now represents more than 40 percent of caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages and is the sole caloric sweetener in soft drinks in the United States.” This represents a 1,000 percent increase in sugar-intake since the introduction of HFCS. One of the problems with HFCS is that it is often disguised within many of the foods we eat, making it difficult to control sugar-intake levels. Fructose also requires a different metabolic pathway than other carbohydrates because it skips glycolysis (normal carbohydrate metabolism). HFCS does not stimulate leptin, which tells your body to stop eating when it’s full, and leaves us ripe for overeating and unhealthy weight gain. “If HFCS is one of the first ingredients listed on a food label, don’t eat it (…) The more you stick to fresh whole foods and avoid commercial and highly processed foods, the less HFCS you will consume” (Mohr).
To highlight the difficulty of using HFCS in moderation within the American diet, here are a few examples of how easy it is to exceed the recommended amounts of daily sugar intake. A 1.5 OZ serving of Instant Kashi Oatmeal whose slogan is, “More For Your Heart,” has 12 grams of sugar, 50% of the recommended daily amount for woman; a bag of Welch’s Yogurt & Fruit Snacks has 17 grams of sugar; a snack pack of 4 Vanilla Snack Wells Cookies has 18 grams; and the winner at 39 grams of sugar, equal to 20 sugar cubes and over 100% of the recommended added sugar level per day, is one 12oz bottle of coke!
The American Heart Association states that soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the number-one source of added sugars in the American diet. If you do nothing more than remove soft drinks from you diet you will be doing your body a great service!
To add insult to injury, the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry reports that HFCS produces a toxic chemical, “Hydroxymethylfurfural” (HMF) when heated (Adams). This research resulted from an extensive inquiry into why honeybees were dramatically dying off a few years ago in what was called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD.) They found that the heated HFCS being fed to the bees is linked to the CCD outcome. “The name is a bit of a misnomer, though. It’s not really a ’disorder’. It’s more of a poisoning,” says Adams. The HFCS becomes contaminated with HMF when it is cooked; and according to the research the HMF levels increased dramatically when temperatures rose above 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which by the way, isn’t very hot.
Given all the health and medical warnings, dumb-down media campaigns, widespread usage, and deceptive marketing practices regarding High Fructose Corn Syrup, the American consumer has some serious decisions to make. As you weigh-in on the available information and choices regarding HFCS, consider: Where there is smoke there is fire; and in the face of complexity often the simplest solution is usually the correct one — reduce or eliminate your intake of HFCS!
High Fructose Corn Syrup, like a Trojan Horse to the American diet, is not a safe sweetener despite claims by the manufacturers; studies show it to be a major contributor to Americas most common and deadly diseases. My invitation is to do your own research and make the best choices you can. Pass on the super-sized Pepsi and choose water with lemon. Consider the foods you are eating and add up the grams of sugar; are you under the recommended 25 grams for a woman and 37.5 grams for a man per day? Be skeptical about advertising campaigns that tell you it is good to eat HFCS because it is ‘natural’ and made from corn. There is some truth in what the CRA says about consuming HFCS in moderation, the trick is eliminating and identifying enough foods to be able to actually do that!
Take the time to read the labels; I was amazed by some of the foods that have HFCS in them, such as ketchup, soup and pickles. Be very, very careful with the fruit juices and sodas, and also when cooking foods containing HFCS at temperatures over 120 degrees. Think about your children and the rising statistics of obesity and diabetes. Good health and wellbeing is the greatest gift we can give our children; don’t let corporate greed and profits take that from them, or yourself. Submit your questions and concerns to the FDA and other health and wellness organizations. Be prudent, and make informed choices about your use of HFCS. In regards to High Fructose Corn Syrup in your diet, more is definitely NOT better!
Works Cited
Adams, Mike. “High-Fructose Corn Syrup Produces Toxic Chemical “HMF” When Heated.” Natural News. 20 Oct 2009. Natural News Network, Web. 31 Oct 2009. <http://www.naturalnews.com/027286_HFCS_food_honey.html>.
Appel, Lawrence. “Association recommends reduced intake of added sugars.” American Heart Association. 24 Aug 2009. American Heart Association, Web. 31 Oct 2009. <http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=800>.
Hills, Sarah. “HFCS ad campaign accused of deception.” Food Nagigator-USA. 25 Jun 2008. Decision News Media, Web. 31 Oct 2009. <http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financial-Industry/HFCS-ad-campaign-accused-of-deception>.
Johnson, Caitlin. “Is America Too Sweet On Sugar?” CBS News Sunday Morning. 17 Jun 2007. CBS Interactive Inc., Web. 22 Oct 2009. <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/17/
sunday/main2939873.shtml>.
McCarthy, Kevin. “The whole truth about high-fructose corn syrup.” Consumer Reports Health. 28 Oct 2009. Consumers Union of U.S., Web. 30 Oct 2009. <http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health/2008/10/
high-fructose-c.html>.
Mohr, Christopher. “The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup.” Diabetes Health. 20 Aug 2008. Diabetes Health, Web. 31 Oct 2009. <http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2008/08/20/4274/
the-dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/>.
“High-Fructose Corn Syrup Ad 1.” You Tube – High-Fructose Corn Syrup Ad 1. Web. 24 Oct 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEbRxTOyGf0>.
