Weight Loss News and Current Events - Pro-High Fructose Corn Syrup Commercial

The past two nights I've seen a new commercial on TV where two moms are discussing the drink one is about to pour for her kids, containing high fructose corn syrup. Has anyone else seen this? I was just wondering what people's opinions on it were, as I know many of you are very against HFCS and some of you are neutral and don't really consider it to be the evil others claim.

Here's the link (http://www.sweetsurprise.com/) to the website that's given in the commercial.

I just saw one yesterday and posted about it under a different category this morning. The one I saw was a guy blundering and unable to answer a question posed about "what they are saying" about HFC and an intelligent sounding woman saying it's "made from corn and has the same calories as sugar"

Corn industry must be worried about losing some the bazillions of dollars they are making on the stuff due to people trying to educate themselves and eat healthier, huh?

I'm not going to try and claim that HFC is single handedly responsible for the rise in obesity and diabetes. I'm sure it doesn't effect some people at all. But I know that, for me, eliminating as much as possible from my diet made a huge difference and I'm not all that unique so I imagine others would have issues with it as well. I think I'm more annoyed by the "propaganda" feeling I got from the whole thing. Tacit implication being that you are something of a dumb@** if you think there is anything unhealthy about it. For me, corn in general is too starchy so I'm keeping all corn products to a minimum. I guess it bothers me that there might be others out there who would benefit from avoiding HFCs that are going to think that because they "saw on TV that it was OK" will go on consuming it.

I haven't seen the commercial, but I think the problem with HFCS is that it is a form of sugar, and a lot of people do well to cut it out. That has been my understanding of it anyway, that it is a form of sugar and anyone watching sugar has to watch for that...it's like a way to slip it in there without listing sugar and a lot of people don't realize it is a form of it. I really don't know much else about it, but I also find that I feel so much better if I cut it out. I can cut out sugar and eat HFCS products and feel just as if I ate sugar.

And yes, of course they are worried about losing money as more people start to eat healthier. It's GOOD we are starting to eat healthier, maybe they can find something more healthful to turn their corn into, if the market demands it they will have to eventually. I think the commercial is a good thing in that way...it shows some heat is on them and they're trying to do some damage control. It's not going to work though, smart people aren't going to see a commercial like that and think "oh I'm so dumb, gotta go buy me some HFCS now." We're not buying it for a reason, and a commercial calling healthy-minded people (and those trying to get there) dumb isn't going to work...because we aren't dumb!

I really think they are capitalizing on people thinking HFCS is bad, but having no clue why (we love our bandwagons). They are just playing into the fact that people aren't entirely knowledgeable on the subject. All they tell you in the commerial is that HFCS has the same calories and is made from corn. But they also aren't telling you WHY HFCS's get a bad rap or what may be GOOD about them.

I hate that commercial, too.

I must admit that I don't specifically exclude items with HFCS. I suspect there's some in my ketchup and I often joke that they'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hand. :) I've tried eggs with salsa, and they're okay, but they're just not ketchup. As well, we make homemade beef/turkey burgers and again I just want my ketchup on it.

My bigger issue is the addition of sugar (no matter what kind) to diet products. I'm not a frozen dinner fan (make my own bulk/freeze stuff), however, I don't think there's a frozen dinner that doesn't have some kind of sugar in it. It may not be labeled with sugar but there's usually some form of it somewhere. Same with lower-cal snacks. They'll be marginally lower in calories (twice the price though) and have pretty much the same ingredients than they're higher cal counterparts. Oh and low fat is almost certainly beefed up with higher sugar.

Sigh... any wonder I'm moving more towards things I make myself. I've discovered I can make a pretty reasonable high protein chocolate zucchini cake. It's not replacing cakes/brownies though, it's more of a homemade protein bar. I don't usually take 3 pieces at once, but comparing them to the last ones I looked at:

Costco's (weider) protein bar: 240 cals, 20g protein, 30g carbs, 2g fiber, 5g fat

3 pcs (1/8 of 9x13" pan) of mine: 235 cals, 21g protein, 29g carbs, 9g fiber, 2g fat

Okay, some of it is cost-driven as the bars are $40 for 15 of them. However, HFCS was the first ingredient. :)

I question how good-for-you corn is AT ALL, let alone in its most processed state as HFC. I try to stay away from it as much as possible, but it's slipped into basically everything that exists these days, so it's sometimes hard.

I also don't think it single-handedly caused the obesity epidemic either, but I do think it's contributing in ruining people's health, as it just seems like something our bodies won't know how to process correctly. We've dealt with sugar, fats, protein, carbs, etc. for our entire existance on this planet and have adapted to process these kinds of food, but how can we expect our bodies to "deal with" something like HFC?

I dunno... I don't care how harmless the FDA says it is, it still seems like poison to me.

All they tell you in the commerial is that HFCS has the same calories and is made from corn. But they also aren't telling you WHY HFCS's get a bad rap or what may be GOOD about them.

Yeah, as if the big complaint about HFCS is that it is higher in calories than sugar.

It's a strawman argument that makes them look stupid to anyone who knows better. But I've learned not to underestimate what people will believe and from what sources, as have their PR people. Not because I think people are stupid, but because everything in our society is so skewed by big industry's influence.

It's too bad the Ad council couldnt do an add saying why it's actually not good for you? However the corn Lobby wouldn't let that happen!
Real CDN could we have your choc Zuch recipe?

Real CDN could we have your choc Zuch recipe?

Sure, no problem:

http://realcdn-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/08/chocolate-zucchini-cake-pp-added.html

For those looking for simply a lower calorie cake-like item (ie. without the protein powder):

http://realcdn-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/07/chocolate-zucchini-cake.html

The second one was given to three of the neighbours for a taste/feedback report and everyone agreed that they wouldn't have known it was lower cal (cut from 181 to 108 cals). I went with the protein powder/soy flour one though as it has more protein and fiber (although I used fiber sure to boost it).

I saw this commercial last night for the first time. I have tried so hard to cut out HFCS from my daily eating because it seems to trigger off cravings for more sugary things.

Anne, please do share your recipe! You are doing so well and I enjoy reading your blog.

Thank you Anne!

Iit's like a way to slip it in there without listing sugar and a lot of people don't realize it is a form of it.

Exactly. That's another thing; these commercials seem to be trying to make it sound like it's not a sweetener just another ( did that one woman really say vitamin enriched?) ingredient.

My bigger issue is the addition of sugar (no matter what kind) to diet products.

Yep, that's why it's soooo important that we read the nutritional information on the back of the package (in the really tiny print) instead of the "claims" on the front of the label in the huge print. Unfortunately, the rest of the world isn't necessarily as savvy as 3FC members which is why they get away with it.

I try to stay away from it as much as possible, but it's slipped into basically everything that exists these days, so it's sometimes hard.

I dunno... I don't care how harmless the FDA says it is, it still seems like poison to me.

Well, I'm not sure how much faith I have in the FDA anyway. I mean, think about it, they'll approve something as a food additive for everybody to consume after a very brief testing period, but drugs for things like cancer and AIDS treatments have to go through extensive testing - for years and years while the people they might be able to help are dying anyway. :?:

Funny how they forget to mention the genetic engineering involved and the fact that GE foods have not been proven safe. Now I realize they have not been proven unsafe, but why consume something for years not knowing is it's safe or not? I do not trust the FDA or the USDA. They do not protect the American public, they protect big business.

Anne, please do share your recipe! You are doing so well and I enjoy reading your blog.

Thanks. For me it really has been about changing my lifestyle. It's taken a while but I recognize that I have a problem sorting out the hunger signals. I realise now that previous attempts to diet would send me into binges. And when not dieting I never binged. For me it seems that higher protein and higher calories is the key. Too bad it took 30 years to figure it out. :p

Ha yeah, I had a similar experience. To lose weight, I actually had to EAT - what a concept! I also like ketchup and dislike HFCS, I usually buy organic. Trader Joe's has a fairly inexpensive organic ketchup and I also like Annie's (but it's a little more spendy).

Heck, I even think the Heinz organic ketchup is pretty darned good! It definitely tastes better than the regular.

Let me start by saying that I don't avoid all foods with HFCS, however, I saw this commercial while I was working out and I nearly got ill...

This woman was pouring some sort of red-dyed "juice" concoction from a jug, and I swear I could feel my teeth rotting in my gums.

It really irritates me that they don't actually present any facts other than "HFCS is just sugar... made from corn!" :p Oversimplified propaganda nonsense.

And, yes, while I don't avoid all HFCS, it still sticks in my brain that corn is fed to cattle to fatten them up. (Even if I did give up HFCS, I'll never give up corn.)

I too will never give up corn in it's natural state, because I love it. HFCS is a no no though. I'm sure from time to time I eat it, but I refuse to drink anything that contains it and keep it away from my children the best I can...On PBS' show Independent Lens two college students followed corn production and processing by planting their own acre and then following it from harvest to the end. It was pretty interesting and eye opening...it can be found at http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/kingcorn/

I finally saw the commerical last night (the one with the lady with the red jug of kool-aid looking stuff). Filled me with grrrr.

The commercial really irritates me.

Oversimplified, condescending, and a completely logically flawed argument (you can't say "X is made from Y and Y is natural, so X must be good"...that is not a defensible position!)

Seriously made my head want to explode.

Precisely!

I have the same reservations about the American Heart Association -- if you notice, their seal of approval is stamped on everything from Fruit Loops to grape juice with like 1000g's a sugar per serving.


Well, I'm not sure how much faith I have in the FDA anyway. I mean, think about it, they'll approve something as a food additive for everybody to consume after a very brief testing period, but drugs for things like cancer and AIDS treatments have to go through extensive testing - for years and years while the people they might be able to help are dying anyway. :?:

I won't buy stuff with HFCS in it because I really see no need to do so. I usually don't use things like ketchup, although I did buy the Whole Foods brand ketchup today ($1.69/bottle). I would rather if ketchup came without sugar. There was one brand that did have sugar free ketchup but it was twice the price. How come products WITHOUT stuff always cost more?

I don't know that HFCS has been proven to be any worse for you than refined table sugar. The problem is it's SOOOOO cheap they put it in anything and everything they can. Places where you wouldn't expect it. In large amounts.

A case has been made against eating "novel foods" as dietary staples since we don't know the long term reactions of our bodies to them. Or maybe we do (KOFF diet related epidemics KOFF). Since so many novel food additives are processed from corn, American's eat a HUGE amount of corn calories, most or at least alot of them not realizing it. That can't be good for us ...

I avoid it on the principal of the thing ... if it has HFCS in it it's probably processed to the point that it isn't food anymore. Like that scary liquid the HFCS mom was serving the kids.

I just use sugar now if I really want something sweet. I steal Sugar in the Raw packets from the coffee shop and keep them at work heh. If I REALLY REALLY want something sweet the small grocery next door carries Coke imported from Mexico, where it's made with cane sugar and comes in a glass bottle (YUM). I figure if I'm going to waste the calories why not on what I really want? Something sweet, not corn.

I just saw this commercial last night and almost fell off my chair! I posted about it in another forum before I realized there were people discussing it here.

I was shocked they're actually promoting HFCS! I realize it's not the sole cause of obesity and weight problems in America, but that's just like saying, "it's ok everyone, eat highly processed sugar - it's ok for you!" Before I started South Beach I didn't realize pretty much everything had sugar and HFCS in it. Cereal? Yep. Juice? Yep. Yogurt? Yep. DISGUSTING! I try very hard to buy organic and foods that don't contain it, but it gets very expensive. It's frustrating going to the store, buying 10 items and spending $50 because that's the only way to escape the revolting crap manufacturers put in our food. When I get a house one day, I'm totally growing a garden and making my own stuff!

And if I'm not mistaken, wasn't nicotine once promoted in the same "it's ok for you in moderation" manner? Look where that's gotten us!

Here are some things I've found on why HFCS is a problem:

From the Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588):
Some nutrition experts blame increased consumption of high-fructose corn syrup for the growing obesity problem. One theory is that fructose is more readily converted to fat by your liver than is sucrose, increasing the levels of fat in your bloodstream. But this hasn't been proved.

In addition, animal studies have shown a link between increased consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and adverse health effects, such as diabetes and high cholesterol. However, the evidence is not as clear in human studies.

Despite the lack of clarity in research, the fact remains that Americans consume large quantities of high-fructose corn syrup in the form of soft drinks, fruit-flavored beverages and other processed foods. These types of foods are often high in calories and low in nutritional value. This fact alone is reason to be cautious about foods containing high-fructose corn syrup.

In a really well-balanced review of the recent commercials, Serious Eats (http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/09/pro-new-hfcs-commercials-high-fructose-corn-syrup.html)says:
...the Corn Refiners Association reminds consumers that they don't know a lot about the sweetener—they just know to hate it. ...

But as one Serious Eats reader points out on this recent talk thread on the issue, the campaign resembles former ones with cigarettes, where the nicotine sticks become "a healthy alternative to sweets."
What they especially note in this article is that even though the commercials and websites talk about eating HFCS "in moderation," they don't say what that is. Furthermore, as one commenter noted,
The only thing that bothers me about these ads is the line "It's healthy in moderation."

It's kind of hard to eat something in moderation that is in nearly 90% of foods.
Amen! :p


There's another balanced article on HFCS at Eating Well (http://www.eatingwell.com/health/qanda/high_fructose_corn_syrup.html). Basically they say that it's eating too much sugar that's the problem, not HFCS.


Another issue, for those of us that care about eating more natural foods and less processed foods, is that HFCS just isn't natural, which is well expressed by The Accidental Hedonist (http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php?cat=304):It isn't natural. Oh, they may meet the letter of the law in defining itself as natural, but they haven not only broken its spirit, they stepped on it, jumped on it, and ground the law into dust. Unless a person has ready access to centrifuges, hydroclones, ion-exchange columns, and buckets of enzymes, there's simply no way for a regular lay person to make high fructose corn syrup. None. Zero. It's not natural, no matter how they dress it up.


An interesting article on why HFCS is a problem can be found at The Science Creative Quarterly (http://www.scq.ubc.ca/our-sweet-ending-health-consequences-with-high-fructose-corn-syrup-consumption/), who says,
Unlike table sugar, HFCS contains simple sugars that do not require further digestion to be absorbed by the human body. This contributes to the higher sweetness factor of HFCS.


Though this article (http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/cornsyrup.html)at the Weston A. Price Foundation may be slightly biased against HFCS, it has a great description of how it's made (http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/cornsyrup.html)...which seems a bit scary to me! They note:
"The medical profession thinks fructose is better for diabetics than sugar," says Dr. Field, "but every cell in the body can metabolize glucose. However, all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. The livers of the rats on the high fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic." There are different formulations of HFCS, but in the more commonly used one, HFCS-55, there's only 5% more fructose than in table sugar...so it's not necessarily that huge of a difference. Still, if one is eating it regularly, it could make a big difference over a lifetime...


I really trust the "About You" docs that run www.RealAge.com. They say this about HFCS:
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), used to sweeten everything from the obvious (soft drinks) to the obscure (ketchup, salad dressing, bread), can trip up digestive system hormones that control hunger and appetite. The end result: Your brain misses out on hormone messages that signal a full stomach. Start reading labels and see if you can cut back on the 63 pounds of HFCS most people consume each year.

Your digestive system has two main hormones that control hunger and appetite. Ghrelin is secreted by the stomach and increases your appetite. When your stomach's empty, it sends ghrelin out, requesting food. Leptin tells your brain that you're full. HFCS inhibits leptin secretion, so you never get the message that you're full. And HFCS never shuts off ghrelin, so even though you have food in your stomach, you constantly get the message that you're hungry.
63 pounds of HFCS a year? I'm not sure what moderation is, but that's definitely not it, eh? :?:


A year ago, a study (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/health/news-article.aspx?storyid=89755)found a link between drinking sodas sweetened with HFCS and diabetes:
A new study released Thursday suggests sodas sweetened with high fructose corn syrup may contribute to the development of diabetes. The study from researchers at Rutgers University, shows sodas sweetened with high fructose corn syrup contain high levels of compounds that previous research suggests may play a role in the development of diabetes. Especially when consumed in large amounts.
...One point where most scientists and doctors agree is that Americans are consuming too many calories, whether in the form of sodas, fatty foods, or sweets. "The bottom line, watch your total calorie intake, limit added sugars, whether it's in the form of high fructose corn syrup or table sugar and just eat a variety of healthy foods we know are good for us,? said Elisa Zied a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

A review of the website www.HFCS Facts.com from It's all a big SCAM (http://itsallabigscam.blogspot.com/2008/06/hfcs-why-is-it-bad-for-you.html):
They claim that there are many health benefits to high fructose corn syrup. Yes, believe it or not there is a complete website dedicated to making you believe that HFCS is your friend. They mention that it keeps food fresh, enhances fruit and spice flavors, retains moisture in bran cereals, helps keep breakfast and energy bars moist, enables baked goods to brown better and keeps ingredients evenly dispersed in condiments. Wow, this all sounds so great...

So I dug a little deeper and saw that these statements were backed up by a woman named Audrae Erickson. In an article she recently had published in The Wichita Eagle she reiterates the health benefits of HFCS as well as it's safety...I mean why would this woman have any alterior motives anyway. She's only the President of the US Corn Refinery Association. Ha!

So I did just that. I looked at the research, studied the findings and read through to find out who was actually funding these research studies. As it turns out and believe me, I was not surprised, I found that studies like these were quite often funded by grants given through companies like Pepsi. In addition, these findings are always supported by researchers and/or advisors that are connected to National Sugar Institutes, Corn Refinery Associations and HFCS producers like Archer Daniels Midland.

To be honest, before these commercials I didn't really pay that much attention to how much HFCS was in anything I ate. I don't drink calories, so I don't worry about pop, I try to stay as close to the real food as possible. You get the idea. But now because of these commercials I am paying more attention so I can stay away from the HFCS. They've lost money here. Whatever the product is, if it makes fun of me, or anyone else, for not getting/eating it then it isn't much of a product and should be shunned.