High Fructose Corn Syrup --- not natural

[BanzaiBonnie]

DH and I have been working to remove as much HFCS from our diet as possible. It's difficult, but we feel we'll be better off for our effort. We've become avid label readers during this process. DH even found HFCS in saltine crackers! At least the major brand. We did saltines without HFCS.


http://newsletter.vitalchoice.com/e_article001075562.cfm?x=bcvkTTk,b3j9P6dK

FDA declares HFCS unnatural

The Corn Refiners Association and major food manufacturers assert that HFCS is a natural sweetener, even though its chemical bonds are broken and rearranged in the manufacturing process.



While the glucose and fructose in HFCS are identical to naturally occurring glucose and fructose, the U.S. FDA says that because chemical bonds are broken and rearranged in its production, HFCS cannot be called natural.



To make HFCS, starch is extracted from corn and then converted by acids or enzymes to glucose. Then some of the glucose is further converted by enzymes into fructose. (Most HFCS is made from genetically modified corn, which predominates in North American corn fields.)



The FDA now deems HFCS an unnatural food substance: Here is how the agency describes the process that, in its eyes, prevents HFCS from being labeled “natural”: “HFCS is prepared from a high-dextrose-equivalent corn starch hydrolysate by partial enzymatic conversion of glucose (dextrose) to fructose using an insoluble glucose isomerase enzyme preparation.”
“… depending on the type of acid(s) used to obtain the corn starch hydrolysate, this substrate itself may not fit within the description of ‘natural’ and, therefore, HCFS produced from such corn starch hydrolysate would not qualify for a ‘natural’ labeling term.”

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. HFCS one of the worst things to eat

I'm on a doctor-supervised eating plan-not a diet, because it is what I'll eat for the rest of my life--and the only sweeteners I'm allowed is stevia. I've found since I've cut out all other forms of sugars and concentrated on eating vegetables, nuts, and meat and limited amounts of dairy I feel much much healthier. I can't help but think that my father, who died at the early age of 62 from complications from Type II diabetes, would have lived longer if he had eaten a proper diet.