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Au Naturel High Fructose Corn Syrup
3:31 pm on July 16th, 2008 by funkEpunkEmonkEOne would think that the Corn Refiners Association would be busy enough right now that they could sit back and relax, but instead they are starting a big marketing campaign to beat back the Michael Pollans, Daniel Imhoffs and Richard Johnsons of the world who complain that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is making us fat. They are taking it to the public with a big new $30 million ad campaign, saying that the stuff has the “same natural sweeteners as table sugar and honey.”
They have the courts behind them; Stacy Holk went after Snapples at the FDA for claiming that their product was “all natural,” when it was full of HFCS, noting that there is nothing natural about the process of making the stuff:
“Cornstarch is first treated with a purified enzyme, alpha-amylase, to produce shorter chains of sugars called polysaccharides. . . . The polysaccharides (short chains of sugar) are then broken down even further by adding a second enzyme called glucoamylase. . . . The addition of glucoamylase to the polysaccharides yields the simple sugar glucose.”
The FDA concluded that it was natural, and in June the US District Court upheld them. So don’t believe that “all natural” label- it’s meaningless. PDF of court decision here;
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July 16th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Who the hell cares if it’s natural or not. Natural isn’t even defined, so there’s no reason to want it so badly. And keep in mind we have the amylase in our saliva. Cyanide is natural, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy.
However, I do absolutely hate HFCS. It tastes bad, and is evidently bad for your health. Stop taxing sugar imports — problem solved.