High fructose corn syrup
May. 26th, 2006 04:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
javasaurusSome people absolutely hate high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Why?
I can understand that some people can actually taste the difference between HFCS and sucrose, but I have trouble understanding why they find the difference to be so strong as to really get upset about it.
Before I continue, here's trivia that some people may not know: Sucrose is 50:50 glucose/fructose. HFCS is 45:55 glucose/fructose. There is very little difference between them!
Also, some people blame HFCS for the increasing gut size in the US. Why? HFCS can actually achieve the same sweetness as sucrose with slightly fewer calories! Fructose is sweeter than glucose, so upping the ratio means you can use less sugar. If you use the same amount of sugar, you get the same calories. HFCS is no worse for you calorie-wise than sucrose.
This doesn't really mean that HFCS has no role in the increasing waist size. HFCS is somewhat cheaper to produce than sucrose, so soda manufacturers can use the savings to keep prices down and/or increase serving size. If people are getting fat, it's from drinking more soda, not because the HFCS soda has more calories.
I can understand that some people can actually taste the difference between HFCS and sucrose, but I have trouble understanding why they find the difference to be so strong as to really get upset about it.
Before I continue, here's trivia that some people may not know: Sucrose is 50:50 glucose/fructose. HFCS is 45:55 glucose/fructose. There is very little difference between them!
Also, some people blame HFCS for the increasing gut size in the US. Why? HFCS can actually achieve the same sweetness as sucrose with slightly fewer calories! Fructose is sweeter than glucose, so upping the ratio means you can use less sugar. If you use the same amount of sugar, you get the same calories. HFCS is no worse for you calorie-wise than sucrose.
This doesn't really mean that HFCS has no role in the increasing waist size. HFCS is somewhat cheaper to produce than sucrose, so soda manufacturers can use the savings to keep prices down and/or increase serving size. If people are getting fat, it's from drinking more soda, not because the HFCS soda has more calories.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 04:19 pm (UTC)Oh, for what it's worth, "real" corn syrup is almost pure glucose (and water, of course). The current Karo syrup uses a combination of glucose syrup and HFCS to increase sweetness.