If one more person mentions...

What is High Fructose Corn Syrup, and why all of the sudden has it been echoing in my ear canal so much?

my pal wikipedia notes:
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is any of a group of corn syrups which have undergone enzymatic processing in order to increase their fructose content and are then mixed with pure corn syrup (100% glucose) to reach their final form.

I've read that its sweeter, and cheaper than sucrose (the sugar many people add to their coffee), so it's no wonder it is in everything. Wikipedia also noted that "HFCS is easier to blend and transport because it is a liquid", and "usage leads to products with much longer shelf life". It's all about the Benjamins.

My mother recently read Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barabra Kingsolver, which she highly recommended and I am making my way through. But now every time we're out shopping she flips to the nutritional information and just like Sherlock Holmes, often raises a finger and mutters " there it is again!" or "it's in everything!" Apparently how ubiquitous HFCS is was part of a take away message in the book. Interesting...

Then a couple of friends have mentioned it in passing, and I heard about a documentary, King Corn, they made on "the subsidized crop that drives our fast food nation."

And today I happened on this NYTimes article. Now I'm not a huge fan of "X makes you fat" quantifiers as such, but I read on because of my peaked interest in this fructose deal.

Cruising the blogosphere, it's not just recently that people have been buzzing, but for a while. People love talking about this stuff! San Fran may tax it. There is a list of fast foods with it, which may be a moot point, and a list of foods with out it. Apparently HFCS can still be called 'organic' ... but I didn't have time to look further into this as I feared it might involve one of those "Oh dear I slipped and fell into the internet, and I can't get up moments."

The people who make the stuff decided they didn't like the bad press, and are spending 30 mil to "correct" it, but of the science-y articles I read, there is some back and forth on any direct correlations. To me this is an issue not unlike global warming. There are strong arguments, but mostly I am glad that it is raising awareness on issues of taking care of the earth, and in this case nutrition and taking care of your body. I mean sugar is sugar, you need it in your body, but you don't need a ton of it, like anything else.

Should we take the no-HFCS challenge? I sort of feel like it may be the scape-goat of bad nutrition, but at the same time I feel like the fact that it's sneaked into so many of the items I obliviously put in my cart at the grocery... gives me that challenge itch. Thoughts?

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