September 24, 2008

HFCS: Spreading truth about sweet side of corn

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You may have seen some advertising spots on TV talking about the "Sweet Surprise" of high fructose corn syrup, or HCFS. The surprise part is the truth about HFCS - and that some folks don't know why they have a negative connotation of HFCS in the first place.

This campaign is led by the Corn Refiners Association and is not unlike the food and fuel campaign that corn growers have been battling for almost a year now. (YES almost a year - the Nebraska Corn Board launched its initial 'Powering' campaign last October.) So it seems corn - and corn growers - have been seeing negative headlines from many directions over the past year. I guess those things come with success.

Anyway, CRA's campaign aims to spread the truth on HFCS through TV, magazine and newspaper ads. As part of the campaign they developed a great website that contains good facts about HFCS, sugar, honey and other sweeteners. Take the quiz and see how much you know.

Here are a few facts:

The American Medical Association recently concluded that “high fructose corn syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.”

High fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as table sugar and is equal in sweetness. It contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients.

Research confirms that HFCS is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like table sugar and honey. All three sweeteners are nutritionally the same and all qualify as “natural” ingredients according to FDA labeling rules.

Go to the SweetSurprise website and learn more.

Here's a look at one of the ads (click here to see the others):

2 comments:

  1. BULLSH*T ! Reminds me of tobacco companies saying their cigarettes are fine in moderation. HFCS is NOT good for you period. Worse that sugar. Any intelligent person can see this add is here just to keep sales of HFCS up. People, please don't be fooled by this corporate BS; I have no personal gain in telling the truth here but the companies that produce HFCS do... who are you going to trust? Jeez next thing we'll see a commercial saying hydrogenated oils aren't that bad for you.

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  2. Actually, HFCS is no different than sugar - the body sees it the same way. So I don't see how you can say that it is worse than sugar.

    Sugar of all types in excess is bad for you. Just like excess fat, excess vitamin B or excess H2O.

    The point of these commercials isn't to say that HFCS is better or to 'keep sales of HFCS up'. They're trying to encourage people to learn the truth...instead of listening to folks who "heard it somewhere".

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