Thursday, September 16, 2010

What's in A Name?


This is a public service announcement to all of my blog readers that have taken the red pill in regards to dietary and nutritional science.

CRA petitions FDA for high fructose corn syrup name change

The Corn Refiners Association has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking it to allow the term ‘corn sugar’ as an alternative label declaration for high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

HFCS has suffered from a spate of bad publicity in recent years, and food and beverage manufacturers have been increasingly switching it out of their products in preference for beet or cane sugar (sucrose).

Now why would that be? You think gout, diabetes and rampant obesity would have something to do with it?

The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) has said that the reason it filed a petition with the FDA was to be clear with consumers about what HFCS is: A sugar made from corn. The CRA – a trade association that represents the corn refining industry in the United States – has repeatedly stressed that HFCS is not high in fructose, even though that is what the name may suggest. In fact it contains proportions of fructose and glucose that are similar to sucrose.
SIMILAR is not exactly THE SAME THING.


President of the Corn Refiners Association Audrae Erickson told FoodNavigator-USA.com: “The words ‘high fructose corn syrup’ have caused confusion…This is all about consumer clarity on the ingredient label.”


She said that in much the same way that there is beet sugar and cane sugar, sugar from corn should be called ‘corn sugar’ in order to give it a name that is easily understood.
We wouldn't want the sheeple to understand the difference between monosaccharides versus disaccharides, and how one is worse than the other!

It is expected to take up to two years for the FDA to come to a decision on whether to approve the renaming.


The American Dietetic Association has also found that HFCS is "nutritionally equivalent to sucrose”, and that it is metabolized by the body in the same way as sucrose.
Right. Eating one or the other on a regular basis for a number of years will result in making you become a fat ass with diabetes, gout, and perhaps even heart disease and cancer.

Erickson said: “We hope that the FDA will act positively on our petition in the interest of consumer clarity."


This is not the first time that a name change has been sought for an ingredient that has been declining in popularity in an effort to simplify its image with consumers.
 IS that all? To "simplify it's image?" Or is it to mislead and distract the consumer so they can continue to reap their profits at the expense of the consumers health?

In November last year, Ajinomoto rebranded its aspartame ingredient ‘AminoSweet’, saying the time was right to “remind people that aspartame is made from two amino acids and brings absolutely nothing new to the diet, just sweetness without the calories”.

This just in: don't eat anything with "Corn Sugar" or "AminoSweet" listed on the ingredients.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good point. I am 68, and in my youth, egg sizes were also adjusted. It seems SMALL eggs were a misnomer, thus misleading the consumer in passing up a nice sized egg.

So, SMALL became medium, medium became large, and large became what? Jumbo, I don't remember.

Their concern for the paying customers brings tears to my eyes.

Anonymous age 68

Keoni Galt said...

Need a tissue, Anon 68? lol

Amateur Strategist said...

Anything about Maltodextrin, Xylitol (aside from KILLING YOUR DOGS) or "nutrisweet"?

gallier2 said...

We should call it as Peter of Hyperlipid calls it. Corn Refiners Association Product or short C.R.A.P.

As for the aspartame, it's true that it's two simple amino acids (alanine & aspartic acid), but these two amino acids are bound together by a methyl bridge, which is freed as methanol when the two are separated. Everybody knows how good methanol is good for you, not.

Double Minded Man said...

I see that you mention a link between HFCS and gout. do you have links on that?

I have personally discovered a link between my gout and soda (which is a huge source of HFCS) but for me, personally, I have found it to be a PH issue rather than due to HFCS. I did a post on it a while back and have been intending to update it.

I would love to get that info from you and see how it lines up with my experience.