Devious Name Change For High Fructose Corn Syrup

Photo credit: higherperspective.com

Americans are just beginning to get wise that what we put in our bodies affects us tremendously. Perhaps one of the best things about the internet is the ability of people, even in remote places, to access information. Because of this, shoppers are more aware than ever before about ingredients and labels and exactly the kind of junk most processed foods are made from. Perhaps now, more than ever before, people are demanding healthier foods and more accurate labeling.

In case you haven’t noticed, because of these demands, food companies are plastering the words “natural” and “healthy” on just about everything. To top it all off, Big Food is now trying to hide ingredients that we are aware are bad for our health by changing the names. Worse still, the FDA is letting them get away with it.

Apparently, Big Food knows that gig is up when it comes to high fructose corn syrup. It’s been all over the news and natural websites, such as this one, about the dangers of this extremely cheap sweetener. Since Big Food wants us to keep buying, they have to either stop using it or make it appear, at least, that it is no longer in our food.

Big Food has made a newer version of high fructose corn syrup. It’s not healthier than the last version, but because this product is now 90 percent fructose, not 42 to 55 percent as the old version was, they are being allowed by the FDA to simply call this ingredient “fructose.” By doing this, they are trying to make it appear that you are eating the natural and healthy fructose that is in fruit, but nothing is farther from the truth!

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Photo credit: bigstock

This new corn syrup is often used in foods labeled as being “light” or “natural.” It is so super sweet that they need to use very little of it. However, this product that is 90 percent fructose will not need to label themselves as anything other than “fructose” or “fructose syrup.” This is very misleading at best and deceitful at worst. Companies will be allowed to state that their product is free from HFCS and only list this ingredient as “fructose.”

Citizens for Health, a consumer watchdog group, are asking the FDA for more specific labeling so that people known the amounts of fructose a product contains. They are also asking that any corn syrup that is higher than 55 percent fructose is considered to be adulterated, which means that it will fall under stricter federal regulations and it will not be able to be sold through interstate commerce. This makes it much more difficult for companies to use this ingredient since they would have to have a factory to produce it in every state in which they wish to sell their product.

SEE ALSO: Fructose Hazards Infographic

If you want to eat a truly healthy diet, don’t get fooled by Big Food. When reading food labels, if you see ingredients that you don’t recognize, or long names that you can’t even pronounce, it’s time to put that box back on the shelf. Read more how food labels trick you into eating GMO food.

References:

Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Web.archive.org

Phys.org

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