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HFCS to be labeled as "corn sugar"
http://www.grist.org/article/food-hfcs-name-changed-to-corn-sugar/
?High-fructose corn syrup?? Never heard of it
If you can't beat 'em ...
confuse them. That seems to be the new motto of our good friends at the
Corn Refiners Association, the lobbying group and manufacturing
association that represents makers of high-fructose corn syrup. The AP is
reporting that the group has petitioned the FDA for permission to
identify high-fructose corn syrup on food packaging as -- wait for it --
"corn sugar."
After all, HFCS sales are at a 20-year low. More
and more, science is indicating that the body metabolizes
HFCS differently from table sugar in a way that increases the risk
of diabetes, liver disease, and obesity. (Yes, we consume too many
sweeteners of all kinds, but as I wrote in
this recent post, there is evidence that this industrially
extracted combination of fructose and glucose has more health
consequences than the ones that humans have been consuming for far
longer.) As the Corn Refiners president observed sadly, HFCS of late
"has been highly disparaged and highly misunderstood." Well, I'll
certainly agree with the first part of that statement. All the
recent marketing muscle put behind HFCS seems to have been a sweetly
surprising waste of money.
So, when the facts and consumer
sentiment are against you, what is a poor, misunderstood oligopoly to
do?
The answer: obfuscate!
Surely, in wonderfully
Orwellian style, a name change will take care of matters. I don't even
know what to call this latest bit of corporate idiocy. Cornwashing?
This
latest move proves the old adage that, when it comes to industrial
food, the customer is always wrong, wrong, WRONG!!
It also
demonstrates the fundamental bad faith under which these groups operate.
As long as government policy and industrial agricultural practices
ensure a vast overproduction of cheap corn, food processors will
continue finding creative ways (animal feed, vehicle fuel, wallboard) to
use it all. The only option that remains is the last refuge of
marketing scoundrels everywhere: deception.
And though the name change could take up to two years, the marketing push will begin immediately. Forewarned is forearmed.
UPDATE: I'd like to point out that there are plenty of other "corn sugars" on food labels with misleading names likes dextrose and maltodextrin. Maybe the FDA should grant the CRA's HFCS petition, but force them to call all of these sweeteners by the same name. Maybe then people would truly understand the amount of "corn sugar" being shoved down their throats by Big Food.
Re: HFCS to be labeled as "corn sugar"
I really don't think this is going to help their cause. Everyone will just learn of the new name, and think, hey that's easier for me to spot on a label! If they want to confuse us, they should rename it Zeamaysifrucosoruam or something long, unpronounceable and difficult to remember.
i read this the other day. and then i saw an article of some "scientist" about how there is no difference between HFCS and sucrose and maltose, etc. she sounded worse than the HFCS commercials.
i also accidentally bought some popsicles the other day that had "corn syrup solids". i am assuming that is the same thing too and was pretty pi$$ed when i got home and saw that. the one time i do not read ingredients.
corn sugar? Is that supposed to make it sound less artificial and healthy?
Sounds really misleading to me.
It's actually not.
"corn syrup" is not HFCS... therefore "corn syrup solids" are not HFCS>
Corn Syrup is like Karo syrup... HFCS has chemically added Fructose to make it even sweeter.
The HFCS manufacturers were trying, a few months ago, to get the FDA to allow them to change their name to "Corn Syrup" but there was an outcry and their petition was denied.
I am the 99%.
I heard this on NPR the other day. I literally LOL - then started thinking about how effed up that is! The ONLY reason to do this is to mislead consumers. Period. Cornwashing! Love it!
thanks for the info. i still thought they had a funny after taste so not good anyway.
If hfcs has its own name on a label, why doesn't beet sugar? Isn't like 80% of the sugar in the US from sugar beets which are GM?
Please correct me if I'm wrong...I thought that's what I read a while back.
You are correct, 80% of the sugar sold in the U.S. is GMO beet sugar. The reason it's not labeled that way is that the GMO regulations stipulate that GMO foods are not "substantially different" than the regular product (i.e., cane sugar), and therefore do not have to be labeled. HFCS has its own label because it is substantially different from sugar because of the extra fructose. I'm sure HFCS manufacturers are arguing that that fact isn't valid, and they can therefore call HFCS "corn sugar." After awhile, I bet it will just be "sugar" and we're all effed.
Ooh ok. Sometimes I wish I lived in a country that didn't use these things. We're in the land of the free but we're slowly being poisoned just by enjoying a meal with our family!