August
2007
8 ‘Health’ Foods That Contain High Fructose Corn Syrup!
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Busted! High fructose corn syrup is incredibly cheap, partly because the U.S. government artificially fixes sugar prices and partly because corn is heavily subsidized (not so much “free market” anymore as “free lunch”). Clearly, your federal government loves you and hopes you get obesity and diabetes really soon so you can take advantage of all the great medical care that we don’t have.
High fructose corn syrup is also terrible for you, and not even the most conservative of nutrition experts disagrees with that. While there are a few slightly more terrible liquids out there - liter fluid, for example - it’s really a shame that the “foods” available to us are so commonly laced with HFCS. And it’s even worse that they’re often promoted as being suitable for a healthy lifestyle or weight loss! They may look very cute, but beneath the fiber sprinkles and happy labeling lurks the heart of darkness. Really.
These eight “health” food products all contain high fructose corn syrup:
- Yoplait Yogurt
Every variety of Yoplait contains HFCS! How much do you think it really costs The Premium Yogurt (aka Yoplait) to slap some ultra-pasteurized milk products, a dash of pectin, and a swig of sweetener into each pretty little personalized bucket de diabetes?
- Salad Dressings: Oh, the Love!
Most salad dressings contain corn syrup, but “lite” and “reduced calorie” versions are brimming with it. Prior to the no-fat craze, salad dressings were typically made with cheap, poor-quality corn oil. Now they’re made with cheap, poor-quality corn syrup. Dump them (as in break up with them, not dump them on your salads). Make your own dressings at home from cheeses, lemon juice, olive oil or balsamic vinegar.
- “Smart” Ice Cream Sandwiches
Many of the low-calorie ice cream treats are packed with upwards of 20 grams of this nutritionally deficient sweetener.
- Special K
It’s high time for cereals to stop proclaiming health benefits. Made from grains, gums and sugars, there’s nothing smart about cereal for breakfast, no matter how special it may be. Self-esteem for breakfast?
- Cereals with the Heart Healthy Claims
Many breakfast cereals are loaded with sugars and processed junk, but because they have a few grams of fiber or are low in fat (big deal), they are promoted as health foods. Just steer clear of the middle aisles, period.
- 100 Calorie Snack Packs
When was the last time anybody starved? We’re all in favor of portion control, but what’s in the package matters. You’re much better off eating 100 calories of almonds or sugar snap peas than some processed cookie confection. Although we know this might make a few friends a little cranky.
Thanks to Back in Skinny Jeans for exposing these sneaky sweets! (via one of our favorite fitness blogs: FitSugar)
Street cred: corn syrup research and how corn syrup is made
Technorati Tags: 100 calorie snack packs, portion control, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, diabetes, food myths, breakfast cereal, nutrition myths, yogurt, Yoplait, heart disease
[...] from Mark’s Daily Apple comes this post highlughting 8 “health” foods that contain high fructose corn syrup [...]
[...] from Mark’s Daily Apple comes this post highlughting 8 “health” foods that contain high fructose corn syrup [...]
[...] from Mark’s Daily Apple comes this post highlughting 8 “health” foods that contain high fructose corn syrup [...]
But Crabby is always Cranky! That’s her Job!
Actually, you can have those nasty snack-packs. Even I would rather have the almonds.
Just don’t mess with my cupcakes.
(But to be disagreeable (job description), that graph with obesity and corn syrup is not too convincing. It could just easily be a graph about obesity and Cell Phone Usage or obesity and Wearing of Crocs or Obesity and Celebrity Starlet Misbehavior. Lots of things have been increasing over time.) But I’ll go with Paris Hilton causes Obesity!
I’m anxious to see the movie “King Corn” whenever it’ll be available. That will be an eye opener. I hope everyone else will see it, also!
Crabby, you crack me up! And good point about the graph…association is not necessarily causation. Although it does give one pause…
I want to know who invented the cupcake. It’s just so…cute!
History of the Cupcake:
In the first World War, soldiers were often sent out into the fields without confections. The prolonged lack of sweets led to battle fatigue, trench confusion, and sometimes rebellion as was the case with the mustard gassing of troupe 63.
To remedy this, the army included a baker with each regiment. The baker would send troupes into battle with fully baked pound cakes or occasionally a buche de Noelle, but the cakes quickly became soggy, slopping a soldier’s gear and jamming his grenades.
The army hired Hormel Industries under an independent contract to develop a canned cake. The canned cake was called Scake. It was mass produced, but the bitter aftertaste was unpopular, and the whole Scake product line was scrapped.
In late 1917, word spread of a small battalion stationed in Caporetto who had solved the confectionary problem. The soldiers had created a cake batter they could mix in their drinking tins to nourish themselves during the heat of battle. This personal drinking tin cake, or “cup cake” as it was popularized, quickly spread and before 1918 the whole of British, Italian, and American forces were using cupcakes as a confectionary solution during battle. Symptoms of battle fatigue, trench confusion, and rebellion were no longer common, and the Germans—who had no cups of cake—were soon defeated.
Perhaps the saddest aspect is that corn syrup is categorized as “all natural.”
Yes, the US Government recognizes corn syrup as an “all natural” ingredient.
So the next time one buys that “all natural” food product, you may be getting corn syrup.
Reminds me of Crabby’s point last week that “natural” does not mean healthy! At this point even “lean” and “trans fat free” do not mean healthy.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050222191227.htm
Great list, but you forgot one of the main perps - bread. Yes, just about any kind of bread, including the various wheat breads, that see in a regular grocery store has HFCS as an ingredient. It pisses me off, I spent 30 minutes in the grocery store last night checking the ingredients of every type of bread on the shelf, and not one of them was free of either HFCS or ’sugar’ (at least the latter used honest nomenclature).
Bread…hmm…people still eat that stuff?
I often times find myself sitting around the house, suffering from trench confusion. I’m glad I’m not the only one… even if every other documented case is almost 100 yrs. old.
Add ‘Vitamin Water’ to the list. Propel, too. Yea, real healthy water there.
I am hearing mixed messages on the web about crystalline fructose (found in Vitamin water and several “organic” grocery items I buy) — is crystalline fructose as bad for one as HFCS?
Thanks in advance for you thoughts on this.
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[...] 8 “Health Foods” That Contain HFCS [...]