Have you noticed ads recently quietly sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association? The television advertising presents senarios of one person being apprehensive about accepting a beverage or somesuch made from high fructose corn syrup and the other person assuring them its all natural and so okay.
Buoyed by a recent FDA finding, the CRA has been advertising its product as natural and equal to honey and table sugar.
“Upon careful review of the manufacturing process for High Fructose Corn Syrup, the FDA found that HFCS can be labeled natural,” stated Audrae Erickson, president, Corn Refiners Association. “HFCS contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients or color additives and meets FDA’s requirements for the use of the term ‘natural.’ HFCS, like table sugar and honey, is natural. It is made from corn, a natural grain product.”
Specifically, the FDA stated “we would not object to the use of the term ‘natural’ on a product containing the HFCS produced by the manufacturing process…” commonly employed in the corn refining industry. A copy of the letter clarifying FDA’s views on the use of the term natural for products containing HFCS can be found at www.corn.org/FDAdecision7-7-08.pdf.”
So the conclusion seems to be that HFCS can now be touted as just as good for you as honey.
I can't believe that HFCS can be considered as natural as honey. My co-worker never consumes it and reads all her labels carefully prior to purchase. She swears that is what gives so many people stomach ailments. Although I try to make healthier choices, I don't take the time to read my labels and probably consume more than the recomended quantity. With that said, I am very rarely sick, and I have never been over weight. I do eat most anything in moderation and think that moderation is the key to most everything.
ReplyDeleteI think it's sad that the FDA can no longer be relied upon as a institution that attempts to safeguard our health.
ReplyDeleteIf it is touting a sweetener that is industrially processed and chemically altered as "natural", you have to wonder which lobby paid them to say it. Corn, perhaps?
To compare it to honey is laughable.
Lucid