Weighing the sweeteners

Sugar or high fructose corn syrup? For some it's a matter of health, for others, it's flavorSarah Higgins stocks up on kosher-for- Passover Coke this time of year, and even though she's not Jewish, her shopping habits are a matter of faith.

She believes in sugar.

And the high-fructose corn syrup that sweetens regular soda?

"It is the devil," said Higgins, 30, of Owings Mills. "It's in everything. If you were to go to your fridge right now, it has corn syrup in everything. It's in A-1. It's in salad dressing. I spend so much time in the supermarket - flip it over, if it has high-fructose corn syrup in it, it's not going in the basket."

Books, movies and news articles linking America's obesity epidemic to high-fructose corn syrup have made consumers increasingly wary of the sweetener. Some food manufacturers are responding by switching back to sugar in some products, including Heinz ketchup and Wheat Thins.

The change is most visible in the realm of highly sweetened, highly advertised beverages. From Pepsi Throwback and Heritage Dr Pepper to Gatorade and Snapple, sugar is making a comeback - if only in hype-seeking "limited edition" batches.

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Duke study links high fructose corn syrup with liver damage

The corn industry is facing a new challenge over the health risks posed by high fructose corn syrup. A new study out of the Duke University Medical Center indicates that high consumption of the controversial sugar substitute is associated with liver scarring or fibrosis, similar to the damage caused by heavy consumption of alcohol.

Dr. Manal Abdelmalek, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology, says a study of 427 adults who suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, indicated that those who consumed more high-fructose corn syrup were more likely to have increased liver scarring or fibrosis.

NAFLD, which is present in about 30 percent of all adults, is a condition in which fat accumulates in the cells of the liver, which could lead to inflammation or scarring, also known as fibrosis. The damage is similar to that caused by heavy consumption of alcohol, but NAFLD occurs in people who are not alcoholics.

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Food Companies Start Listening To Customers, Ditch High Fructose Corn Syrup

Do Americans feel strongly enough about high fructose corn syrup to seek out food without it? Will anyone go out of their way and pay extra to find soda or ketchup without the controversial corn-based sweetener? AdAge reports that some companies are removing it from their products, but have discovered that marketing the change without alienating consumers who weren't aware of or simply don't care about the presence of HFCS poses unique problems.

Big-name brands such as Wheat Thins, Gatorade, and Pepsi are experimenting with corn-free products.

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McDonald's USA Ingredients Listing for Popular Menu Items

Take a gander at mouth-watering ingredients like sodium aluminum phosphate, where even buns contain High Fructose Corn Syrup:

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How U.S. agriculture policies contribute to childhood obesity

In inflation-adjusted terms, the calories in soda pop and in French fries fried in soy oil and in chicken nuggets made with corn meal and corn starch … have all decreased in price in real terms over the past 35 years. What’s gone up dramatically in real terms is the price of fruits and vegetables, especially fresh fruits and vegetables — exactly the kinds of foods that kids don’t eat enough of.

Talk about throwing down a gauntlet.

In the March issue of Health Affairs, editor Susan Dentzer charges that “America is guilty of child abuse” for allowing almost one in three of its children to become either overweight or obese.

One of the causes of this obesity epidemic, she notes, is a U.S. agricultural policy “that has spurred production of cheap sugars and refined grains while doing little to encourage production of fruit and vegetables.”

The connection between our “cheap food” policy and our children’s alarming weight gain is explained in the current issue of Health Affairs by David Wallinga, MD, director of the Food and Health Program at the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. I spoke with him on the topic last week.

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Over 130,000 cases of diabetes now linked to soda consumption, HFCS

Due to the extremely high acidity of the HFCS sweetener combined with the phosphoric acid used in sodas, people who drink sodas often lose bone minerals and end up being diagnosed with osteoporosis (even at a relatively young age).

For years, advocates of natural health have been hammering away at the message that soda causes diabetes and obesity. The soda industry, meanwhile, has remained in denial mode, mirroring the ridiculous position of the tobacco industry that "nicotine is not addictive." Soda doesn't cause diabetes, the industry claims, and it's perfectly safe to consume in essentially unlimited quantities.

The Corn Refiners Association has joined the denial with its own spin campaign that seeks to convince people High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is totally natural and completely harmless. HFCS is, of course, the primary sweetener used in sodas and soft drinks.

Now comes new research presented at the American Heart Association's Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention annual conference in San Francisco. This new research reveals that over the last decade, soda consumption has conservatively caused:

• 130,000 new cases of diabetes
• 14,000 new cases of heart disease
• 50,000 more "life years" with heart disease over the last decade

"The finding suggests that any kind of policy that reduces consumption might have a dramatic health benefit," said senior study author Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo (associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco).

The American Beverage Association, meanwhile, says this study hasn't been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal yet and therefore it doesn't count.

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Major Brands No Longer Sweet on High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Gatorade, Wheat Thins Among Products Ditching HFCS for Sugar

Bowing to consumer demands, major brands are removing high-fructose corn syrup from some of their products in favor of sugar. Few, however, are shouting it from the rooftops as it would cast a shadow on those products that still contain HFCS.

Hunt's ketchup, Gatorade and Wheat Thins are all permanently ditching corn syrup for sugar. Heinz has created a sugar-sweetened version of its iconic ketchup, while Pepsi and Mtn Dew launched limited-time, sugar-sweetened versions of their colas. But with all of these reformulations, only Pepsi and Mtn Dew have made any noise to date.

"We know moms don't like it, and they don't want to feed it to their kids," said supermarket expert Phil Lempert, who has pushed for HFCS removal for a decade. "As a result, the brands that lead the pack to get rid of it, they're going to see an uptick in sales." He added that the sugar shift is an easier one for consumers than say fat-free cheese. Most consumers either don't notice a taste difference or prefer the sugar version.

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High Fructose Corn Syrup: A Sticky Fat Trap

The use of HFCS has risen dramatically over the last 35 years. It is now used in all kinds of products, from most soft drinks and many name brand candies to products one would not associate with syrup: salad dressing, Yoplait yogurt and even healthier cereals like Special K.

When I was an undergraduate, one of my classmates said that university life can be quite insulating. It insulates us from many problems including the huge number of people who are now obese, referring to individuals with a Body Mass Index (BMI) – the ratio of weight to height – of 30 or higher.

50 years ago, obesity in the U.S. was an issue; that has changed. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 1992 there were only six states with 15 percent or more of the population was obese, and none with a rate over 20 percent. By 2008, only one state – Colorado – had fewer than a 20 percent obesity rate. According to the National Health Examination Survey, 13.4 percent of people 20-74 years of age in 1962 were classified as obese compared with 35.1 percent by 2006. While there is evidence that obesity rates appear to be leveling off, the numbers are still staggering.

There are several negative consequences of widespread obesity. According to an article in Health Affairs, each obese American incurs health care costs about 42 percent greater than someone with normal weight. It also shortens life expectancy and decreases productivity, due to increased illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. There is also the money spent on weight loss. With 25 percent of American men and 43 percent of American women attempting to lose weight each year, the weight loss industry is making billions, worth $55.4 billion in 2006. The resources and money used for this industry could clearly be used elsewhere.

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Sugar Gains Favor on Labels

Despite Costs, More Packaged-Food Producers Replace High Fructose Corn Syrup

High fructose corn syrup, the sugar alternative used to sweeten sodas, cookies, condiments and cereals, is beginning to lose some ground in the packaged-food industry.

More big-name food and beverage products—including Kraft Foods Inc.'s Wheat Thins —have begun dropping the ingredient in favor of sugar, despite a big difference in cost, saying they are responding to consumer preferences for ingredients perceived as more natural.

ConAgra Foods Inc. in May will start replacing the sweetener with sugar in its Hunt's tomato ketchup. "That's what consumers are looking for—simpler ingredient listings and ingredients they are familiar with," ConAgra spokeswoman Teresa Paulsen said.

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New Cause of Autism?

"Dr. Sean Kenniff believes there may be a link between the rise in Autism and the rise in obesity. Dr. Kenniff thinks the mercury in high fructose corn syrup may be to
blame"

Autism is quickly becoming one of the most diagnosed disorders in children, and scientists aren't any closer to figuring out what causes it.

Unlike other disorders, most who suffer from autism don't share common traits, and that may be one of the most frustrating parts about the disorder.

30 years ago, it was a relatively obscure diagnosis. Today, 1 in every 150 kids has some form of autism.

"Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, all of it is a spectrum," explained Susan Walton, a Kearney mother of an 8-year-old boy who was diagnosed with Asperger's, "you have low functioning, very high functioning, and everything in between."

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