It is not the HFCS that makes people fat. It is eating too much and exercising too little. We need to be responsible for our own actions and quit putting the blame on someone else.

There's a growing bulk of evidence (not conclusive yet, though) that HFCS could either increase the propensity towards, or make worse, diabetes.

It's supposedly a chromium antagonist, and chromium is a crucial pancreatic insulin regulator.

Thanks very much for the responses. Sounds like I should do some research and get a better understanding.

I took a fairly comprehensive look through my fridge and pantry and at first was happy to see that very few items contained HFCS: Cookies (don't eat many, didn't expect them to be healthy) ketchup/bbq/chile/etc (might eat a couple tablespoons a month) ginger ale (the Canadian Club will kill me before HFCS will) and that was about it until I looked at the cereal. I do not eat much cereal but my kids do, and although I thought I buy only "healthy" cereal they all contain it. That concerns me.

One question - Is HFCS necessarily labeled as such? I seem to recall someone complaining that their corn syrup contained HFCS, so I am wondering if my 1.5 quart half gallon of ice cream ;) which contains corn syrup also contains HFCS.

Paddy - I could not agree with you more, and that was my first reaction, too. Heck even the commercial said "in limited quantities." I do not expect cookies, crackers, soda, ice cream, etc. to be smart food choices. On the other hand the cereal really bothers me. While I know that most cereals are ridiculously high in sugar, I still go out of my way to buy "healthy" ones and I am not particularly happy about finding a potentially dangerous ingredient in all of them.

Corn syrup and HFCS is not the same thing. You can google all sorts of information about HFCS. Anything that is NOT natural is NOT good for the body - even in moderation.

If you have a Whole Foods near you, they sell soda made with cane sugar instead of HFCS. It's the soda we all grew up on. Even though soda is still not healthy, the soda made from cane sugar is the one you should have in moderation. This is what I have in the house for company and my kids if they want an occasional soda.

Also, you can find in any health food store, ketchup, pickles, etc., made with cane sugar or agave nectar instead of hfcs.

When purchasing cereals, always read ingredients and avoid hfcs as well as BHT and BHA (which are banned in Europe). Thank goodness for places like Whole Foods which give people options. I only go in a regular grocery store to buy toilet paper (which I buy recycled - lol).

Paddy people are taking responsiblity for their actions. They are researching food ingredients, reading labels, and making healthy choices. They are seeking out products that are lower in sugar and calories, hence they are avoiding high fructose corn syrup. That's one reason why I can/preserve, I can control the amount of sugar and what kind of sugar that goes into my products. I cannot stand the TASTE of foods with hfcs, which is why I read the label and avoid it whenever possible. Sugar is ubiquitous these days, so it takes real vigilance on the part of the consumer to avoid it. As a mother, I would read labels like a hawk and try very hard to help my kids not develop a taste for high sugar products. I know when I was a kid, my mom was SO MEAN, she would not let us have any of that stuff! Thank you mom!!

I have to watch my carb/sugar intake due to headaches, so I am a rabid label reader and always looking for products without hfcs and also hydrogenated fats. These ingredients make products cheap and have a long shelf life--multi-national corporations love them because they can ship their foods all around the world and don't have to worry about them being perishable. Hence the slow deterioration of the local agricultural economy and the concentration of agricultural production in the hands of a few large producers. But it is making a comeback. Small farmers, health care practitioners and parents are hitting back! All due to the consumer!! So keep on reading labels, asking questions, and making healthy choices.

I agree, people are taking responsibility for their actions by reading labels. Even the labels are sometimes misleading, the package will scream in large letters "Only 150 calories per serving. When it's something like a frozen dinner and you find that it's supposed to to 3 servings, 1/4 cup each, or a muffin is supposed to be 3 servings, it's misleading. Who the heck eats 1/4 cup of macaroni and cheese or splits a muffin with two other people? Those things appear to be a single serving, but they are not.

I've found HFCS in everything from commercial spaghetti sauce to cereal to canned vegetables. People pick up a can of what would appear to be perfectly healthy peas and find that they've gotten a nice shot of HFCS. Since we've caught on, now they're going to advertise that it's "safe and natural". Whatever.

Paddy, I do agree that weight gain is from too much food and too little exercise. Part of the problem is that today's society spends a lot of time with TV and video games and not enough time on bicycles or basketball. Even thin people are unhealthy if they don't exercise, thin doesn't mean healthy.

Eat less, move more, and you'll keep your weight down. The equation is simple. However, when manufacturers peddle the high fat/high sugar products because they are cheap to make, and then loudly proclaim that they are natural and healthy, it's misleading, it's false advertising and it's offensive.

In the meantime I grow my garden, can my own organic vegetables, can my own jam so I can keep the sugar down and raise my own hormone and antibiotic free grass fed beef. I think I AM taking responsibility for my own health. However, between my 60 hour per week job and running the farm and taking care of everything with Dad gone, occasionally I pick up a jar of spaghetti sauce or a box of cereal so my daughter is at least eating something. Sure enough, it's nearly always got a good shot of HFCS so I spend some more of the time I'm trying to save reading a dozen jar labels to find the stuff that doesn't have it or an inordinate amount of sugar of any type. Pah. And we won't even talk about fat content....

Annie

In one of my culinary classes last year we had an at-length discussion regarding HFCS. We unanimously agreed that it will be the next ingredient on the chopping block as there is a large movement toward healthier eating. Just as trans fats were banned, we believe that HFCS will be also.

As Annie so eloquently stated: It has absolutely NO nutritive value. As one Florida state representative said: "It is the crack of sweeteners".

The irony of this ad is that with me at least it has done quite the opposite of its intended purpose. Before seeing it I never knew to look out for hfcs and avoid it! Unless I am the only one living under a rock, I would have to think I am not the only one whose awareness was raised.

As others have noted, HFCS isn't just in "unhealthy" foods.

More and more it's it virtually EVERYTHING that requires sweeteners. I've even found it in otherwise very healthy whole grain, high fiber breads.

Why?

The enzymatic reactions used during its production also make it a lot sweeter than even corn syrup. That makes it even cheaper for manufacturers to use because they don't need to use nearly as much to equal the sweetness of corn syrup, sugar, etc.

HFCS is even in pickles! Pickles! I read it on the Claussen's label last year. Made me furious. I can taste high fructose corn syrup and it really bothers me. I abhor the taste. But I went grocery shopping on Saturday and was very, very pleasantly surprised to see both a BBQ sauce and an English muffin that both touted they don't have HFCS. Thank goodness the word is getting out. I don't want cheap corn sweetener in every single product I buy. And I don't eat too much or exercise too little anymore. I just don't like it and personally believe it's bad for human consumption, no matter what the lobbyists say.

About a year ago I watched a show that "investigated" sugars. Each section was about another sugar: where it came from.... how grown; how processed; how used; AND, biggie, how it reacts in the body. According to their research HFCS is so processed that the body doesn't recognize it, doesn't know what to do with it; and therefore stores it for future reference... whenever it figures out what to do with it.... which will be never. Guess where it is stored? In a brand new fat cell created for just this purpose. We will all be storehouses of unused HFCS.

I read labels.

Paddy, i disagree that HFCS cannot be responsible on its own for weight gain. A close friend of mine banned it from her families diets a year ago. They were eating healthy before but she just ratcheted it up a notch or 2. Well they are not eating any less now, if anything more, and everyone in the family has slimmed down. Some might say that by eliminating the HFCS she was also feeding her family better, more whole grains etc. However she previously made all her own bread etc.

-Robin

I just went digging through my pantry and fridge and could only find three things that had HFCS - Pop-tarts (DON'T MESS WITH MY POP TARTS), Oroweat buttermilk bread (which says 'wholesome goodness' on the front, HA, now in garbage), and Girard's salad dressing, which I never touch anyways.

All my other stuff comes from Trader Joe's (or brands that are pretty clean like Newmans) and I couldn't find either HFCS or hydrogenated anything. Breads, ketchup, tomato sauces, all free and clear. FWIW the brand of bread I usually buy is Milton's, and it is clean. So it is easy for me to shop smart. At TJs I do have to read for hydrogenated oils in cookies here and there, mostly imports.

The thing that bothers me is the deception of touting something as "healthy" when in fact it contains lots of unhealthy ingredients.

I've seen research that supports the belief that the body stores hfcs as excess fat and I've seen research that supports the belief that the body processes hfcs the exact same way as cane sugar - the molecular make up is supposedly the same, although since the hfcs's molecular structure has been artificially altered, there's lots we may not yet know about genetically altered food.

When I was reading these reports, I kept thinking about how my mom smoked when she was pregnant because the reports on unborn children and smoking were "inconclusive". Now we know.

My soapbox issue is that while those of us here on this forum are curious enough and aware enough to research and educate ourselves, there are millions of people who don't have that opportunity and are completely unaware that these genetically modified sugars may (or may not, but probably are) very bad for you. Plenty of people, some out of ignorance and some out of apathy, some out of lack of time and resources, have absolutely no idea of the potential harm in eating these things and therefore aren't able to make an informed choice. Nutritional education is the first line of prevention and we are sadly lacking in that area.

AM

Apparently because people like us are reading the ingredients and removing HFCS from our diets we are cutting into their profits and therefore feel it is necessary to put out an add as such...caveat emptor "let the buyer beware"

Is it really sugar is sugar is sugar? I don't think so, and even if that's true, sugar is way over used today. Back in "olden times" it was a luxury treat. Just try living like that today. Can be done, but is very difficult if you don't make all your own foods.

Two substances can have the exact same molecules, but they are arranged differently, they're called isomers, and they can make a lot of difference at the biochemical level. They can have completely different properties.

However, I would hesitate to swear off any processes that change the "natural" chemical makeup of foods though--baking, toasting, fermenting, soaking . . . all change the chemical properties of foods.

I'm not a fanatic about processing, but it is the fact that hfcs is just what the name implies, a very concentrated sugar, which is cheap and is added to products to improve the "taste" and shelf life. I dislike the taste though, never developed a taste for sugary processed foods, although I love my carbs! Since I don't eat much hfcs, maybe I notice more how lousy I feel when I do eat it. Most people by now have gotten the idea that if you want to cut carbs in a sane way, it's easy to start with highly refined ones like hfcs in stuff that tastes fine without it. Don't worry though, pretty soon biofuels will make the need for a market for hfcs moot, lol!

Hey, for a real interesting take on corn in general, rent the documentary "King Corn" by Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis. I saw it on PBS, thought it was going to be a snore fest, but since I don't get any other channel I watched it all the way through, it was VERY thought provoking for me, coming from a small agricultural town like I do. You can rent it throught Netflix.

When we start digesting glucose, our body reacts by increasing leptin (a hormone controlling appetite and fat storage) and decreasing ghrelin (the hormone reducing hunger pangs). The glucose is then stored as energy.

But with HFCS the opposite happens. Ghrelin levels are not suppressed and leptin is not increased so we are left feeling not quite satisfied and hungry soon after eating. It gets into our cells without triggering an insulin response, thereby confusing our body into handling it like any other fat and storing in as excessive flab. The University of Minnesota also found a diet high in fructose elevates triglyceride levels, long associated with obesity and heart disease.(click on link to read article)
Dr. Oz writer of the "you" books also listed similar findings in his books.

Here is a link that might be useful: HFCS

Remember, there are literally dozens of kinds of sugar, and the body can react to them in VERY different ways.

Lactose is one of the many sugars in milk, and millions of people around the world have no ability to process it, the result being anything from mild stomach upset to life threatening reactions.

On another note - there was an article in WSJ last week about food manufacturers cutting costs by substituting cheaper ingredients in their processed foods. It was quite scary really. Things like adding more highly-processed ingredients like "soy protein" - which to me means hidden MSG. You think you're eating XYZ and the next day they quietly change the recipe to XXZZ (you get the picture).
By the way, many products touted as "natural" contains crap ingredients too. All the chicken broths I look at at TJs or Whole Foods have HFCS in them. So I make time to boil my own broths.

Frankenfoods.

At any rate, I don't eat much processed stuff but I will be even more aware about not buying crap in the future. I did grow up on processed foods though, so some damage was already done.

Does anyone have a homemade ketchup recipe?

:-)

Annie does Gina..and I found one in a book I'm waviering on..
I even found a Mango Ketchup.

I use Annie's Ketchup. No HFCS..but sugar.
Heinz makes a pretty tasty Organic Ketchup.

If we would do away with the government subsidies to the sugar cane farmers the food processors could go back to using sugar. I do not know if that is an improvement or not but the subsidies paid to the farmers totaled more than the dollar value of the sugar crop. It's mostly another form of welfare to large corporations. The cost of sugar in the US is several times what it is in the rest of the world.

I'll have to try and find the Heinz Organic Ketchup. Ketchup is, I think, going to be my biggest challenge. I grew up in Pittsburgh, where Heinz is, and the last time my mom was visiting she saw a different brand in my house (I think it was TJ's) and she was mad!

AM

PS paddy, government subsidies on sugar cane is just the beginning. corn and other subsidies have made a mess of our food sources, but I'm not sure what the solution is. In fact, even beginning to think about that nightmare gives me a headache close to the headache I get when I think about the US healthcare system!

L&P Worcestershire sauce has it. Ready, aim, FIRE!!!!

I just got back from Sprouts - they're in Texas and just started to come into Cal. I found that most of their processed items like ketchups did not use HFCS - yay. They had Heinz organic as well as other brands of ketchups. They also had chicken broth that didn't have HFCS or any sugars at all - double yay. I bought a box for the pantry. None of this stuff is cheap though.

I've pretty much found that if I want to avoid questionable ingredients, like hfcs and all the variations of MSG, and transfats/partially hydrogenated oils that the only products I can count on are organic products which certainly don't come cheap. Processed foods that we use and try to find healthier versions of are things like crackers for the kids, cereals, and granola bars. Also we run into problems with the kids yogurt.

What REALLY annoys me is that my favorite cereal, Kellogg's All Bran Bran Buds contains HFCS. I'm still eating it because it's the absolute highest amount of fiber in a cereal I can find (13 g in 1/3 c and I eat about 2/3 c every day). I don't know if I should stop eating it or not. It's the only HFCS in my daily diet, and I'm wondering if the benefit of the fiber outweighs the little bit of hfcs.

look what I found, i'm sure there is more out there

Here is a link that might be useful: hfcs free foods

The commercial the orignal poster is writing about is sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association.

The ad gives the attached website for information. (pro-HFCS, of course).

Here is a link that might be useful: corny HFSC site

I had no idea HFCS was such an insidious substance in the body. I just thought it was more cheap sweet stuff we don't need. I've had an education here.

We don't eat a lot of processed foods but they show up here at times. I went through the cupboard and the only thing I found was some strawberry syrup that was a gift. Never opened. Too sweet sounding I guess. Tossed. So I feel good about that.

We use Trader Joe organic ketchup. It's clean. Alice prefers Heinz. Oh well! Not anymore. The Heinz site is spinning the facts. They make a big deal of the lycopene in their ketchup but fail to list the ingredients which include HFCS. At least I can't find an ingredient list. I found it elsewhere.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heinz

paddy, I don't even use cane sugar, I use beet sugar, processed less than 100 miles from me. But yes, I think a lot of problems are caused by government subsidies.

I do have a home canned catsup recipe, Ashley loves it and says it tastes like "really good steak sauce". I'll post it on another thread, as soon as I find it. I'm a little scattered with the wedding party this weekend since I'm doing all the cooking and planning myself (with Elery's help).

Annie

"So I make time to boil my own broths."

Gina,

Get a pressure cooker.

Using my pressure cooker I can make an INCREDIBLE broth in less than an hour, while making the same broth in my stock pot would take 6 to 8 hours.

I'm running out of space...

But I WILL look at pressure cookers soon, I WILL...

I don't care for that commercial much either, mostly because it seems to make people who care about their health look like fools. However, I can't help but wonder if we're not all overreacting just a little bit. No, HFCS is not good for us, but how long have we been ingesting it without any problems?

I went through my pantry a bit as well and was suprised after all of this talk by how many things I had that did NOT contain HFCS: breakfast cereals (Total Raisin Bran and Cranberry Crunch, Cracklin Oat Bran, granola, oatmeal), pastas, Horizon yogurt, table crackers, Williams Sonoma Hot Chocolate, marshmallows, Ghiradelli chocolate chips, Silk soymilk, etc. The few things I found that DID contain it: Coke, saltines, Pop-Tarts, and jams. I didn't go through all of my condiments, but how much of them do I really use? A couple tablespoons of ketchup on my burger or fries? I think too many burgers and fries are the problem, not the ketchup.

I agree that it is sneaky the way that HFCS has ended up in our foods, but are any of the foods you're finding it in all that healthy or low-sugar to begin with? Every few years there is a new "evil" ingredient, whether it be sugar, fat, eggs (cholesterol), artificial sweeteners, or whatever. The key is moderation and simply choosing more wholesome, natural ingredients as often as we can.

As for me, I will be skipping the Cokes at the tailgate this weekend and replacing them with numerous HFCS-free brewskies. Let's drink to our health!

Chrissy

"but how long have we been ingesting it without any problems?"

Obesity is epidemic now. So is Diabetes at all ages.

Moderation can be hard if these highly-processed and unnatural ingredients are in so many foods in the average family's pantry. Awareness and action are good things. Letting manufacturers know that folks are aware and do not want these ingredients in our foods is good.

What's bad is that I can afford to shop at high-end stores for pricey "all-natural" products but most families cannot.

Frankly, I used to be less forgiving of people and their bad habits. I used to look down on those who fed their children crappy processed foods. I've changed in that now I understand that I'm blaming the victims.

Seven years ago I decided not to feed my dog crap pet food and feed a raw diet instead. I couldn't understand why more people did not do it. After seven years of discussing this with lots of friends, neighbors, family and online, I've come to understand that people inherently TRUST manufacturers and merchants to sell them quality foods - for themselves and their pets. If the ads and the vets tell them pet food is good and raw food is bad, who are they going to believe? Little old me or all the authorities?

Anyway, now I feel that if people are ignorant, or poor, or unaware, or whatever, that doesn't mean they deserve to eat crap. Those of us who are aware first and can speak up first should do so.

I agree that HFCS isn't good for us, I'm just saying it's not the root of all evil and hasn't caused all of these problems by itself. Obesity and diabetes have much more to do with cultural and lifestyle changes that have taken place over the last few decades than they have to do with HFCS. It's more important that we shift our attitudes, get more active, and generally eat more nutritious food than it is for us to worry about completely ridding our lives of one not-so-good ingredient.

Chrissy

Gina, if you can't find to organic Heinz or don't have time to make Annie's, the Muir Glen ketchup is pretty good.

I'm glad someone else mentioned being able to taste the difference between products made with HFCS and other sugars. I insisted I did and others insisted I "couldn't possibly." Hah!

I've been on the anti-HFCS wagon for years. I hate the flavor, I hate the lethargic way I feel after consuming it. And it drives me nuts that you almost can't buy a beverage that doesn't contain it. (Hey, sometimes I want something besides water.) DH hit the roof when he started reading labels and discovered so many of the sports drinks (that he uses in the summer during work) contain it.

Our local (Clovis, CA) Costco sells Coca Cola bottled in Mexico. It isn't made with HFCS. They can't keep it in stock.... and it isn't the Mexican immigrants that are buying it either.

"...one not-so-good ingredient." Why have any not-so-good ingredient if you can help it? You can make the choice not to have it. Make the exception for one thing and you can make it for all things. Pretty soon you're eating the bag the "food" came in.

Real CocaCola with noHFCS, I need it! Haven't had a coke in ages as I cannot bring myself to drink that stuff. I just drink ice water now and I was never a water drinker. I had heard Mexican soft drinks do not contain it but they no longer specify what sweetener they use, at least some of the brands I've checked. HFCS may start to get expensive with the biofuel corn shortages, maybe the problem will solve itself. Well, just dreaming out loud.

The Mexican labels actually say that Coke is made with sugar on the ingredient list. Try Costco. If you ask you might be able to get it.

For those of you who live within distance of a Jewish community, around Passover the stores will carry colas with no corn products (prohibited).

Annie - I had no idea beet sugar was available in the states! As long as I can remember my German mom has said her Christmas cookies don't come out quite right because of the cane sugar in this country. I do not know if that is true, or if perhaps it is the flour, or if perhaps it is her head, but I would love to find cane sugar for her before she starts her holiday baking.

Everyone - thanks for all the replies. To quote Barnmom, "I've had an education here."

FOAS,

Your post is ambiguous. Do you want or NOT want beet sugar?

If it doesn't say "cane sugar" it's beet sugar. I won't bake with beet sugar. For me the results aren't the same. They are okay, but different. I will use beet sugar in my coffee or over cereal, though. C&H is all I buy for baking. I don't make candy but if I did, I'd use cane sugar.

From www.americansugarbeet.org: "Some beet sugar brands you might recognize are: Crystal Sugar, Holly Sugar, Western Sugar, Big Chief Sugar, Pioneer Sugar, White Satin, and Spreckels Sugar."

Here is a link that might be useful: Article on using cane vs. beet sugar.

Barnmom - Oops, yes, what I meant was I am looking for beet sugar.

Thanks for the link. I do not recognize those brands, but will search further to see what is available in my area. LOL, I did not know there was any other brand than Domino!

The brand my walmart carries just says "sugar"..not cane sugar or beet sugar..I never noticed it baked different than the usual C&H I buy..but maybe it's because it all goes into the 15lb tub? LOL

Jones soda's are really good..and are made with cane sugar.
My kids love the funky flavors, but I like the Orange&Cream.
There is a store locator section for those that don't live in WA, where we can find it everywhere.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jones Soda.com

Great thread! I saw the commercial for the first time last night. It was a young couple in a park, she brought him a popsickle. He said, "What's the matter, don't you love me anymore?" She said, "What do you mean?" He said, "That has hfcs in it." She said, "What's wrong with that?" Then he got this bewildered, foolish look on his face, shrugged, took the popsickle and asked if she had any more. That really frosts my cookies!

If you've been around as long as I have, you won't trust anyone when they swear something is "safe". There have been so many instances where we have used or eaten something for ten or twenty years and then they come out and say it's been the cause of a birth defect or a serious malady for "some" -- which is nothing more than Russian roulette for "all". Of course the first instinct of anyone who produces something that contains a problem ingredient is going to be to swear it's safe. Their income depends upon it. As someone said in an earlier post, look how long it was considered safe to smoke!

I speak as one who IS overweight. I know there are those who have never been overweight and those who, as soon as they gain 10 or 20 pounds they go on a diet and take it right off. I have been overweight since I was a child. And yes, part of it has to do with eating habits. My mother was a binge eater, and our diet was high in fats and sugars.

Long before anyone ever said anything about hfcs, I figured out that if I was going to diet successfully, I had to get completely off all sugar. I would have a hard time for about three days, being incredibly hungry all the time. After the third day, the hunger pangs would stop and I would be able to remain on a diet. I hadn't made the connection with hfcs until hearing about the problems with it in the last year, and it was a real Aha moment for me. It is incredibly hard to be sociable in this country without ending up consuming something that contains hfcs, and there's always that person who has never been overweight, or who is grossly overweight and has given up on it, who says, "Oh, one little slice isn't going to wreck your diet!" Well, yes, it does, and I'm back into being ravenously hungry (and not able to tell when I've had enough) for three more days, IF I make myself have the resolve to get right back on the diet. If I don't, and I go awhile, my metabolism will have slowed enough that the lost weight comes back on a lot faster than it came off and I become one of those yo-yo dieters, which everyone knows is worse than just staying fat. It is very, very difficult for me.

Certainly we should all take responsibility for our own maladies, but you wouldn't see someone trying to force sugar on a guest who is diabetic or peanuts or msg on one who is allergic, or --God forbid-- trying to "sneak" those ingredients into their food. So many folks that wouldn't even consider judging someone who has some other debilitating condition will say, "All you have to do to lose weight is to stop eating". That's true in a sense, but since eating is a part of nearly every social event it impacts your social life. Try even watching TV and see how long you can watch before someone's eating or advertising food. And of course you can't just *stop* eating cold turkey like smoking or drinking. You have to be vigilant every day for your entire life, even after you have lost weight. You can't just lose the weight and be done with it. Were that true, I'd have been slim all my adult life.

I'm not one of those persons that gorges and I've been very careful not to continue the binge habits from my mother. I graze. I have a back yard garden and I get exercise that way, but I don't enjoy exercise programs and that's yet another unpleasant lifestyle change that people say I must make in order to lose and keep it off. I know lots of people who are not overweight who never exercise and they eat whatever they (and I) want. I want the key for THAT, for why they can do it and I can't.

Oh, and by the way, on the bottle of corn syrup I have in my pantry, hfcs is on the ingredient list.

I had a box of Special K Protein Plus in my pantry that has HFCS and I'm not going to finish. I wrote Kellogg:

Sorry, Special K, but I have to break up with you. See, I just can't allow any more HFCS into my body. I hate the stuff. And darlin', you're full of it. Wanted to love you... thought we had something "special." But I've got to move on. You were sweet. But sweet in the wrong way.

Revisiting only because I just saw that sweetsurprise.com appears to be a prominant advertiser on this site these days. It may have been here for a while and I never noticed...

(Oops, is it a bad thing to tell advertisers here we do not notice their ads? I have never ever clicked or even taken particular note of an ad until the corn cob because I had a sneaking suspicion it would be HFCS-related...)

foodonastump, I've never paid any attention to the advertisements and I've never, ever clicked on one, LOL, so much for marketing to ME!

I never buy cane sugar, it's much more expensive here than our local beet sugar. I do all my baking with beet sugar, put it on cereal, use it when I make jelly or can or bake bread.

I know some people say they can tell a difference but truthfully, other than my pocketbook, I can't. Of course, I'm one of those strange people who don't like chocolate chip cookies, so don't trust me on this one, LOL.

I only buy cane sugar once a year, when I make Grandma's "Jack Frost" fudge. Her recipe, in her own handwriting specifies "cane sugar" and it's underlined. I'd never dare to oppose that.....

As for brands, Pioneer and Big Chief are the same company, they're produced by the Michigan Sugar Company. It's actually a farmer's cooperative, owned by the farmers that grow the sugarbeets, about 1200 of them!

So, whenever I buy that sugar I'm supporting my local farmers, supporting American workers here in Michigan that produce it AND eating locally. Wow.

I think I'll go bake something tonight.

Annie

I have a young cousin (10 now) who can not eat HFCS, or he gets terrible stomach pains. They figured it out when he was little, like preschool age I think. I don't live nearby, so I'm not up on all the details, but I know there's a whole lot of stuff that kid can't eat...

I looked at Karo yesterday..There were some bottles on the shelf that had the HFCS and some that did not....so if you need some..check the labels..

My favorite ketchups are..
Trader Joes, Glen Muir and Annie's (not our Annie's) LOL...
all are "natural" and do NOT contain HFCS.

And touch on a line I saw Gina write above..
What's bad is that I can afford to shop at high-end stores for pricey "all-natural" products but most families cannot. I have found in the past year, that I can afford to purchase better quality ingredients and shop for alot of all natural products..even though sometimes our pennies are really tight...
I am feeding my family better, and cutting out fast food trips...more than makes up for higher priced organic and quality grocery food prices...I actually spend less money now than I used to, by some planning, and 99% of our food/treat intake being HOMEMADE with quality ingredients.