the UGC: The Sweetest Thing

The Sweetest Thing
October 28, 2008

I needed a snack at work the other day, so I perused the vending machine and decided that a small package of Wheat Thins would probably not be that bad, so I went for it. About half way through the bag, I checked the ingredients, and do you know what I found? High-fructose corn syrup. IN WHEAT THINS. It made me mad. AND it reminded me that we need to talk about the HFC.

If you haven't seen the commercials, you can find some here. If you're reading this at work, perhaps this Time article will be more cubicle friendly. It'll give you the gist.

As someone who tries to eat healthy and does some research on what she eats, these commercials piss me off. Okay, it's made from corn. But beyond that? As far as I'm concerned, high-fructose corn syrup FAIL. I actually googled "high frustose corn syrup commercials" to see if anyone else was upset about them and that's when I found the Time article I linked to above. The whole article is interesting and questions whether or not HFC is actually okay or not. It's an interesting read, and they do end up pointing out the thing that's really chapping my hide. Yes, it's made from corn, has no artificial ingredients, and has the same calories as sugar. Fine. Some folks had thought it might be linked to childhood obesity, but it was a theory, not something that was tested. Okay, not that big of deal. But tell me this, how do you moderate your intake of an ingredient that shows up in EVERYTHING?

I think everyone knows that too much refined sugar isn't a good idea, and it's easy to avoid things that we know have sugar in them (brownies, cookies, cake, etc.). Have you tried to avoid things that have high-fructose corn syrup in them? It was in my Wheat Thins. It's in my (former) favorite sandwich bread, Oroweat Oatnut bread. Those are things that I wouldn't think had sugar in them, but they do! In the form of HFC. So how am I supposed to moderate my intake? If I wasn't checking labels, I could be eating it at every single meal, every day. That's not moderate intake. And THAT is what makes me MAD.

Shame on you, Corn Refiners Association. I know HFC has gotten kind of a bad rap, but seriously. You're not exactly lying, but you're leaving out some key details that might not support your cause and are misleading the public. Perhaps maybe you should stop pimping the HFC and start a career in politics?

$\"Petal-rific!\"$ \n\n\nI needed a snack at work the other day, so I perused the vending machine and decided that a small package of Wheat Thins would probably not be that bad, so I went for it. About half way through the bag, I checked the ingredients, and do you know what I found? High-fructose corn syrup. IN WHEAT THINS. It made me mad. AND it reminded me that we need to talk about the HFC.\n\nIf you haven't seen the commercials, you can find some here. If you're reading this at work, perhaps this Time article will be more cubicle friendly. It'll give you the gist.\n\nAs someone who tries to eat healthy and does some research on what she eats, these commercials piss me off. Okay, it's made from corn. But beyond that? As far as I'm concerned, high-fructose corn syrup FAIL. I actually googled \"high frustose corn syrup commercials\" to see if anyone else was upset about them and that's when I found the Time article I linked to above. The whole article is interesting and questions whether or not HFC is actually okay or not. It's an interesting read, and they do end up pointing out the thing that's really chapping my hide. Yes, it's made from corn, has no artificial ingredients, and has the same calories as sugar. Fine. Some folks had thought it might be linked to childhood obesity, but it was a theory, not something that was tested. Okay, not that big of deal. But tell me this, how do you moderate your intake of an ingredient that shows up in EVERYTHING?\n\nI think everyone knows that too much refined sugar isn't a good idea, and it's easy to avoid things that we know have sugar in them (brownies, cookies, cake, etc.). Have you tried to avoid things that have high-fructose corn syrup in them? It was in my Wheat Thins. It's in my (former) favorite sandwich bread, Oroweat Oatnut bread. Those are things that I wouldn't think had sugar in them, but they do! In the form of HFC. So how am I supposed to moderate my intake? If I wasn't checking labels, I could be eating it at every single meal, every day. That's not moderate intake. And THAT is what makes me MAD.\n\nShame on you, Corn Refiners Association. I know HFC has gotten kind of a bad rap, but seriously. You're not exactly lying, but you're leaving out some key details that might not support your cause and are misleading the public. Perhaps maybe you should stop pimping the HFC and start a career in politics?

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