All Aboard the ‘No HFCS’ Bandwagon

So I’m roaming the aisles of my local grocery store the other day, and I couldn’t help but notice an encouraging trend that I’ve been seeing more and more of lately. On food products not traditionally associated with natural foods that make spaghetti sauces, pizza crusts and whole wheat breads are big banner headlines that read, “Now without High Fructose Corn Syrup.”

Is this a sign of things to come?

Whether more companies follow or not is unknown, but this is a very encouraging trend in the meantime. I say that because so often, people unfamiliar with what makes a food natural see a loaf of bread that says “Whole Wheat” or a cereal that says “Whole Grain” and believe it’s natural. And why shouldn’t they? Health advocates in the media have emphasized the importance of eating foods that are whole wheat or whole grain, so food makers and food consumers have taken notice. To a certain extent, this is good, as foods are now being made with whole grain flour instead of highly processed refined flour.

What isn’t so good, however, is that despite these foods being listed as “whole grain,” many remain loaded with high fructose corn syrup. And because the FDA still doggedly stands behind their belief that high fructose corn syrup is safe to consume, there’s really no need for these food companies to change how they make their breads, their spaghetti sauces or virtually everything and anything else that claims to be one thing but is really something else entirely. At least some companies are taking the dangers of high fructose corn syrup seriously.

I wish members of the Food and Drug Administration would take people like Natalie Rotunda seriously, a writer and “organic food examiner” for Examiner.com, whose daughter’s adverse reactions to foods were stopped dead in their tracks once high fructose corn syrup was eliminated from her diet. As Rotunda writes in a recent article of hers, “[My daughter] had no reactions to any other type of sugar, just HFCS. For others like me who have made such a connection, it’s all the proof we need to quit those foods and drinks that attack the delicate workings of our bodies and the bodies of those we love.”

But the adverse reactions to high fructose corn syrup extend far beyond Rotunda’s daughter. Study after study shows how high fructose corn syrup leads to obesity, due primarily to the fact that it suppresses the body’s release of a key hormone called leptin. When leptin is suppressed, the body is unable to convert sugar into energy, ultimately turning sugar into fat that’s packed away as storage rather than burned for energy. The latest study to corroborate this fact was one done by the University of Florida, released in September 2008 and published in the American Journal of Physiology.

The FDA may claim that high fructose corn syrup is safe to consume, but study after study shows links between HFCS and adult-onset diabetes (i.e. type II diabetes) and contributes to obesity. You’d think that’d be enough to reconsider their stance. Apparently not. But one thing’s certain: More and more people are taking notice of HFCS and the detrimental impact it has on health. If they weren’t noticing, food companies wouldn’t be labeling their products with labels like “No HFCS.” After all, consumers rule in this dour economic climate. The only way to get people to buy is for businesses to give people what they want.

Thankfully, food companies are finally glomming on to this fact. Let’s hope more follow in 2009 and beyond.