During my retail foodservice rotation at Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside one task I was given was to write an article of my choice for the Kaiser Nutrition and Food Service website. I am very passionate about food sustainability and food labeling claims and decided to focus my article on genetically-modified foods and high fructose corn syrup. I completed a thorough review of scientific literature pertaining to the two topics. I presented the material in the article in such a way that the article explored each side of the two controversial topics. I wanted to educate the readers of both sides of the “issues” without taking a side myself as the writer.
High Fructose Corn Syrup and Genetically Modified Foods: What’s the controversy?
What do you think of when you hear the terms high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and genetically modified (GM)? Well HFCS is a term that poses controversy in the food industry and our country and not only floods our media but also the packaging of some of our favorite food products. On the other side, the average American has some connotation, whether that be positive or negative when one hears the term GM, one term that is often misrepresented on food products. Most often Americans are confused by these popular words plaguing our food products and media so let’s decode the food industry jargon and reveal where the controversy surrounding these terms stems from.
Genetically Modified Foods
Many consumers in the United States are uninformed about genetically modified foods, and the possible risks and benefits of these foods. Let’s start with the basics, what exactly does genetically modified mean? Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), also known as genetically modified or engineered foods, are created by forcing a piece of DNA from a completely different species, such as viruses, into the DNA of a plant or animal. Soybeans for example have DNA from both bacteria and viruses put into their DNA in order to assist them in tolerating weed killers. The overall picture of this complicated science is that this genetic manipulation creates a whole new species of a plant that would have never occurred in nature. Many soybeans, corn, canola, cotton, sugar beets, some zucchini and yellow squash, and alfalfa are modified.
So the question remains, are GMOs safe for both the public and the environment? Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to this question. There are no long-term studies revealing GMOs are safe for humans and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not do its own testing of GMOs. Environmental concerns regarding GMOs stem from crossbreeds that occur with other plants with GM seeds by way of the wind are blown into non-GM fields. I can go on and on about the varying sides of GMOs but let’s look at this issue simplistically, no one can deny that we have products in our food supply with unknown health and environmental implications. The bottom line comes back to food labeling, as Americans we have basically been subjects in a research study since 2006 when GMOs came into play in our food supply since we don’t know if they are good or bad. I don’t know about you, but I would like to at least make the personal choice whether or not to consume these foods, but again this choice cannot occur until these products require labeling by the FDA.
High fructose corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a term that the American public has been taught to run when it’s spotted on food labels. HFCS entered our food supply in the early 1970s and is a calorie-providing sweetener made from genetically-modified corn that is used to sweeten commonly consumed foods and beverages in our food supply. Soft drinks, salad dressings, ketchup, jams, sauces, ice cream, and the list goes on where you will find HFCS being added to your favorite foods. This sweetener is desired by many food manufacturers because it is equally as sweet as table sugar, expands shelf-life and is less expensive than other sweeteners. So, as a consumer reading food labels you would think just look out for HFCS in the ingredient list. Well, if only it was that easy! Corn syrup, maize syrup, glucose syrup, glucose/fructose syrup, fruit fructose just to name a few of the terms used to label for HFCS we as consumers need to remember to look out for if we are trying to avoid this sugar sweetener.
There is a constant debate surrounding HFCS and whether or not this sweetener is to blame for the growing obesity rates and other obesity-related illnesses that has swept our nation in the last few decades. However, is there something unique about HFCS compared to other sugars that has caused weight gain and health problems for Americans? Let’s take a step back and look at the basics, which is the basic make-up of HFCS and table sugar. There are two types of HFCS found in foods today, HFCS-55, the main form used in soft drinks which contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose. Then there is HFCS-42, the main form found in our favorite dessert products which contains 42% fructose and 58% glucose. This brings us to table sugar, also known as sucrose and also found in our favorite dessert-like unhealthy food products. Table sugar and HFCS both consist of fructose and glucose and the proportion of fructose and glucose in HFCS is basically the same ratio as table sugar (50% fructose and 50% glucose) and both sweeteners contain the same number of calories (4 calories per gram). There have been theories that HFCS has a greater impact on blood glucose levels that regular sugar, but research has shown that there are no significant difference between HFCS and sugar when it comes to the production of insulin or the changes in blood glucose levels.
Therefore, this leaves us to ponder is a sugar a sugar, regardless of the exact glucose to fructose ratio? Did HFCS flood our food industry in the late 1970s conveniently when the obesity rates and waistlines of Americans began to expand? These questions will remain as ones we will ask ourselves as the obesity rates remain high, as we as the public want answers as to why there is a trend of obesity and obesity-rates illnesses across our country. It comes down to one simple point, as Americans we should know what is in our food, we should be properly educated regarding food ingredients, so we can then make our own individual decisions as to what food products we choose to consume.
