Sweet Revenge: High Fructose Corn Syrup Ad Tells Not So Sweet Truth

I just got this back from the government of Canada.
More BS (bureaucratic spin)

Dear Lora Bruncke,

This is in response to your e-mail of September 30, 2008 concerning the apparent prevalence of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as a food ingredient in the Canadian food supply and a possible link with diabetes. We apologize for the delay in responding.

HFCS is a combination of glucose and fructose, usually 42 to 55 % fructose. Sugar, or sucrose, a disaccharide (two sugars), is also a combination of glucose and fructose, in proportionally similar amounts to HFCS. It is agreed within the scientific community that HFCS and sucrose have similar effects in humans, both elicit the same metabolic response, and both have the same caloric value. HFCS has replaced sucrose in some processed foods and other foods (i.e., soft drinks and baked goods) due to its desirable functional properties such as longer shelf-life, resistance to crystallization, moisture retention, and better stability in acidic drinks.

Foods and food ingredients, including HFCS, sold in Canada must be of food grade quality and meet the safety and compositional standards of the Food and Drugs Act. Through research, surveillance and health risk assessment activities, Health Canada scientists are continuously monitoring the safety of foods, including food ingredients and food additives. There is no evidence to indicate that there are any harmful effects from consuming foods containing HFCS, compared with other sugars.

The health of Canadians is of utmost importance and Health Canada is working to address health issues such as obesity, a risk factor for diabetes. However, the solution does not lie in changing a single food ingredient, but rather with Canadians adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes physical activity and following dietary guidance in Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, available at
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/order-commander/index_e..... The Guide recommends the amounts and types of foods to eat each day, and recommends limiting foods and beverages high in calories, fat, sugar and salt. Comparing the Nutrition Facts table between products can help you make healthful choices.

Thank you for writing.

Food Directorate
Health Products and Food Branch
Health Canada

I too am thankful for this article/video. I was appalled when I saw the commercials that they are running. Of course my yelling at the television doesn't solve the problem, so I'm now on a mission...

Thanks for the info to add.

Thanks for this information.

I can tell you that during a trip in 2006, I was unable to find HFCS in processed food in Australian - making me wonder why it was SO prevelant in the USA - food subsidies indeed.

I'm just glad I am seeing 'NO HFCS' labels as part of the marketing of breads and other foods in my local supermarket.

Vote with your pocket book people!

I very happy to see this. I was feeling as if I was the only person that those commercials absolutely infuriated! Great job!

I recently wrote this letter to the CRA in response to their ads. My son is allergic to corn and all corn derivatives, and their ads made me furious. It is so impossible to find foods without a corn derivative, and I am sick of it!

"I am writing this letter to the Corn Refiners Association in response to the “Sweet Surprise” advertising campaign.

My husband and I have two sons. My oldest, Alex developed allergies and sensitivities to some foods as he grew. We monitored and modified his diet and environment as he became older, but as he reached 2 years of age, he became very sick with frightening physical and emotional symptoms.

We finally discovered that Alex was suffering from severe food allergies. However, it took me months to discover what food. He was reacting to almost everything he ate, every day. I finally discovered the culprit. It was corn. I had never heard of a corn allergy, and I certainly didn’t realize that some form of corn was in nearly every item in our home.
It has been over a year now that we have been avoiding corn. It has completely changed our lives. We no longer eat out, and I make many things myself from powdered sugar to play dough. I learned to shop on the internet, local farm stands, and health food stores for safe foods, and can no longer just drop into the local supermarket. I bring my list of safe foods carefully researched by a diligent online group which can be found on the Avoiding Corn forum on Delphi Forums.

I recently saw the “Sweet Surprise” ad on television and in a magazine. It was so disheartening to see these ads. I’m not a food chemist, and so can not respond to the allegation that high fructose corn syrup is “just like” cane sugar or honey, but I can comment on the ubiquitous nature of corn in our lives. It is absurd to even offer that corn syrup is “OK in moderation”. There is no way to limit corn syrup to “moderation” in the Standard American Diet. In the blogging community this topic frequently comes up even among people without food allergies. Finding one loaf of bread without corn in the bread aisle of a regular grocery store is impossible.

Corn hides behind hundreds of different names, and you don’t know if there really is corn in an item until you call the manufacturer, and sometimes they don’t know themselves. There is even corn in the inactive ingredients of the majority of medicines, even allergy medicines! I know that I am not alone in asking that corn not only be labeled clearly, but to put an end to the ubiquitous nature of corn in our lives.

It is time for the monoculture of corn to end. This “Sweet Surprise” campaign is transparent as a last ditch attempt to save the omnipresent corn monoculture, but we are not going to buy it. Please recognize that it is time to diversify, it is time to label what is going into our foods, medicines, and products. It is time for people like my son to have a chance to find healthy food to eat."

I haven't had any response yet, but hope to get the word out.

Can this video be placed to maximize hits!