It's all in the name. Or is it?

[snusgetter]

~
High Fructose Corn Syrup Wants A New Name
TIME Healthland
September 14th, 2010

High fructose corn syrup — an ingredient in everything from soda to ketchup to pickles— has such a bad reputation that the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) wants to change the name of the popular sweetener to “corn sugar."

The CRA argues that high fructose corn syrup is simply sugar and is no more harmful than any other popular full-calorie sweetener, like sugars derived from beets or sugar cane.

While some data links high fructose corn syrup to higher rates of obesity, some cancers and diabetes, compared with sugar, the evidence is inconclusive — though that doesn’t ease the public’s fears.

The AP reports that “Americans’ consumption of corn syrup has fallen to a 20-year low on consumer concerns that it is more harmful or more likely to cause obesity than ordinary sugar, perceptions for which there is little scientific evidence.”

But some nutritionists and endocrinologists who specialize in diabetes argue that high fructose corn syrup tricks people into eating more food. When glucose (contained in sugar) enters the bloodstream, it stimulates production of insulin and of a hormone called leptin, which signals to the brain that the body has eaten enough. By contrast, the fructose contained in high fructose corn syrup doesn’t stimulate the production of leptin. Studies also show that fructose is processed into fat more quickly than is glucose.

Due to manufacturing, high fructose corn syrup contains 45% glucose, which is found naturally in corn, and 55% fructose. The body processes these sugars differently.

The American Medical Association says there is not enough evidence to suggest that high fructose corn syrup is linked to poor health. And other experts argue that other full-calorie sweeteners are no better.

“Soda pop sweetened with sugar is every bit as conducive to obesity as soda pop sweetened with high fructose corn syrup,” Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told the AP.

The real problem is getting sugar — of all kinds — out of our diet. Because high fructose corn syrup has a long shelf life and is cheaper to produce than cane sugar, it’s a popular ingredient in wide variety of processed and packaged foods. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calculated that the average American consumes 35.7 pounds of high fructose corn syrup per year.




Imagine the names we could come up with for 'unpopular'
foods like broccoli, turnips, spinach, etc. Any ideas?

[ChaoticGemini]

When I heard this on the radio, my first thought was, 'sad to say, it will probably work.'
You may not be far off about the other unpopular foods, since this isn't the first product to get a fancy new name to hide bad PR.

[Premium Parrots]

When I heard this on the radio, my first thought was, 'sad to say, it will probably work.'
You may not be far off about the other unpopular foods, since this isn't the first product to get a fancy new name to hide bad PR.

yea like "Shards O' Glass Pops"

[WickedKitchen]

Kentucky Fried Chicken went to KFC for the same reason.

[justintempler]

I've got nothing against HFCS except it doesn't taste as good (to me) as cane sugar.

Original Coke was sweetened with cane sugar, Classic Coke is sweetened with HFCS. There is a diffenece in the taste

[snusgetter]

THE NAME GAME: Nothing New

~
'Corn Sugar' Not the First Renamed Food

Goodbye, Aspartame (NutraSweet); Hello, AminoSweet

In 1965, James M. Schlatter, a chemist for G.D. Searle & Co., synthesized the chemical aspartame while working on ulcer drugs. He licked his finger, noticed the intense sweetness, and accidentally discovered the product that soon became a staple of the artificial sweetener business.

Because it's 200 times sweeter than table sugar, aspartame can be used in much smaller quantities, thereby reducing the calories associated with it. Aspartame originally reached the market under the brand name NutraSweet, where it became a popular sugar substitute in low-calorie and sugar-free foods and beverages.

Another manufacturer, Merisant, sold it under the brand name Equal. Eventually, agricultural giant Monsanto bought out Searle and continued to market NutraSweet.

Japanese manufacturing giant Ajinomoto bought the aspartame business from Monsanto and in November 2009, announced it was giving the product a new name: AminoSweet. That name was chosen to reflect the product's composition: It's made from the amino acid phenylalanine and aspartic acid. One longtime caution that appears on the label of every product containing aspartame notes that people who born with a genetic inability to break down phenylalanine, called phenylketonuria, must avoid it.

Of the change, Brownell said: "I don't know the impetus for this one ... They've been losing market share because of sucralose [Splenda] being out. They may want to give their product a health aura. It sounds science-y."

Goodbye, Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed Oil; Hello, Canola Oil

This light vegetable oil comes from the rapeseed plant, which, for centuries, has provided oil for cooking and heating around the world. In World War II, it even saw use as an important lubricant for ships.

Unfortunately, it has a few unpleasant associations that detract from its appeal.

First, it comes from a plant in the mustard family called the rape plant -- a name with obvious negative connotations.

Second, unrefined rapeseed oil, when heated to high temperatures, has been associated with lung cancer, so cooks are urged to lower frying temperatures when using it.

Finally, the unrefined oil contains 30 percent to 60 percent erucic acid, which has been linked to heart lesions in lab animals.

In the 1970s, Canadian scientists began cross-breeding plants, replacing erucic acid with oleic acid to create a low-erucic acid product. The Canadian seed oil industry dubbed the new product "canola" in 1978 because it was a Canadian oil, and in 1986 it hit the U.S. market.

Despite misperceptions that it's dangerous to human health, canola has more heart-healthy monounsaturated fat than most oils -- olive oil being a notable exception -- and has lower saturated fats than other oils.

Goodbye, Prunes; Hello Dried Plums

Although the prune has long been a staple of European cuisine -- think of roasted duck with prunes or pork roast stuffed with prunes -- it just hasn't getting any respect in the United States, where it was born in 1850. That's when a Frenchman, Louis Pellier, began experimenting with grafting the D'Agen plum onto wild plum trees, which produced the fruit that in 1932 began to be tenderized and packaged as moist, ready-to-eat prunes.

But over the years, prunes became associated in the popular imagination with aging. We talk about having skin "as wrinkled as a prune." Also, because prunes are extremely high in fiber, older folks drink prune juice or eat a handful of prunes to relieve constipation.

After some market research, the California Prune Board gave the prune a name makeover. It restored to the prune the identity of the fruit from which it originated, the plum. In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration granted the board permission to use the term "dried plums" for prunes.

Also, the board began calling itself the California Dried Plum Board.

Goodbye, Patagonian Toothfish; Hello, Chilean Sea Bass
"Financial incentives are the strongest motivation to rename fish with more appetizing titles," wrote Jennifer Jacquet and a colleague from The Sea Around Us Project at the University of British Columbia in a 2008 article in the journal Marine Policy.

There are perhaps few more appropriate examples of this principle than the Patagonian toothfish.

In the late 1970s, an American fish seller working in Chile renamed the Patagonian toothfish as the Chilean sea bass. In the years that followed, a fish that was traditionally considered a "bycatch" species -- one not expressly targeted by fishermen -- became the most lucrative species caught in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters.

Today, the U.S. imports about 11,000 tons annually of fresh and frozen Chilean sea bass, which has meaty white flesh and is high in heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.

But although the Chilean sea bass moniker stuck, the name for this predatory, deep-sea fish hasn't been accepted by federal agencies, including the Commerce Department's National Fisheries Service. On a Chilean Sea Bass fact sheet, it notes that the Patagonian toothfish "is not really a bass and is not always caught in Chilean waters," and is a different species than sea bass in this country. Much of it comes from Antarctic waters -- where it's technically the Antarctic toothfish -- and is then frozen and shipped.

Goodbye, Slimehead; Hello, Orange Roughy

This deep-sea perch, characterized by rough scales and red skin that turns bright orange once it's caught, goes by the scientific name Hoplostethus atlanticus.

Originally named slimehead after it was discovered in 1957 off the coast of New Zealand, it didn't have many fans. But after a 1979 name change to orange roughy, it became popular -- so much so that several marine conservation groups now have categorized it as vulnerable to overfishing.

By various accounts, including that of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, members of this species lives 100 years -- or even more.

By the time this slow-grower is caught in cold, deep waters, the fish often is 30 or more years old. And it's a late-bloomer socially; it doesn't start reproducing until it's 30.

Speaking of fish, there's currently another re-naming effort afoot. Great Lakes states including Illinois are hoping a name change will drive a market for the Asian carp, a non-native species introduced by catfish farmers in the Mississippi River basin to control algae growth. But the fish escaped, and as of late they have invaded the Illinois River and threaten the Great Lakes.

The state of Louisiana is promoting Asian carp as the silverfin. Over in Kentucky, it's being called "Kentucky Tuna." Stay tuned.


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Just as a lot of us might try escargots but pass on snails, I know I'd pass on
Slimehead but might consider Orange Roughy. And Chilean Sea Bass sounds
a lot more appetizing than Patagonian Toothfish.

I already miss Prunes, though...
Dried Plums just don't seem to present the same mystique.
(BTW, No bodily functions have been harmed by the name change.)

[snusgetter]

I've got nothing against HFCS except it doesn't taste as good (to me) as cane sugar.

Original Coke was sweetened with cane sugar, Classic Coke is sweetened with HFCS. There is a difference in the taste

THROWBACK!!

That's what we have to look for nowadays to get 'the real thing' ....
Unfortunately Coke and Pepsi just use these for marketing purposes!!

Maybe someday we'll have THROWBACKS and THROWUPS or THROWDOWNS
to differentiate between the 'Real Sugar' and everything else!!

[lxskllr]

I got some Mexican Coke a couple weeks ago, and it was pretty good. It was $1 for a 12oz bottle at BigLots(!), but I wanted to try some cause it had been so long since I had sugar Coke. I like it better, but not enough to pay $1 a bottle. also, I don't really drink soda much anymore. Unsweetened tea and sparkling mineral water have become my beverages of choice. I used to drink over 2l of soda per day :^D

[snusgetter]

I got some Mexican Coke a couple weeks ago, and it was pretty good. It was $1 for a 12oz bottle at BigLots(!), but I wanted to try some cause it had been so long since I had sugar Coke. I like it better, but not enough to pay $1 a bottle. also, I don't really drink soda much anymore. Unsweetened tea and sparkling mineral water have become my beverages of choice. I used to drink over 2l of soda per day :^D

I recently picked up some 125th Anniversary Cane Sugar
Dr Peppers 12-pack cans at Walmart.

And Pepsi Throwback 18-pack cans at BJs.

It had been so long since I'd had either so they were kinda
foreign to me now; my grandson, though, says the cane sugar
versions are better than the HFCS ones.

[raptor]

We got throwback Pepsi products here in Texas. And of course the Original Dr. Pepper made with Imperial Sugar. Some restaurants here have that Dr. Pepper on tap and when I do drink soda pop, I go for it every time.

HFCS deserves all the negative press it gets. You metabolize it faster, giving you excess energy which inevitably gets stored as fat. Don't know about the stuff leading to higher food consumption, but I'd be more inclined to agree with nutritionists over the Corn Syrup industry.

[justintempler]

I'm not a big fan of Pepsi or Dr. Pepper but I do like the Mountain Dew Throwback.

[Bigblue1]

what they got dr.pepper throwback? Where do I get it? I want some "real" bad....