Marion Nestle on HFCS

I had been meaning to talk about the Corn Refiners Association ad campaign touting how safe high fructose corn syrup is. While I don't necessarily object to the safety, I do object to the labeling of HFCS as 'natural', no matter what the FDA says. HFCS production is a chemically intensive process and is only natural if you happen to always have a few five-gallon buckets full of enzymes on hand. I put it in the category of 'fake' food, food pretending to be something other than what it is. It has its purpose, but I personally try to limit its use.

To read a more in depth treatment of this, go over to Marion Nestle's blog, or go directly to the article she wrote in the San Francisco Gate:

HFCS has a big public relations problem, but I don't get this campaign. Since when is insulting the intelligence of critics an effective marketing strategy?

I cannot decide which aspects of the campaign are most offensive: The videos of inarticulate critics insulted by their HFCS-savvy friends? The slogans ("HFCS has no artificial ingredients")? The quiz questions ("Which of the following sweeteners is considered a natural food ingredient: HFCS, honey, sugar, or all of the above")? Or the irrelevant take-home message ("As registered dietitians recommend, keep enjoying the foods you love, just do it in moderation")?

I'm not a registered dietitian and maybe that is why I think moderation doesn't work for HFCS. Yes, HFCS has a place in the American diet and sometimes has cooking advantages over sucrose. And the research is still out on whether HFCS differs from sucrose metabolically. But the most sensible approach to HFCS and to sugars in general is not moderation. It is, "Eat less."

Image via KG Studios Oakland