For all the science geeks out there.

[poopy pants]

What Coke has to say:

http://forums.menshealth.com/viewThr...347&forum=5#-1

[bryanc]

Blah, I got embroiled in the whole "should obesity be classified by the US government as a disease" debate. Everytime I go back to the MH board, I find it's more and more of a re-hash of the same tired topics. Which is why I'm happy as all hell to have come to this board =).

As far as fructose metabolism goes, fructose has its own metabolic pathway to enter into the glycolytic cycle. Nothing terribly exciting there. There's actually a study in the Journal of Nutrition (I haven't read it yet) that suggests that taking a small amount of fructose 30-60 minutes before the consumption of high glycemic, starchy foods (Coke is not a starchy food. The researchers looked at a potato as the high glycemic, starchy food) may actually decrease post-meal glycemic responses (i.e. insulin spikes).

Fructose occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables as well, so it's not like we haven't been eating fructose all this time anyways.

The main issue is that since high fructose corn syrup is so cheap, it has made the production of sweet, high glycemic index foods similarly cheap, and thus these foods are in higher availability than they ever have been (both in terms of physical availability and in terms of economic availability). Higher availability is likely a product of demand (no one would produce more HFCS products if the market for HFCS products was static) and since there's demand, the supply increases as far as the market will bear (the ceiling of which doesn't seem to have been hit yet). Either way, whether HFCS is used as the sweetener or table sugar (which has different physical properties), is kinda moot (I've been using the word "moot" a lot lately, haven't I?), since it's the overconsumption that is the root cause of the thses HFCS/sugar problems.

[poopy pants]

If it's just fructose and glucose, why is the word "high" used in the name?

[bryanc]

I believe it has something to do with the processing of the corn syrup. There's 52 and 48 HFCS. I can't remember how the processing works. They stick in some enzyme and poof! You get one kind of HFCS or another. So, I think it's High Fructose because those levels of fructose don't occur naturally in "regular" corn syrup (or corn extract).

[poopy pants]

Thanks bryanc.

[poopy pants]

From: http://food.oregonstate.edu/sugar/hfcs.html


HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

http://osmonics.com/products/Page664.htm
High Fructose Corn Syrup Production is information by Osmonics, the company that developed equipment that can be used for concentrating high fructose corn syrup.
http://www.hydro-thermal.com/htc-06.htm
Hydro-Thermal Corporation has information on a jet cooker for use in the production of high fructose corn syrup.
INFORMATION to Top

High Fructose Corn Syrup is extremely soluble and hydroscopic. Generally, baked products made with HFCS will be softer than those made with sucrose. This means if these products are "steamed" they may get gummy. Thus, if there is a fast-food hamburger place that precooks and wraps their product, they may prefer the firmer product.

Fructose and Fructose Products
Fructose is a monosaccharide that is approximately 75% sweeter than sucrose. For this reason, fructose and fructose products are frequently substituted for sucrose. High Fructose corn syrup is often used.
The high fructose corn syrup story is one of the most "revolutionary" in food science in the last decade. Consumption has increased since its inception. The products themselves are made up hydrolyzed corn starch. The corn starch is hydrolyzed and that corn syrup has a invertase which will change glucose into fructose.


High Fructose Corn Syrup
Information contributed by Corn Refiners Association [Communication: September 26,2003 Audrae Erickson, President]

Fact: The truth is table sugar and HFCS are both about 50% fructose and 50% dextrose. An analysis of annual HFCS 55 & 42 production would reveal an average content of 49% fructose-nearly identical to the fructose content of sucrose.

Webbers Comment: HFCS is not generally 100% solids. Additionally, recognize that table sugar is 100% sucrose [this webber has had scanning electron micrographs made of cane table sugar and beet table sugar and there is a minute amount of unknown material on the crystals]. Sucrose is a disaccaride made up of equal amounts of fructose and glucose bonded together to give sucrose. Each of these three sugars have different characteristics: crystal shape, solubility, flavor. In regard to the purity of high fructose corn syrup, you need to check with your manufacturer to determine if the corn has been completely hydrolyzed and 50% glucose inverted to fructose.

A source of composition is at http://www.wcommerce.com/CornSyrup/55.PDF. On a % dry basis they indicate HFCS at: Fructose 55%, Dextrose 41%, Maltose 2%, and higher saccharides 2%. This appears to be the composition used in soft drinks. The Corn Refiners Association's own web site indicates that "High fructose corn sweeteners begin with enzymes which isomerize dextrose to produce a 42 percent fructose syrup. By passing 42-HFCS through a column which retains fructose, refiners draw off 90 percent HFCS and blend it with 42-HFCS to make a third syrup, 55-HFCS." HFCS55 is the HFCS recommended for soft drinks by the National Soft Drink Association. Different HFCS are selected for different purposes.

Why use a high fructose corn syrup? It is because of their attributes.

retain moisture and/or prevent drying out
control crystallization
produce an osmotic pressure that is higher than for sucrose or medium invert sugar and thereby help control microbiological growth or help in penetration of cell membranes.
provide a ready yeast-fermentable substrate
blend easily with sweeteners, acids, and flavorings
provide a controllable substrate for browning and Maillard reaction.
impart a degree of sweetness that is essentially the same as in invert liquid sugar
high sweetness
low viscosity
reduced tendency toward characterization
costs less than liquid sucrose or corn syrup blends
retain moisture and/or prevent drying out



These attributes are advantages in many instances. However, these same attributes are a disadvantage as well as an advantage.

For example, at one time a major fast food company was buying hamburger buns from a relatively small baker because they were using granulated sugar and not high-fructose corn syrup. Why do you think so?

References to Top


Updated: Friday, November 7, 2003.


OSU Disclaimer.

[Kaiser]

The widespread use of HFCS is due to it's relative cheapness, stability, and versatility in use. For example, a can of Coke would have to put in the equivalent of ~30 tablespoons of sucrose (table sugar) to get the sweetness they require (the sucrose molecule is 1/2 fructose and 1/2 glucose, but the glucose is not perceived as very sweet by the body). Obviously a problem would exist of keeping all of that sucrose suspended in solution, as well as the cost. HFCS offers a cheap reliable source of sweetening for food manufacturers that is not as subject to the vagaries of the commodity market for sugar.

Anyway, that's the business side of the equation.

From a health standpoint, you'd have to eat a bushel-load (OK, maybe a bit of an exxageration, but not much) of fructose laden fruit to get the equivalency of a Big Gulp Coke.

Bryan, I've read that the body doesn't metabolize fructose all that well and that it doesn't promote the same insulin response as sucrose does. Since that is the case, is HFCS metabolized differently that simple fructose?

[bryanc]

Fructose is utilized as a fuel source, but in a different pathway than glucose (I'm at home right now and all my textbooks are in my ofice, so I can't reall comment on the efficiency of fructose metabolism). Since sucrose is a composite substance, consisting of one fructose molecule and one glucose molecule, the body has to cleave the sucrose molecule into its two glucose/fructose components before "sucrose" can enter either metabolic pathway.

But you correct in that fructose does not stimulate the same insulin response as sucrose. However, this is probably because the glucose component (which is the stimulant for insulin) is the one that does all the insulin-stimulating work.

Whether products with HFCS in them have lower or higher glycemic indices, I have no idea. I suspect that if fructose and glucose exist as separate entites in HFCS that it would have a higher GI than sucrose since energy would not be required to separate the two in HFCS as it is for sucrose.