High Fructose Corn Syrup Sales Slipping

It seems some of you readers are just about as label-conscious as I am now (you know, snobs) and are skipping over high-fructose corn syrup in favor of products sweetened with natural alternatives like cane sugar, honey, and fruit juice. Let me tell you that finding HFCS-free items takes work, but the Corn Refiners Association worries that consumers are increasingly up to the challenge. They recently launched a "major marketing campaign" to defend their chemical concoction. Are you paying any attention to the sweet brouhaha?

High fructose corn syrup has become a favorite target of the health-conscious as an alleged cause of America's obesity boom. A typical 2-liter bottle of soda contains 15 ounces of corn syrup, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Whether it's really at fault is open to debate.

The Corn Refiners Assn. contends that high fructose corn syrup is just as natural as table sugar and honey. Others say it's not natural at all, because it is manufactured through a chemical process and does not occur in nature by itself. The Center for Science in the Public Interest called the corn refiners' campaign "deceptive."

I prefer real sugar, and eagerly greet Passover as the holiday with the Kosher Coke. How about you? Or you could just find a Mexican grocery store.

Meanwhile, HFCS, as I have maintained in several of my studies and posts on the subject, Is Not Natural. But Cap'n - how can you -- Ahh... someone SUED Kraft - and WON.

She bought some Capri-Sun claiming "All Natural" on the box... and Kraft got the suit thrown out by pledging to take "All Natural" off their chemical laden foil bags.

Still, I'm waiting for someone to sue Carpi-Sun for straw malfunction - for as you know if you've ever bought a Capri-Sun, the straw always fails to puncture the bag.