Makers of high fructose corn syrup apply to rename it 'corn sugar'

[Liberal_in_LA]

Corn syrup producers want sweeter name
Approval could take two years
Updated: Tuesday, 14 Sep 2010, 12:18 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 14 Sep 2010, 7:46 AM EDT

EMILY FREDRIX,AP Marketing Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - The makers of high fructose corn syrup want to sweeten up its image with a new name: corn sugar.

The bid to rename the sweetener by the Corn Refiners Association comes as Americans' concerns about health and obesity have sent consumption of high fructose corn syrup, used in soft drinks but also in bread, cereal and other foods, to a 20-year low.

The group applied Tuesday to the Food and Drug Administration to get the "corn sugar" name approved for use on food labels. They hope a new name will ease confusion about about the sweetener. Some people think it is more harmful or more likely to make them obese than sugar, perceptions for which there is little scientific evidence.

Approval of the new name could take two years, but that's not stopping the industry from using the term now in advertising. There's a new online marketing campaign at www.cornsugar.com and on television. Two new commercials try to alleviate shopper confusion, showing people who say they now understand that "whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference. Sugar is sugar."

Renaming products has succeeded before. For example, low eurcic acid rapeseed oil became much more popular after becoming "canola oil" in 1988. Prunes tried to shed a stodgy image by becoming "dried plums" in 2000.

http://www.wishtv.com/dpps/news/strange/corn-syrup-producers-want-sweeter-name-corn-sugar-ob10-jgr_3580487

[louis-t]

1. "low eurcic acid rapeseed"

Well, I can certainly see why they wanted to change that one.:hide:

[musette_sf]

2. In other news

Makers of dog food apply to rename "dog sh!t" to "puppy pudding".

[louis-t]

24. Ha!

Funny.
smilie not working.

[HuckleB]

3. Duplicate thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9130964&mesg_id=9130964

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. Thanks

[hlthe2b]

7. that's ok.. If we have about six dozen of these going... perhaps we

can keep the hfcs-defending obsessed DUers busy ;) (and yes, we do have them)

[HereSince1628]

5. Gee, even as Kashi is switching to crystalized cane syrup

for good old sucrose.

You'd think they could come up with something like natural macromolecular goodness of cane sap.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Don't think it will succeed.

For some reason, I think only products derived from cane sugar and sugar beets can be labeled "sugar" to avoid confusing consumers and to avoid misrepresentation of what a product really is.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodSafety/FoodSafetyPrograms/RFR/UCM211534.pdf
page 8 under "sweeteners"

There is a distinction between "sugar" and "corn syrup".

[DainBramaged]

8. Has anyone ever seen 'corn sugar' in powder form for table use?

:shrug:

Looks like car oil to me

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. Just imagine that pumping through your arteries! nt

[HuckleB]

11. Oh my goodness.

:rofl:

[Orrex]

16. Surely you're not mocking the respected science of looks-like-ology?

[HuckleB]

22. Never.

[DainBramaged]

17. I do my best to avoid HFC's in everything I eat

No matter what the corporate scientists say, I don't believe them. There IS a connection between this shit and the addiction gene in people's brains,. JUST like smoking.

[salvorhardin]

23. That's gotta suck for you

Because your body makes HFCS out of sucrose (regular sugar). As soon as you ingest sugar, enzymes in your saliva and gut break it down within a couple of seconds into fructose and glucose; i.e. HFCS.

[DainBramaged]

26. Well, avoiding sugar also helps keep me from becoming diabetic

and there is a long and sorrowful family history of diabetes. Luckily, I am the only one of my family other than my deceased Mom not to have had it (parental family). And I don't even want to be borderline, because with everything else that would just suck.


So thanks for the lecture on body chemistry, I really didn't need it or care for it.




Bye.

[salvorhardin]

27. I'm glad you haven't developed diabetes

But I was just pointing out that within a couple of seconds of ingesting sugar, it becomes HFCS in your stomach. You said HFCS was addictive like nicotine. How can that be if your body converts normal sucrose into HFCS?

I will tell you though that our food is much more highly sweetened than it was in the past. Additionally, fizzy drinks and juices, which are nothing but water, sugars (HFCS is just a mixture of two sugars), and flavorings, have become very popular. So the result is that most people are ingesting far more sugars than previous generations did. Now, regardless of whether sugars are addictive (the science is undecided on that still), we do know eating too much sugar is very bad for you.

So good on you for taking a stand for your health and avoiding sugar when you can.

The reason I get so angry about misinformation related to HFCS isn't because I'm a big fan of the stuff. I'm not. I much prefer the taste of foods and drinks made with sucrose. It's because hysteria surrounding HFCS clouds the issue and prevents people from making intelligent decisions about their diets.

Also, I do think people can do with more knowledge about how their bodies actually work and what's normal. Again, it's all part of making informed decisions about your health based on facts and science, and not the latest scare story.

[Orrex]

15. Have you ever seen blood?

Looks like ketchup. Who'd want that flowing through their veins and arteries?

[provis99]

21. since blood has glucose and ketchup has glucose,

we really do have ketchup running through our arteries.

[jdlh8894]

19. Guess we need to stop bees from naking honey. N/T

[BadgerKid]

32. Yes/sort of. Go to your beer brewing store

and look for "corn sugar" in clear plastic bags. Corn sugar is dextrose (a.k.a. glucose) that is used in brewing to feed the yeast critters. Dextrose doesn't taste very sweet. It can be consumed post-exercise to refuel muscles.

[HuckleB]

9. The distinction isn't all that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x92604

[elehhhhna]

25. Hell, why not go all the way and call it Maize Vitamin Sugar?

[salvorhardin]

28. Personally I'm surprised nobody thought to call it...

Golden Nectar. That'd look awesome on product packaging. "Sweetened with 100% pure Golden Nectar."

Sun Drops would be another great marketing name. "Now with 30% more delicious Sun Drops per serving."

And they could call it M8Z NrG+ for the sports drinks.

Frankly, I think they should fire whatever marketing agency came up with Corn Sugar. That's just phoning it in.

[Abq_Sarah]

12. They need to back off of the

Your Body Can't Tell the Difference bullshit. HFCS is not metabolized in the same way as table sugar.

[Orrex]

29. I'm interested to hear more on that subject Please post some links so I can read about it.

Thanks!

[elocs]

13. I read about it here this morning:

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9130964

[HuckleB]

14. They moved that thread to the health forum.

I'm not sure why that one was moved, while this newer one stays in GD.

:shrug:

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. me either

[provis99]

20. "sugar" is sucrose, and these assholes know it.

[trotsky]

31. Not true.

Fructose is a sugar. Glucose is a sugar. Lactose is a sugar.

[the redcoat]

30. i love the

careful wording in the new commercials. "your body can't tell the difference" does not address it's affects, it just tells you that your body will try to process it the same way.

its like saying you cant tell the difference between water and milk because both involve drinking a liquid.