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High fructose corn syrup ads target moms
Categories: Eating & Nutrition, Mommy Wars
"Wowwww. You don't care what the kids eat, huh?" So says one mom to another at a children's birthday party. Harsh. That's the first thing wrong with the most recent ad from SweetSurprise.com, a website put out by the Corn Refiners Association to ease parents minds about the dangers of high fructose corn syrup.
In response to growing concern over the link between high fructose corn syrup and childhood obesity, parents are turning away from products aimed at kids that include the ingredient. This isn't sitting well with the Corn Refiners Association, who are fighting back with an ad campaign meant to make HFCS look as sweet as innocent as your little dumpling who's drinking it or eating it. But are they telling the truth?
The key here, I think, is in the ad's own words "fine in moderation." That may be a truth, yes, but HFCS is in an alarming number of processed food products marketed to children, including yogurts, cereals, crackers, chips, fruit snacks, and breakfast bars. Moderation, when it comes to HFCS, is hard to achieve unless you're actively aware of avoiding it. The CRA's other argument is that, because HFCS is made from corn, it's "all-natural." But what they have to do to the corn to refine it into syrup is not, making that a questionable claim at best.
The most worrisome thing to me, however, is that we're seeing this kind of political ad... for FOOD. That should set off alarm bells right there. Yes, I'll let my kids drink a glass of punch full of the stuff at their next birthday party. But if the CRA really believes their own "in moderation" line, then they should be reducing HFCS in children's food products. Not staging a mommy war next to the cupcakes.
Watch the ad below and tell us what you think.
In response to growing concern over the link between high fructose corn syrup and childhood obesity, parents are turning away from products aimed at kids that include the ingredient. This isn't sitting well with the Corn Refiners Association, who are fighting back with an ad campaign meant to make HFCS look as sweet as innocent as your little dumpling who's drinking it or eating it. But are they telling the truth?
The key here, I think, is in the ad's own words "fine in moderation." That may be a truth, yes, but HFCS is in an alarming number of processed food products marketed to children, including yogurts, cereals, crackers, chips, fruit snacks, and breakfast bars. Moderation, when it comes to HFCS, is hard to achieve unless you're actively aware of avoiding it. The CRA's other argument is that, because HFCS is made from corn, it's "all-natural." But what they have to do to the corn to refine it into syrup is not, making that a questionable claim at best.
The most worrisome thing to me, however, is that we're seeing this kind of political ad... for FOOD. That should set off alarm bells right there. Yes, I'll let my kids drink a glass of punch full of the stuff at their next birthday party. But if the CRA really believes their own "in moderation" line, then they should be reducing HFCS in children's food products. Not staging a mommy war next to the cupcakes.
Watch the ad below and tell us what you think.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sabrina 9-15-2008 @ 10:39AM
That's why they suggest processed food be used as minimally as possible. Apples and bananas are just as easy to carry around, and it take just as long to cut one up as it does to open one of those %$@&&%! plastic packages (I aparently have some trouble opening those, huh? :)) As far as drinks, 100% juice, milk, soy milk, water....all good things, and all come in handy packaging. It's not their job to reduce the HFCS in foods, it's our job as consumers to be aware and involved in what we buy and what we eat. Those are our choices to make.
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Michael 9-15-2008 @ 11:39AM
I hear you! Let us not forget...this article is 100% correct...this is akin to a political ad. And you are, in a very real sense, voting with your wallet. If those products that featured HFCS sold worse than those that did not, they would stop making it. It's that simple. They are in the business to make money, and that is the ONLY way to get our voices across to them.
Baron 9-15-2008 @ 10:41AM
Well, regardless of the message, they (the corn producers) are just using the same tactics that "green" folks have been using for ages now. Being mean (though the commercials are a lot nicer than most of the "green" people I know). I can't see You Tube at work, not to mention other video sites, so I can't see this particular commercial, but I can imagine how it goes if it is like the other commercials from them. As far as I'm concerned, it is fine. I'd rather see this than have one of my friends go on about the evils of big business or meat or anything else as they are a lot more pushy and mean about it than these people have been (and they are my friends haha).
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Amy 9-15-2008 @ 11:38AM
It is our job to watch what our kids eat, but it really would be nice if they reduced HFCC in our kids foods. Kids love food that's targeted to them -- you know all that stuff on the bottom shelf at the grocery store with their favorite character on it. My kids don't get very much of that but I'd feel better if it was healthier when they did.
That ad has been irritating to me every time I see it. It's deceiving and it makes me feel like they're trying to cover up how bad it really is.
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jennamom 9-15-2008 @ 12:11PM
Here is a great rebuttal to those exact ads, on the Cleaner Plate Club blog, which by the way is a great blog to subscribe to if you care about these issues!
http://cleanerplateclub.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/sweet-surprise-the-corn-industry-apparently-doesnt-know-whats-wrong-with-high-fructose-corn-syrup-but-i-do/
I had been avoiding HFCS for so long that I had forgotten why it was I decided to in the first place... this post served as a great reminder. The single biggest issue in avoiding HFCS, for me (in addition to the fact that it's really bad for you) is that the overproduction of corn may be indirectly causing the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. So now, yes, I do make a really concerted effort to not buy stuff that has HFCS listed as an ingredient. Every once in awhile, maybe I let the kids eat a popsicle or drink some sprite from McDonald's... but I don't let that stuff in my own house.
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mamaloo 9-15-2008 @ 12:19PM
There are a lot of misconceptions that these ads play upon.
The first being that parents who are concerned about the use of HFCS are under informed. I find the opposite to be true, in my regular dealings with people.
I think the idea of moderation spoken of in the ads is laughable at best since the vast majority of people do not inspect food labels. Since convenience foods are heavily marketed to busy parents and heavily marketed to children who become absolute pests (my own 5yo has been going on for a year about how cheese strings "are an important part of growing up" like a brainwashed robot) to their parents until they get what they want.
Convenience foods are priced to be far cheaper than many whole foods. The vast majority of the people I know haven't got the first clue about how to cook with whole foods and even those who attempt a healthy diet rely heavily on packaged goods. So, the average family can't possibly ingest HFCS in moderation without a radical overhaul of their culinary lifestyle and isn't that what this ad is making fun of? People who care about what they put in their children's mouths.
I agree with Bethany. When a food lobby starts making political ads about questionable foods: watch out. These ads are counting on the fact that most parents (and the people who are the community of all these parents) are too apathetic to investigate the situation for themselves.
BTW, I think it's important to make a distinction between corn syrup and HFCS. The two are related only in the fact that they come from the same original source.
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jen 9-15-2008 @ 1:54PM
I have a (maybe) dumb question - can foods labeled "organic" contain HFCS? If not, it sure would make label-reading a little easier!
mamaloo 9-15-2008 @ 2:08PM
HFCS is not organic because it is a GMO. From my understanding, organic must be non-GMO.
dee 9-15-2008 @ 2:49PM
I know who these ads are targeted at . . . these ads are targeted at women like my aunt, who follow the crowd. She declared that she had stopped purchasing juice with HFCS, just like the rest of us had (many years ago).
In the past year, the "crowd" has been headed away from products containing HFCS. They're targeted at the folks who I see pulling juice after juice down in the grocery store, reading through the list of ingredients and expressing shock at how small the selection of juices without HFCS is.
I see that scene at our local grocery store almost every weekend now. Each time, it's got to be people who are just approaching this topic--because those of us who have been avoiding it already know what the limited selection of juices we can buy is, grab them (double-check them) and run. There is a groundswell out there, and my guess is that these ads are a reaction to the reduction in sales associated with products with HFCS.
In fact, talking about juice . . . a couple of months back, I noticed that week-after-week, our grocery store started to have stocks of the HFCS-laden juices crowding the shelves, and that I was having a hard time getting any of our standard juices if I came too late on Saturday. Since then, their selection of the HFCS-free juices has grown, and their stock issues seem to have resolved.
jennamom 9-15-2008 @ 3:18PM
HFCS is not a GMO. Genetically Modified Organisms are individual crops like corn, soybeans, canola, etc. Monsanto (evil!) for instance, has genetically modified a corn plant so that it the crop can be sprayed with Roundup (which they also make.) The last I heard was that about 60% of the corn grown in this country is now GMO corn. Maybe it's even more now.
Most HFCS is, of course, made with GMO corn... I guess it's easier and more productive to farm that way, which makes the corn more profitable. That's also totally debatable though. :-) Read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, or the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, either of those books will change the way you eat.
mamaloo 9-15-2008 @ 3:42PM
@jennamom, thanks for clarifying. That's what I meant: since the corn is overwhelmingly probably GMO, the HFCS derived from the processing of that corn would, hence, not be organic.
rebecca Biernesser 9-15-2008 @ 2:39PM
I personally think the commericals are funny, but then again I have a weird sense of humor.
I'm taking a guess here, but i would bet a dime to a doughnut that most of the posters here watch what their children eat and actually pay attention to their children. Which means regradless of the ad, that their children will most like not be overweight.
I'm overweight and I can tell you that I do pay attention to what my children eat, how active they are,etc. But at the same time, my children eat fast foods, sweets, homecooked meals, packaged meals,etc. Everything is fine in doses and exercise is important. I don't care what the ads say....
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Lil 9-15-2008 @ 10:35PM
It's a pretty sick piece of propganda in my mind...
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Hala 9-15-2008 @ 10:40PM
Frutcose, is like, and just as bad for you as sugar. It increases
stomach acidity, it's food to all the wrong bacteria and yeasts in
the stomach, and it has none of the anti-oxidants, amino acids, or
minerals the body needs. Those same yeasts cause women several
disorders. D-mannose on the other hand nourishes the beneficial
bacteria in the stomach and allows it to out-compete the harmful
ones. The ad sneaks in the words "it's ok in moderation", but that
exactly it, fructose is included, and not in moderation, in too many
products. Chugging fructose syrop infused juice has nothing to do
with moderation!
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Michelle 9-16-2008 @ 6:23PM
Funny, I just blogged about the same thing. I am glad to see so many famalies raising their voices about this. It is about time that we debase the manufacturers out there that we are gullable sheep that will just do/buy/ think as we are told to.
http://www.michellemjohnson.blogspot.com
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Audrae Erickson 9-18-2008 @ 12:01AM
High fructose corn syrup, sugar, and several fruit juices are all nutritionally the same.
High fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as sugar and is handled similarly by the body.
HFCS is made from corn, a natural grain product. HFCS contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients or color additives and meets the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) requirements for use of the term “natural.”
The American Medical Association in June 2008 helped put to rest misunderstandings about this sweetener and obesity, stating that “high fructose corn syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.”
Consumers can see the latest research and learn more about high fructose corn syrup at www.HFCSfacts.com and www.SweetSurprise.com.
Audrae Erickson
President
Corn Refiners Association
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charlene 9-18-2008 @ 10:02AM
People, This isn't rocket science. HFCS is the same thing as white table sugar chemically speaking and our bodies process it in the same way. We're all getting fat because we're all eating processed food, and too much of it, and we're not exercising enough and neither are the kids. The point is, EVERYTHING now carries sugar, HFCS, corn syrup or all of the above. Sweeteners add calories! It's that simple! Stop pointing fingers and start taking responsibility for what your lifestyle choices are.
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Kam Wilson 9-18-2008 @ 11:18PM
Wow, isn't that how it goes? Either you believe the people who fund the studies (and generally they're the ones wanting the studies to turn out good) or you believe the people who can't afford the big studies but have some serious questions based on "smaller" research.
Wow...very interesting!
Kam from http://www.squidoo.com/calorieshiftingdiets
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James Rippe, M.D. 9-19-2008 @ 5:29PM
Good grief! It's time for everybody to chill out about high fructose corn syrup. Research in my laboratory and in the laboratories of every other researcher who has looked at this issue has shown that by every parameter yet studied in human beings, high fructose corn syrup and table sugar have the same effect on the human body. This is not surprising given that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and table sugar (sucrose) are chemically virtually the same substance. The most common form of HFCS contains 55% fructose, 42% glucose, and 3% other carbohydrates. Table sugar contains 50% glucose and 50% fructose. Both are absorbed identically in the human body. Our research has shown that there is no difference in insulin, glucose, triglycerides or any other measurement we have made. Moreover, following consumption of high fructose corn syrup, no blood measurement is abnormally elevated. I agree with the American Medical Association that HFCS is no different from any other caloric sweetener. I agree with the FDA that it is a natural substance.
The danger in demonizing HFCS with mischaracterizations is that it prevents us from focusing on the real causes of such problems as obesity which are the over-consumption of calories and the inadequate levels of physical activity. It's good to pay attention to nutrition but let's get the facts straight!
James M. Rippe, M.D.
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charlene 9-22-2008 @ 10:56AM
Did you know that the AMA, CSPI, Walter Willett, James Rippe, Marion Nestle, George Bray, Peter Havel, Barry Popkin, etc. ALL agree that HFCS is metabolized no differently than sugar? It's time to recognize all of the misinformation on HFCS. The truth is, we need to practice moderation on all sugars: fructose, glucose, sucrose.
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