Whether you believe the caution has merits or not, consumers are continuing to trigger a shift away from products that contain high fructose corn syrup.In an earlier post on high fructose corn syrup, mention was made here of Dole TV ads that touted fruit juice products without the corn-based sweetener. In our personal shopping just recently, we noticed that Oroweat has also expanded
the number of bread products that do not list HFCS in the ingredient label.
Back when we first began to watch for HFCS in our label reading, it was difficult to find breads in mainstream grocery stores that did not contain it. We were happy then when we came across Oroweat's HealthNut bread which was one of the only commercial breads we found that did not contain HFCS. HealthNut also included a number of very good ingredients, so it became a long-time favorite at our house.
What's new that prompted this free plug for Oroweat? Noticing that several of the Oroweat breads now feature this message on the face of the package: "NO high fructose corn syrup". Right across from "NO trans fats".
I have nothing against corn growers, and I realize that ongoing diligence will be needed on the part of consumers to watch for other ingredients that may be an issue. But I like seeing this trend. I believe it bodes well for increasing the overall quality of our processed food, if suppliers understand that consumers are watching for quality, safety, and nutritional value -- not just low price and a wow for the taste buds.
Consumers have had several decades of more or less looking the other way while an incredible number of assumptions have been made about the biochemistry and processing of our prepared food. While we've been delighted with the advances in convenience and pricing, these developments have come at the expense of our overall health in many cases. The further our food has moved from its truly natural original forms, the more our health has declined. I'm looking forward to see what health trends might be like with a generation that consumes food that is improving in nutritional value rather than declining.
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