Foods without High Fructose Corn Syrup

Anyone else interested in a thread to share foods that do not contain High Fructose Corn Syrup?

I had to search high and low to find a barbeque sauce that fit the bill.  I finally found Jim Beam's Barbeque Sauce at Kroger's (2 T= 20 calories, 0 fat, 5g carbs, 0 protein).  It uses molasses, sugar and regular corn syrup for its sweeteners.  

Also, Heinz Reduced Sugar Ketchup does not contain HFCS (their regular ketchup does) and uses sucralose instead.

That darn HFCS seems to be in everything!  But, starting now, I'm going to try to keep it OUT of my kitchen!   

So, if you know of any other products which do not use this stuff, please share!!

This is a GREAT idea for a thread!  I spend SO much time in the grocery store reading labels just to be sure not to get any hfcs!

I will definately look for that bbq sauce, since I don't always have time or feel like making my own.

My favorite item without hfcs is Chef Boyardee Pizza Sauce.

I find myself purchasing more and more organic items in order to eliminate the vile stuff from my food.

Anybody find any whole wheat hot dog or hamburger buns without it?  Preferably some that are soft?

Oh, man...just checked my whole wheat buns...there it was HFCS.  Never even thought to look at the label in the "regular" breads.  I am so bummed.   Thanks for the heads up.  I hope I don't have to start making these!  (I'm a good cook, but I hate to bake!)

I got a feeling in the pit of my stomach when you said that stuff was in your whole wheat buns, so I went to the shelf to check my bread - Nature's Own, per slice 50 calories, 1/2 gram of fat, 5 grams of fiber, Omega-3 and less than a gram of sugar - and there it was. HFCS. It's an epidemic. *shakes arms and hands like a crazy person* lol

Classico makes my favorite type of jarred sauce (spicy tomato & pesto), which has no hfcs. In fact, none of their sauces have hfcs in them, and they're quite delicious. I also like Polaner All Fruit spreads, sweetened with nothing but fruit juice.

If you're really looking to cut out preservatives and excess sugars in your prepared foods, think about buying more organic foods. They're very big on no preservatives added, and delicious to boot, so I've really turned to cruising the health aisle because it's easier to find prepared foods there that I feel better about eating (I might have to start getting my bread there, too). One of my favorite drinks now is Honest Tea - if it's sweetened at all it's with organic cane juice or a little fruit. My favorite is the Green Dragon tea with passion fruit. It's not calorie free, but you're not looking at more than 30 calories or less per serving anyway. Amy's Organic foods are delicious and have no preservatives. It's all vegetarian, but tastes so good you won't miss the meat.

Just some suggestions!

uhms, this may sound stupid, but is HFCS that bad? i never really paid any attention to it till this thread!

They really are not good for you. listening to this article was quite revealing for me: (available still as a podcast)

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories /2007/1969924.htm

Although depending on what country you are in the amount of HFCS in food may be much less than in the US, the principles are still the same, and the info about exercise is almost as interesting as that about HFCS

Here is the information you need, from the Mayo Clinic website

High Fructose Corn Syrup

excerpt:

"Some nutrition experts blame increased consumption of high-fructose corn syrup for the growing obesity problem. One theory is that fructose is more readily converted to fat by your liver than is sucrose, increasing the levels of fat in your bloodstream. But this hasn't been proved.

In addition, animal studies have shown a link between increased consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and adverse health effects, such as diabetes and high cholesterol. However, the evidence is not as clear in human studies."

Joseph's low carb pitas and lavash breads do not contain ANY hfcs or sugar - they use splenda instead. And they are DELICIOUS! verrry soft (i LOVE them dipped in hummus or wrapped around a tuna or chicken sandwich. YUM!)

Also, I was in the store yesterday reading english muffin labels, and there it was!

So, Thomas' Light multigrain english muffins win out.

They are the only ones I could find! They, too, use splenda, though, which I am also trying to reduce in my diet :(

But I don't wanna have to bake my own all the time. Ezekiel breads are completely sweetener-free adn taste pretty good toasted. (Low fat, high fiber, etc, too!) And most health food breads are good.

Also, Stop and Shop Light Bagels Plain and Fiber Select Cereal (Both contain aspartame).

I was in the store looking at rye and pumpernickel breads (sorry, don't remember what brand) and they were all sweetener-free! i got excited until i noticed the partially hydrogenated veg. oil in every single one. bummer. So I'm off to discover more healthy bread options.

Is HFCS bad?  I'd argue that it's the excessive consumption of FRUCTOSE which is bad, and that fructose could come from fruit, cane sugar, honey or HFCS.   Both HFCS and corn syrup are sugars made by breaking down corn starch - they're both synthetic products.  HFCS has high fructose content and is very sweet, while corn syrup is glucose and not nearly as sweet.  I suppose that the regular corn syrup is better for you, because the glucose suppresses appetite and the fructose doesn't.  But it would take a lot more regular corn syrup to get to the same level of sweetness, so you might inadvertently eat more calories if you had a sweet tooth (I've seen this personally using corn syrup on pancakes - it takes a lot more of it to satisfy than regular maple syrup).

The bigger question to me is: why is there so much sugar in what we eat, anyway?  Why do ketchup and hamburger buns need to have sugar in them at all?  I tossed out some of my favorite barbecue and teriyaki sauces a few months ago in favor of no-sugar alternatives (like salsa), and limiting the amount of sugars I used (ie measuring how much syrup on a pancake, or using unsweetened yogurt with fruit).

thhq - Dr.s Michael Roizen and Mehment Oz (authors of "YOU on a Diet") agree with you, it is actuall the fructose part of the hfcs that is problematic.  They argue "...fructose in the HFCS, which sweetens our soft drinks and salad dressings, isn't seen by your brain as a regular food.  Because your brain doesn't see any of the fructose in the thousands of HFCS - containing foods as excess calories...your body wants you to keep eating (which means that even low-fat foods can have extremely bad consequences, calorie- and appetitie-wise). pg 47

Thus, we desire more sweets and continue to eat them beyond our body's needs and gain weight.  I think they also argue in this book that the consumption of hfcs adds to an increased work load on the liver, with unhealthy consequences.

I would also like to know why it is in most every product.  I realize that it is inexpensive which makes it desirable to manufacturers, but weren't people purchasing food products without lots of sweeteners being added before hfcs was so readily available?  If so, why add it in?  I mean, I thought the reason it was added was to improve flavor only in order to improve market value...but somehow this seems like a very weak line of reasoning to me. 

I do purchase lots of organic products as they are my only option for eliminating hfcs in my diet.  Luckily Meijer is carrying many more organic products.  But even lots of organic products are still high in sugar, which isn't very helpful since I try to keep my sugar intake low as well.

wlmich, I *love* Drs. Roizen and Oz!  I've been quoting that book like mad since I started here!

thhq, it does seem logical that fructose is fructose is fructose, regardless of whether we get it from HFCS or fruit.  As wlmich mentioned, HFCS is problematic because it does not trigger the satiety center of your brain so you eat and eat and don't feel full.  More importantly though, there's a HUGE difference in how your body PROCESSES HFCS vs. the sugars in fruits.  (Below I'm basically paraphrasing Drs. Roizen and Oz from the same book wlmich quoted):

First, the sugar in HFCS hits your bloodstream quickly, all at one time (think Tsunami to your system rather than a predictable normal tide that comes and goes); since your body cannot process that much sugar at the rate it enters your bloodstream, it shunts about 60% of the sugar off to "store" it (i.e., it goes to your fat pile in your belly ). 

The second big problem is that because it hits your bloodstream so fast and disappears just as quickly, your body craves MORE food (and often more SUGAR).  It's a self-defeating food because you'll just want to eat more. 

Fruits, however, process the sugar differently.  They contain plenty of fiber which slows the absorption of the sugar way down.  Thus fruit sugars GRADUALLY enter your system as you're processing the fiber so your body has a chance to digest all that sugar and USE the calories as they appear, rather than being overwhelmed and just shoving them aside into fat storage. 

I am also limiting the amount of added sugars to my diet.  I thought by going to the organic foods section this would help me.  But most of the items there had sugar just in different forms (cane juice, milled sugar, organic sugar).  It was still difficult to find sugar free items.  I was surprised. 

lindagal, I've been eating tons of fruit lately, especially berries.  I realize that I'm getting a hit of fructose with these, but all the other stuff in them dilutes it, and they don't generate that sugar high effect.  I personally feel that this is measured best by glycemic index, which is low for berries.  I do have a problem with going overboard on high GI fruits though.  A person can get the same effect as drinking HFCS-laden sodas by going overboard with certain high sugar natural foods such as orange juice, apple juice, pineapple, liquid milk or bananas. 

Great thread!  I'd like to add my 2 cents.  I read somewhere that it's a flavor trade-off.  If you go low-fat they add additional sweetener - if you go sugar-free they add fat - all to compensate for lost of flavor and/or texture.  So whichever way you swing, low-fat or sugar-free, you're swapping these two evils back and forth.  The only alternative is to stay completely away from processed foods - which in today's society would be almost impossible.  I personally am trying to do all natural whole foods - with exception of baked goods - it's too hot to turn on the oven!

Truer words were never spoken, thhq.  I stay away from the really high-sugar fruits and, like you, generally have lots of berries.  Blueberries and raspberries are wonderfully high in fiber and nutrients so I try to have one (or both) on my whole grain cereal in the morning.  I pretty much stay away from any of the juices -- if I'm going to consume that many calories then I want more bang for my buck and choose fruit instead. 

mctami, that inverse sugar/fat relationship is so frustrating.  Ultimately I've ended up doing what you do -- ignoring processed froods and developing a taste for natural foods.  I've never been able to stand the taste of any artificial sweetener, and some of the chems to replace fat (like Olestra) make my stomach churn.  I read somewhere that you should stick to the outer aisles of the supermarket, where the produce, dairy, meat and fish are located, but shop sparingly for anything in the inner aisles because it's more likely processed.   I just hate how the stores plan their aisles to try to lure us into unhealthy choices.  In my store you have to run a circuit of the entire outer perimeter to get the basic staples I need. 

I have been fairly successfull in cutting HFCS out of my diet, but some of the foods I eat contain regular corn syrup.  Is corn syrup unhealthy, or is it only high fructose corn syrup?  I've had a hard time finding a solid answer to this question, so any information would be appreciated.

I was shocked walking through the supermarket when almost everything I picked up had HFCS in it.  I've started shopping at Whole Foods Markets and Wild Oats where almost everything is organic and I can trust that what I am eating is safe without having to read every ingredient.

kec4095, regular corn syrup is glucose, not fructose.  It's not as sweet-tasting as HFCS.  If you end up using more of it you might end up eating more calories.  But glucose does have a tendency to suppress craving for sweets, while fructose/HFCS doesn't.  If it works that way for you, it could be helpful.

I've noticed that some of the regular corn syrup brands are starting to blend in HFCS.  Pay attention to the labels.  Sometimes the dark is made differently from the light within the same brand. 

The question was posted earlier by wlmich, "why is HFCS in everything",the answer, sadly enough, is because corn is a subsidized commodity.  Corn is a subsidized commodity making it cheaper than sugar.  HFCS became a mainstay of manufactured food ingredients in the 80's.

If anyone is interested in learning more about HFCS I suggest reading Michael Pollan's book The Ominvores Dilema. 

Why dont you just stear clear of ALL packaged foods and if you are cravings something that is packaged, try making it yourself so you can control the ingredients!!! 

I've found a wonderful, tasty bread that is low-calorie and has absolutely NO HCS!

The bread that I am eating these days is Alavarado Street Essential Flax Seed Bread (2 slices for 100 calories!) 

Ingredients: Sprouted Organic Whole Wheat Berries, Filtered Water, Wheat Gluten, Sprouted Organic Whole Flax Seeds, Soy Fiber, Organic Dates, Fresh Yeast, Organic Raisins, Soy Based Lecithin, Sea Salt, Cultured Wheat.

It is available at Trader Joes as well as some of our local grocery stores. It can also be purchased online at (remove the spaces)  alvarado street bakery dot com.

The nice thing about healthy, tasty bread that is organic and only 50 calories a slice is that you can use it more often to stretch your  calories. It also freezes really well!

=^..^=  MOLLY

I see I'm posting after this thread has been inactive, but I am maintaining a list of HFCS free foods at www.stophfcs.com , just click on the menu item Food List

Thanks!