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I'm not sure if it's just a different term here in Canada, or if it is something else. Anyone care to elaborate on the difference, if there is any? I notice that it appears in the same kinds of things you would expect HFCS in, like sodas, iced teas, etc.
HFCS is a type of "Glucose/Fructose", and is specifically a Fructose. Glucose/Fructose frequently means HFCS, but it can also mean a number of other things - such as Glucose/Fructose made from a variety of food by products. Table sugar is a sucrose.
people in the states are fooled into thinking cane sugar is healthier but not really... hfcs is usually 60% fructose while table sugar is maybe 50% (the way the body breaks it down).. not a huge difference... the healthiest "sugar" would be pure dextrose (glucose) and the least healthy is agave which is 90% fructose.
HFCS is about 60% fructose as I recall. The real problem with HFCS is not what it is, but the quantity in which it is used. Basically, any sugar used in moderation won't do the average person any harm. People with sugar regulation problems - hypoglycemic and diabetic - can usually deal with fructose a little more easily than sucrose because it takes the body a little longer to turn it into glucose (blood sugar), so it is less likely to give them spikes and crashes. BUT it still must be used moderately.
My wife is hypoglycemic, she does ok on small amounts of fructose, but can't eat much sucrose without starting to get crashes. I read up a bit on this stuff when I thought it so strange that she could eat maple syrup but not pineapple - different sugars.
HFCS is commonly used in foods in lieu of table sugar (sucrose) because it is cheaper and more stable. 2,3 More than half of the sugar in the United States is derived from the sugarbeet, which is grown in the cooler climates of the Midwest states.4 HFCS is made from American corn which is overly abundant and extremely cheap due to government subsidies.2 HFCS is a much more stable compound than table sugar for processed foods and beverages because it can withstand the acidic conditions these products go through when being shipped and subsequently left sitting on the shelf in a warehouse or grocery store.3 The stability of HFCS is due to its slightly different chemical composition in comparison to sucrose. Sucrose is a disaccharide, meaning that it is composed of two different single sugars that are connected. These two single sugars are known as glucose and fructose. HFCS is made up of glucose and fructose as well; however, in HFCS these two molecules are not connected.1, 3 The way in which HFCS is made is what makes the difference in composition.
Quote:
HFCS is made up of free—not connected, as in sucrose—glucose and fructose molecules.1, 3
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