If you have visited my blog before, you may have noticed that I have written a few posts regarding high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, as it is more commonly known. Not only have I been writing about it, but I have also been talking about it.
In one of my college courses (I am finishing up my undergrad as an adult student, B.S. in IT with a minor in music), I was spreading the word about the dangers of HFCS and how it creates a fatty liver, and even cirrhosis of the liver.
My professor showed me the ingredients of his bottled drink (a type of “health” drink, I don’t recall the brand) and asked me if crystalline fructose was the same as high fructose corn syrup. This was the first I had heard of this ingredient so I was very intrigued and set out to do some research on it.
What I have learned is that crystalline fructose “is produced by allowing the fructose to crystallize from a fructose-enriched corn syrup.” This information is from the sugar producers themselves, at sugar.org. This explanation is very straightforward: it is made from corn syrup, and not only corn syrup, but “fructose enriched” corn syrup. Would another name for that perhaps be high fructose corn syrup?
To quote one of my previous posts:
HFCS can be manufactured to either contain equal amounts of fructose and glucose, or up to 80 percent fructose and 20 percent glucose.” Fructose and glucose are metabolized differently in the body. “Glucose is metabolized in every cell in the body, however all fructose must be metabolized in the liver.
I have learned that Crystalline Fructose contains 99.5% minimum of fructose assay, which is an even higher percentage of fructose than what makes up HFCS. Another ingredient of crystalline fructose is arsenic. I don’t know about you, but I don’t care what the amount is (in this case the chemical specs state 1 mg/kg maximum), I don’t want to be ingesting arsenic.
Additional chemical compounds that make up crystalline fructose are heavy metals, lead, and chloride. I obtained this information from admworld.com in their PDF document that I used to research this post.
Even if you do not drill down into the chemical composition of crystalline fructose, the bullet points of the document clearly show that this sweetener provides the same outcome and is used in the same way as HFCS is:
- It is an ingredient in the same processed foods that HFCS is: sodas, other beverages (sadly, it is used in “health drinks” like the one my college professor had), breads, low-calorie dressings (read the labels of low-fat salad dressings), cereals, frozen foods, protein bars (supposed to be healthy!), and basically all processed foods.
- It extends the shelf life of food.
- It provides intense sweetness so only a small amount needs to be used (economical).
- It is made from corn (again, economical).
- It prevents baked goods and “nutrition” bars from drying out.
Of course, the health dangers of crystalline fructose are not outlined, and they will be the same as high fructose corny syrup since this is simply another form of fructose corn syrup, however crystalline fructose includes an even higher percentage of fructose than HFCS does. Remember that fructose must be processed completely in the liver, and when a diet includes a large amount of it (if you eat mainly processed foods), then it creates a fatty liver, and even cirrhosis.
I firmly believe in public education on these topics. Even if you have heard of these ingredients, you may be surprised to know how wide spread their use is, especially since these corn syrups are used in breads. How many ready-made sandwich shops are using bread made with crystalline fructose or high fructose corn syrup? I do not know these figures currently, however I would bet that most of these breads do contain fructose corn syrups, since most of the breads that you can buy in the grocery store contain them.
In my humble opinion, it sounds like the food industry has come up with a new name for high fructose corn syrup, while increasing the level of fructose in it. It is unlikely that these corn syrups will disappear any time soon, however as long as you are knowledgeable about what you are eating, the more conscious you will become in your decisions concerning what you put into your body. We all deserve to live with the highest level of health possible, and clearly fructose corn syrup sweeteners will not be found along the path to outstanding health.
If you found this information helpful, you may also be interested in 23 “Health” Drinks that Contain Crystalline Fructose, or this post on high fructose corn syrup.
JoLynn Braley, The F.A.T. Release Coach, is a certified Master NLP Practitioner and coach who helps highly successful women, age 35-55, achieve permanent weight loss. JoLynn guides her clients through her proven, step-by-step system where they release their fears and drop the fat...with Struggle-Free action.
JoLynn combines the power of NLP (neurolinguistics) with LOA (law of attraction) along with the power of her own intuitive gifts to provide core mind-body transformation to her clients. To learn more about her step-by-step, proven process to success click here.
Loading ...
JoLynn,
I’d love to chat with you. I am the Marketing Director for Natural Ovens Bakery and we’ve used Crystalline Corn Fructose in our products for years (10+) mainly for the low glycemic index of it. I believe there is a lot of confusion between CCF and HCFS but they are definitely not the same product. Check out this study…http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2695593. Their concluding evidence says that “The high glycemic index of HFCS in our study does not support the use of HFCS as a substitute for fructose.” And the other items I’d like you to discuss with you… (since I can’t attach a word document, I’m pasting it in) This is information that we’ve pulled together to help our customer service department with questions about CCF and why we use it. I’ve debated if we should change the sweetener (as we need some sweetener) but haven’t come upon the ideal one to change to. We do offer organic sugar in some of our breads; so that we have options.
1) Low GI: Crystalline corn fructose has a GI of 20; while high fructose corn syrup is 55-60. We want a sweetener that doesn’t affect the blood sugar like sucrose or high fructose corn syrup does. (We have a lot of diabetics that eat our products because they don’t get the sugar high.)
2) Not the same as high fructose corn syrup: Crystalline corn fructose is made from a 99% fructose syrup and crystallized. High fructose corn syrup is only 42% fructose and the rest glucose and is highly processed to make it very sweet.
3) Crystalline corn fructose has the same sweetness as honey or sugar; if we substitute honey or organic sugar in our breads, we use it in the same proportion.
4) Price: High Fructose Corn Syrup is .23/#; Sugar is .35/#; Fructose is .50/# and Honey is .97/#. If we were to use the cheapest, we would use HFCS. Crystalline Corn Fructose is twice the price.
5) On the spec sheet from ADM, arsenic is listed as being tested. Certain items are always tested to make sure that they don’t contain above a certain FDA regulated level; not that the item is added to the product. This is a common practice to test for certain items in the industry.
6) The FDA has “Standards of Identity” for naming ingredients to alleviate confusion. If an item is high fructose corn syrup, it must be listed as high fructose corn syrup; and can not be changed to be named “crystalline fructose” to make it look better.
7) Understand that the reason the crystalline corn fructose is consider “fructose” is because it has the chemical makeup of fructose; sucrose and others have a different chemical makeup and affect the body differently.
We need sugar (sweetener of some sort) in baking for 3 reasons: flavor, browning and yeast food.
Finally, the reason we offer the Healthy Beginnings and Organic Plus breads with other types of sweeteners is so that people have different options. If they don’t want crystalline corn fructose, then they can try the HB’s or OP’s.
Thanks for your time,
Chelle Blaszczyk
Hi Chelle,
Thanks for your comments. Yes, I’ve heard of Natural Ovens, one of my blogging friends wrote a post about her upset with the change in Natural Ovens company, which I linked to in this post.
This post I’ve written (above) doesn’t have anything to do with glycemic index though, in fact I haven’t written any posts about that topic.
You do point out the main reason I wrote this post though, and that is that the high concentration of fructose (in hfcs and crystalline fructose) is what contributes to a fatty liver, since that fructose has to be processed directly in the liver. And actually the point about crystalline fructose having a higher concentration of it than hfcs does makes it even more dangerous for human health – a fatty liver is NOT what anyone wants to end up with. I just heard a woman call into Richard Simmons’ show last Sunday on Sirius and she’s having a very hard time with her health (she has fatty liver disease).
However, as I wrote in my post, it’s my opinion that crystalline fructose is practically the same as high fructose corn syrup since technically it is a Corn Sugar containing a HIGH Amount of Fructose. And yep, you’re right that it’s not exactly the same thing.
I wouldn’t recommend that anyone consume either hfcs or crystalline fructose, and I highly recommend reading/watching the 2 sources that I learned about fatty liver disease from referenced in the link in my post above.
I’m all about health, not just weight loss, and I actually don’t believe that refined sugar in any form (whether corn sugar, beet sugar, or any other refined sugar) contributes to high health since it contains absolutely NO vitamins or minerals, no nutrition whatsoever.
Hi there,
I was actually just googling “Crystalline Fructose” as it is the second ingrediant in my so called “Health Drink” and was suprised to find this information. It’s kind of scary actually. Thank you for the information.
On the one hand though, at least after drinking a few of these you might build up an immunity to Arsenic Poisoning!
Let’s just say I wont be buying these again…
GREAT post. Awesome site. I’m looking forward to digging into it now.
Keep up the great work.
- Warren
CornSyrupKills.net
Hi Angela,
Glad I could help, and I’m with you – I don’t buy anything that contains crystalline fructose or any other corn sugar either.
Warren, thanks!
Thank you for sharing this information. I, like so many others listed above, was looking for an alternative to drinks with HFCS. While reading labels, I saw this crystalline fructose. Some other flavored waters contained sucratose. My limited research told me that it was common table sugar. Have you come across this ingredient in your research?
Hi Mike,
Sure, glad I could help. And on your question about sucratose…thank you for asking! I did some research on it and everything I found says it’s the same as sucralose, which is Splenda – I wrote a post about the health dangers of Splenda.
Here’s one example, from Google Book Search – on page 89 of the Diabetes Handbook which says sucratose/Splenda.
So, I would recommend staying away from it but you can read my post about Splenda and check out the book I reference in that post. Thanks again Mike!
I found something very disturbing on Yahoo! today. The myths of high fructose corn syrup. One of the myths is that it does not contributing to obesity and that it doesn’t promotes fat storage nor does it increase appetite. All I know is that when I drink something with HFCS in it I get bad cramps in my stomach, bloating, and very bad diarrhea. When I drink anything with pure cane sugar, I have none of those bad reactions.
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/nutrition/12836/the-high-fructose-corn-syrup-myth/
Hi Luc,
I hadn’t seen that, thanks!
Well you know what, you already know it’s crap and unhealthy for ya cuz you’re listening to your body and your body tells you so. Now for me I stay away from all refined sugar…one thing on that too, in the article on the topic of how hfcs affects metabolism in comparison to sugar….whether it’s corn sugar (hfcs or crystalline fructose or any other corn sugar), beet sugar, or cane sugar, they all slow your metabolism!!
And did you check out the comments on that article? Whewee, lots of people kinda upset and saying that the article was rubbish.
Hi JoLynn
That probably explains why I get so tired after drinking a pure cane sugar soda. I usually drink unsweetened tea, water, or those natural flavored sparkling waters (the ones without any kind of sweeteners) like LaCroix, Canfields.
When I read some of those comments, I was amazed by how some have associated their IBS with HFCS. It sickens me today when I think about my ex-doctor not linking my IBS to HFCS. All he did was tell me it’s viral and to drink plenty of fluids. Guess which one of those fluids he told me to drink plenty of? You guessed it, Gatorade! High fructose city there.
The way I found out about HFCS and its harmful affects was when I Googled my symptoms and then plenty of search results listed HFCS as the culprit. So, I tried a little experiment of not drinking anything with HFCS in it. Let me tell you, I was so relieved when the IBS went away, completely gone for good, it had just simply ceased.
Hi Luc,
You are wise to not give your power away to your doctor and do your own research – of course doctors perform a much needed service but they can only help you heal yourself, and they are human too.
Your testimony is the perfect example of why I say that if one doesn’t want to believe what I’ve passed along here in my article about crystalline fructose, all you need to do is eliminate it (and I suggest eliminating all corn sugars, including HFCS) for 2 weeks and note the difference in how you feel and how your body reacts.
Thanks for your feedback and keep living healthy!
Crystaline Fructose is derived from guess what “Corn”. IT goes through the same process as making HFCS and is purified or the fructose concentrated by using a ultra filtaton method that separated out the fructose from the glucose/dextrose in the HFCS. After that is is dried probably by using a spray dryer. Some of this I do not know absolutely.
Fructose is about 1.25 sweeter than sucrose.
Fructose and HFS are not the same. Fructose is sweeter than sucrose so less is needed to achieve the same sweetness, offering calorie savings. Fructose has a low glycemic index and does not cause surges and dips in blood glucose levels. Pure crystalline fructose offers many functional benefits when added to a wide range of foods and beverages, improving product palatability and stability.
Rene,
That sounds very much like the information printed on the crystalline fructose manufacturer’s PDF that I linked to in my article.
I don’t recommend crystalline fructose or any corn syrup to my readers and no matter what pitch the manufacturers give it, it doesn’t change the fact that this stuff is causing fatty liver disease – you can read Dr. Oz’s book YOU On a Diet for more on that.
As it is, I don’t recommend refined sugar anyway, whether it’s made from corn, beets, cane or whatever else. It contains 0 nutrients and it leeches vital nutrients from the body in order to be processed in the body, not to mention the myriad of other health issues that refined sugar causes that many people are already aware of.
Put on top of that all of the health issues that these corn sugars like crystalline fructose and HFCS are causing….yeah, I don’t recommend this stuff to anyone that I care about.
I want to thank you so much for your information. OK this is what happened to me. Jewel have this sale on Weight Watchers Yogurts, 20 for $10.00 and their only 1 point right, so I figured now that is a deal. The more I’ve been eating these I found myself getting really tired and sleepy so I decided to google the ingrediant Crystalline Fructose (of course after the fact right, duh). You site was the first so I pulled it up and to my amazement even Weight Watchers food is just as deadly. Well I can’t wait to get home and throw the rest out, I have about 16 of them left. You can bet I will be reading labels a lot more for now on!! thanks again,
Venis
Hi Venis,
Sure, no problem! You know I get that same sleepy feeling from eating processed foods with other types of corn sugars and regular refined sugar, too.
I know that a lot of people have had success with Weight Watchers but I personally would still stay away from their processed, packaged foods and stick with their recipes instead.
And hey, it’s no big deal that you didn’t read your labels first – now you’ll be doing it and that’s what matters. (and maybe you could even take the other yogurts back to the store and get a refund or an exchange?)
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Your research is perfect. I did some myself on Wikipedia and it says the same things! I am so disappointed, again, that the FDA once again allowed another toxic “food” ingredient into our diets. Then to try to pass it off as the next “healthy” ingredient, makes me sick!! It is just another way for us to become addicted to the foods and drinks they want to produce cheaply and sell constantly to us, the consumer, for the rest of our lives. Money. Lots of it, for “them”. So again, thank you for getting the word out. I will pass it on as well.
Blessings,
Stephanie
Just thought you0 might check this website, as they contradict almost all of your main comments about Cryst. Frutose. Not arguing, but suggesting a consideration of other facts.
http://www.fructose.org/facts.asp
Hi! I am shocked. I have been buying Fuze tea drinks where the 2nd ingredient listed in crystalline fructose. It advertises a plethora of good vitamins such as antioxidants, folic acid, and vitamins C, E, B3, B5, B6, and B12! Who would have thought that none of these would really matter since I have been fattening up my liver the past year guzzling them for lunch?! I am so upset. Thank you for opening my eyes!!!
Jenna
Thank you for explaining the facts about high fructose corn syrup and crystalline fructose. I have been drinking Glaceau Vitamin Water thinking it was better because it contained cane sugar and crytalline fructose instead of HFCS. Well, wrong again due to the slick ingredients listed on the bottle. I will be sending Glaceau an email.
Sol Zide
@Scott,
Yes, that site wants you to use crystalline fructose. If you want to do so that’s up to you – I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
@Jenna,
Sure, np, I’d opt for plain water and vitamins you swallow instead.
@Sol,
Np – I’ve had someone else tell me they emailed them, too, good for you!!
My gosh, I seriously did NOT know this! And what’s more surprising is that the ONLY way I found out about all this is cause i decided to do a tiny bit of research into GLACEAU and the ingredients they use, just out of curiosity.
Thank you for all the research and info you posted here for us, it was certainly most helpful!
Max.
Hi Max,
No problem, glad I could help. You know what I found most interesting was watching Super Size Me because they talk about the increase in fatty liver disease and that there are so many children that are now developing this!
There’s simply too much of the crystalline fructose and other gunk in processed foods and the human body isn’t built for the ingestion of this stuff in the quantities that people are ingesting it. (and in my experience, my gut feels a whole lot better when I stay away from all of those corn sugars).
I have bloodwork done regularly, including getting my liver enzymes tested. I am not genetically predisposed towards diabetes. I eat lots of regular, whole foods and I take vitamins. It is a challenge for me to eat enough to keep my bodyfat as high as 13 percent. My gut seems to react rather favorably to HFCS and CF. I’m not questioning that refined sugars are bad for you. But how are they bad for me?
Erik,
That’s great that you’re staying on top of your health by getting so much blood work and such done, wow, way to go on that!
Of course everyone has to make their own decision on what they put in their body and if you or anyone else wants to eat refined sugar then that is up to you, everyone has their own free will. I personally won’t recommend crystalline fructose or any of the corn sugars to anyone nor refined sugar in general. I’ve written numerous posts about how addictive refined sugar is, how it adds zero nutrients to the body and how it leeches valuable nutrients from the system in order to process it when it comes into the body, however that is getting off topic for this post (above).
If you’re interested you can check out my category on sugar or check out all of the resource links I’ve put in my comment replies above. I highly recommend reading Sugar Blues and you’ll find that link in comment 55 above.
I thought I had found a healthy sports drink for my two young girls who play sports, but just to find out that the GLACEAU drinks contain cystalline fructose which contains arsenic and is worst than high fructose corn syrup. This makes me very angry because we have been avoiding HFCS because our girls can not digest these. Thank you so much for this website.
Thanks for researching this product. I have been reading about HFCS and it’s ill effects. Today I happened to read the ingredients on my favorite Kashi bar. They use crystalline fructose and evaporated cane juice crystals. I don’t know if there’s any issue with the latter but I’d like to contact Kashi and see what they say about it. Thanks again for the great info.
Has anyone seen that HFCS commercial on the LifetimeTV channel?
There are these two mothers at a bar-b-que. One mother is pouring a glassful of HFCS juice in a glass while the other mother tries stopping her from handing it to the children. I was appalled when the mother who was pouring the HFCS juice was explaining to the other mother that juice sweetened with HFCS is not harmful to children. So, then, the well-informed mother of HFCS’ ill-effects lets the other mother hand the HFCS juice to the kids.
There’s another commercial of a boyfriend and girlfriend in a park where the girlfriend offers her HFCS sweetened popsicle to her boyfriend. Of course, she tells him HFCS is not harmful, and, then, of course, he takes a bite.
It’s just appalling!
Thank you for your research. I will keep your page for reference on other topics. I saw the crystalline fructose in a carrot juice…I didn’t know what it was but I just received a cleansing system for a friend of ours and saw it again. I thought….hmmmm I should look this up before I give it to him or drink it myself. Wow…guess who will not be drinking this stuff even tho it is suppose to be healthy. Oh my. I will be back to see what other interesting info I can find on your page. Thanks again…
Great posting. Interesting that the health drink I chose at work, had crystalline fructose. I ask a co-worker what it was, and no-one knew. So we googled and your site came up. What is facinating is the “fatty liver”. 2 years ago I had a scan for my gallbladder and fatty liver came up. My diet was full of fructose then. My doctor would not really comment when I asked what was fatty liver disease. Know I am smarter and am trying to stay away from all fructose foods which are processed. This means shopping on the perimeter of the grocery stores, not the center.
Thanks for the web.
Lee
This is a very interesting article. I didnt know that high fructose corn syrup was even an ingredient in processed foods but know I will try and avoid it like the plague. I would like to thank you for your letting us know about this, my children will be healthier for it. Thank you again
Thank you for your valuable information on 100% Crystalline Fructose. I was using multivitamin called Alive! in a powder form and notice that this was the first ingredient. I emailed the company and asked if they did any research on 100% Crystalline Fructose and if they thought it was safe. Of course they said they thought it was safe and wouldnt put “bad’ ingedients in their product. I was using Alive! for years and switched to a different multivitamin immediately.
Thanks for this information. I have a problem with aspartame and all the artificial sweeteners. A web site was offering this new energy drink called A.C.T. Energy. contained no caffeine, no artificial sweetners or flavors, only 6 grams of carbs per 12 fl. oz. no jittery effects, no crashing afterwards, works within minutes, instant gratification, lasts 5-6 hours. Now I thought I can really use all that. I need the energy, I need a pick me up, something to give me energy. He sent me a 12 oz.can and a dry packet to add in a 8 oz. bottle of water. I used the packet in the water, shook it up and took a drink. The tip of my tongue went numb and that is an indication of funny sugar. I looked at the packet and saw crystalline fructose. I did not know what it is but now I do. Just like Wriggles chewing gum, I always bought it and I put a piece in my mouth and instantly yuck in my mouth. Spearmint, doublemint they changed the sugar and now I can not chew it. I do not know what it is with me but it effects me in a bad way. It makes a nasty taste in my mouth. Then my shoulders start to hurt like someone is squeezing them. I guess I am just weird? Thanks for any information that can help.