Apparently, yes.
After a boat tour during our recent camping trip to Canada[1] we stopped off at a restaurant on the shore of the St. Lawrence River. One interesting thing about traveling in Ontario, as you probably already know, is that everything is in French and English.
As I was admiring the Heinz Ketchup and Relish labels, I noticed that neither contained high fructose corn syrup. This piqued my curiosity since HFCS is the first or second ingredient in nearly every packaged food product in the U.S.
I came home eager to do some research and see if Canada has something on us here. Have they found a way to force this evil ingredient to be banned from food? [2]
Alas, my joy was short-lived.
The second ingredient in the relish was glucose-fructose, which is apparently Canadian for “HFCS.” This isn’t surprising since HFCS is corn syrup which has had a percentage of its glucose enzymatically converted into fructose.
As for the ketchup, it had “liquid sugar” listed as ingredient two, but a quick check at the Sugar Association website gives this information about liquid sugar:
Liquid Sugar
Liquid sugars
There are several types of liquid sugar. Liquid sugar (sucrose) is white granulated sugar that has been dissolved in water before it is used. Liquid sugar is ideal for products whose recipes first require sugar to be dissolved. Amber liquid sugar is darker in color and can be used in foods where brown color is desired.Invert sugar
Sucrose can be split into its two component sugars (glucose and fructose). This process is called inversion, and the product is called invert sugar. Commercial invert sugar is a liquid product that contains equal amounts of glucose and fructose. Because fructose is sweeter than either glucose or sucrose, invert sugar is sweeter than white sugar. Commercial liquid invert sugars are prepared as different mixtures of sucrose and invert sugar. For example total invert sugar is half glucose and half fructose, while 50% invert sugar (half of the sucrose has been inverted) is one-half sucrose, one-quarter glucose and one-quarter fructose. Invert sugar is used mainly by food manufacturers to retard the crystallization of sugar and to retain moisture in the packaged food. Which particular invert sugar is used is determined by which function – retarding crystallization or retaining moisture – is required.Home cooks make invert sugar whenever a recipe calls for a sugar to be boiled gently in a mixture of water and lemon juice.
To all this I say: Meh.
- more in a later post [back]
- It’s a well-known fact that tee-ball, the NY Times crossword puzzle, and HFCS were invented by the devil. Well, not really, but they should all be experienced in moderation. See this interesting post for some HFCS background if you’re interested. [back]
