Fructose, as used in commercial products, is HFCS55, which has the same formula as sucrose (comparison to glucose is disingenuous to the standard products in service as sweeteners). HFCS55 is, as you say, about half glucose and half fructose, just as cane sugar is.
So, why so bad for us?
You touched on it without saying it outright -- one soft drink is three apples. One cup of tea is two teaspoons of whatever sweetener (for most people -- I'm down to one for a 12 oz mug). And, yet....
Freezer burn is lessened by fructose, so it's sprayed on product to make it pretty in the cold section. It's shelf stable, so it gets added to all sorts of foods like ketchup and vinigrette dressings to add extra structure and mouth feel. It browns well, so it is added to dough for almost every common bread product.
It's not that, by itself, fructose is horrible. It's that we eat 60+ pounds of the stuff every year.
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Date: 2008-09-21 10:33 pm (UTC)From:Fructose, as used in commercial products, is HFCS55, which has the same formula as sucrose (comparison to glucose is disingenuous to the standard products in service as sweeteners). HFCS55 is, as you say, about half glucose and half fructose, just as cane sugar is.
So, why so bad for us?
You touched on it without saying it outright -- one soft drink is three apples. One cup of tea is two teaspoons of whatever sweetener (for most people -- I'm down to one for a 12 oz mug). And, yet....
Freezer burn is lessened by fructose, so it's sprayed on product to make it pretty in the cold section. It's shelf stable, so it gets added to all sorts of foods like ketchup and vinigrette dressings to add extra structure and mouth feel. It browns well, so it is added to dough for almost every common bread product.
It's not that, by itself, fructose is horrible. It's that we eat 60+ pounds of the stuff every year.