Originally Posted by
joporto
There are a few reasons. I researched this (well cruised the internet a bunch looking at different theories, etc...) and there seems to quite a few reasons. HFCS is sweeter so they can use less of it for flavoring (even if it isn't as good). It also acts as a preservative and increases shelf life. This is why it can be so difficult to find bread that doesn't have HFCS. It is also used a lot in Frozen foods for the the same reason. My sister mentioned to me that a lot of Canadian foods still use sugar. She surmises that Canada still has access to Cuban Sugar and that the US does not and that is a factor. Whether or not that is true, I have no idea.
Interesting spin on the Canadian sugar... I wouldn't have thought of that, but I have noticed the same on Canadian foods.
I've done a lot of research on the corn/HFCS being someone with a corn intolerance. The speculation on the obesity epidemic can be directly traced to the increased use of HFCS and other corn derivatives in our food making processes in the US. No other country comes close to the crap that goes in our foods. It is going to take a few years and it's going to take a grass roots effort of concerned people (like many folks on FT that I've noticed), but the federal government is going to have to take a close look at this relationship and what it's doing to people in the US, and why other countries don't have as many obese people as we do.
FWIW, one of things this corn stuff does to me is makes me want to eat more. When I get into a corn product, one side effect is I have a day or so that I can't put food in my mouth fast enough... all day. Nothing seems to satisfy me. One speculation about why food makers use these products is to get that effect, so people want more, thus eat more, thus have to BUY more. So, it all comes back to corporate greed, and in this case, Gordon Gecko is wrong, greed isn't good when it comes to the health of this country.