Do they HAVE to sneak CORN into EVERYTHING we eat?

[caty]

On my way home tonight, I made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up some milk and thought I would buy a box of cereal since I haven't had any for awhile. I was in a hurry and picked up a box of " Post Honey Bunches of OATS". When I got home and was putting it away, I looked at the ingredients, and the first item was CORN. If it's bunches of OATS, what is CORN doing in it? No wonder a large number of Americans are over weight. CORN has creeped into just about everything we eat.
I have learned my lesson here. No matter how much of a hurry I am in, I will check the ingredients before I buy anything.

[VeggieTart]

1. What really pisses me off is...

...companies that put sugar AND high fructose corn syrup in products. What. The. Fuck. Do you REALLY need two kinds of sweetener in a product right at the beginning of the ingredients list? Being vegan means I'm an inveterate label reader, even when I know full well the product isn't vegan. So I was looking at the boxes of cereal my office-mate keeps. Sugar and HFCS. Good fucking gravy.

Actually, it's HFCS in just about everything that irritates the crap out of me.

[bif]

9. It's in everything

They put High Fructose Corn Syrup in crackers, bread, you name it. It's strictly for profit. ADM is the biggest culprit. We should protest their advertising on NPR.

[Patiod]

26. It's tough to avoid high fructose corn syrup

Many brands of otherwise-healthy seeming 100% whole wheat break list it as the 2nd or 3rd ingredient.

I've given up trying to purchases cold beverages without it at the airport, and just buy water.

This makes shopping twice as difficult have to not only find what you want and check the price but also check for trans fats and HFCS

[RumpusCat]

27. Arnold has a 'health nut' bread that contains HFCS

I couldn't believe it! :eyes: And yet their "Double Fiber" brand does not. I don't strictly avoid HFCS--I mean, sometimes I eat at Taco Bell or even Olive Garden--but I try to keep it out of my everyday staple foods like freakin' BREAD.

[Patiod]

28. Same here - not militant, but avoid it in everyday food/beverage

I'll still use Heinz ketchup (which is loaded with it), but don't want it in my bread or beverages.

[Lautremont]

2. They don't. It just seems that way later on.

[Little Wing]

3. Isn't that what makes the flakes?

And that's the best cereal ever, btw

[caty]

5. "Oats" is the fourth item

in the ingredient list. Shouldn't it be called "Honey Bunches of Corn"?:shrug: Just sayin'.....

[sueh]

8. How about "Honey Bunches of Corn Syrup" n/t

[TK421]

4. Is corn a contributor to the obesity of Americans? I didn't know that

I'm sure I eat plenty of products containing corn, but I wasn't aware that it contributed to fat Amurka! I have heard that corn has almost no NUTRITIONAL value whatsoever......your source?

[caty]

6. It wouldn't be so bad to eat corn

in moderation. But, when it is added to foods that we don't realize contains corn, then we are eating alot more of it than is healthy for us.


"It is very starchy. It can be extremely fattening if you eat too much. Most of the nations "sugar" is actually corn syrup - high fructose corn syrup. Look at all of the regular soda ingredients... Go easy on the corn.

Other Answers:
pigs eat corn. are they fat?


YEP. What do they feed cattle going to market? Corn to fatten them up. Also, my doctor told me not to eat corn, pasta, potatoes, carrots, bread, and rice because of cholestrol.

Corn is a "High Glycemic Load Carbohydrate" which rapidly raise your blood sugar, trigger insulin and raise your blood fats (triglycerides)."

http://www.dmt123.com/diet-fitness/902-1-dmt123-1.html

[Left Is Write]

21. I'm confused about this...

"Also, my doctor told me not to eat corn, pasta, potatoes, carrots, bread, and rice because of cholestrol."

Cholesterol is only found in animal products. What was the reasoning behind his recommendation?

[Richardo]

24. My thought exactly.

Perhaps he/she meant carbohydrates. :shrug:

[Tyrone Slothrop]

25. Not true

Cholesterol is found in plants also.

"Many sources (including textbooks) incorrectly assert that there is no cholesterol in plants. This misperception is made worse in the United States, where Food and Drug Administration rules allow for cholesterol quantities less than 2 mg/serving to be ignored in labelling. While plant sources contain much less cholesterol (Behrman and Gopalan suggest 50mg/kg of total lipids, as opposed to 5g/kg in animals), they still contain the substance."

from the wikipedia entry on cholesterol

[Left Is Write]

30. Okay...

but I've still never heard of potatoes, pasta, rice, carrots, bread, etc being barred for their connection to cholesterol.

[caty]

33. Probably because of triglycerides.

A high triglyceride count is caused from the fat that may come from eating too many carbs.

[pitohui]

36. it's a mis-print, they mean carbohydrate, not cholesterol

if you have diabetes or metabolic syndrome, or have to cook for someone who does, you recognize that list of offenders immediately -- they must be avoided as part of a low carbohydrate diet

sigh

in reality, you can usually have SOME carbs on the diet, in my husband's case, the equivalent of 1/2 piece of bread and 1/4 cup of dry rice per day but in reality it is too impractical to purchase, measure, and cook with such small amounts -- easier to remove them from the diet altogether

[Why Syzygy]

13. It's probably

an alternate fuel source? But who would know.

[mduffy31]

17. It is not the corn itself

It is High Fructose Corn Syrup that is contributing to people getting fat.

[DainBramaged]

7. Whaaaaaaaaaa

[donheld]

10. This thread is in a word

Corny :hide::evilgrin:

[MoseyWalker]

11. corn and corn syrup

it is everywhere.

Many years ago I read, on a page with ink, that corn and its byproducts were going to be used everywhere because of the countries ability to grow almost obscene amounts of it.

Yes, it is everywhere, and the country is fat.

check out the calories of corn compared to other foodstuffs. Then, check every can of everything you buy, because it is likely to contain corn syrup as the second or third ingredient.

Disgusting is what it is.

I want to make spagetti, and can only do so now with fresh tomatoes and spices. Try and find a can of anything with tomatoes in it that doesn't have corn syrup.

[Left Is Write]

22. Plain diced or stewed tomatoes do NOT contain corn syrup.

The flavored ones often do (those with added seasonings and ingredients), but just plain canned tomatoes do not.

[pitohui]

37. well they're getting fatter in japan and britain too

i'm not aware of corn being grown in those countries but the young people are noticeably bigger

we can't both call out a demand that we buy and eat local and then crap on one of the most widespread local crops to the americas, which is indeed corn

people who can't eat cereal can't eat any cereal (assuming allergy is not the issue), it isn't just corn but too much rice, too much wheat, too much of whatever the local carbohydrate is

[Why Syzygy]

12. I hear your pain

corn is on my sheet list too. I moved from north texas and have eaten tex mex all my life. Then I get down here and there is corn in every falsified tex mex dish? No. That's not the way it's done.

Doesn't this have something to do with that chemically engineerinered corn they couldn't get a starving nation to take? So now it is being pushed off in everything. Monsanta? Having fun yet?

[Floogeldy]

14. You think that's bad?

I bought some tortillas and there WAS NO CORN in them.

}(

[MoseyWalker]

15. I am floured by your response

completely floured!

[Nicole]

16. I was surprised at that as well

I didn't expect corn in my Bunches of Oats either.

I switched to Post Honey Nut Shredded Wheat. No corn or corn syrup.

[cobalt1999]

18. Have you read "The Omnivores Dilemma"?

Yikes! I never realized how in the last 30 years our food supply has become so corn/oil based. Great book and I highly recommend it.

[XemaSab]

23. That book was AWESOME

:bounce:












































:bounce:

[cobalt1999]

29. It's the first book that actually changed my eating & buying habits.

and I'm not easily swayed or easily convinced to change my lifestyle. I gave the book to my wife to read and since then no HFCS in the house, we limit processed foods, and where possible buy from local farms. We spend more now and meals can take longer to prepare, but it's worth it.

[Tyler Durden]

19. ADM: largest grower of corn on the planet.

Why do you think we are actually getting MSM press for Ethanol? (Of course the very fact that the MSM even mentions ethanol should clue you.)

ADM WANTS Ethanol and as it will take close to the amount of oil gallon for gallon to make ethanol as it does to make gasoline (energy intensive process, chemical oil based uber-fertilizers, etc.) the big oil companies haven't been doing a lot of counter-ads which of course they WOULD do if their lock on energy was threatened.

Either the new congress will WAKE UP and start getting away from fossil fuels, or we'll have to take a boat to see a play on Broadway.

[underpants]

20. DING! I asked about this back in July

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1579635

It seemed to me at the time that everyone yes even the enviros agreed that ethanol was not a good idea nor would it really ever be. Then ...complete silence no mention of it for about three weeks and then BANG! everyone loved it. Best idea ever. No enviros (especially not the ones who were getting air time) were heard from again.

Now that '08 is coming up and Iowa has to be pandered to I assume that we will be deluged by it. Hey why not? What could possibly be the result of propping up demand for corn????

[Dukkha]

31. Do we have to sneak corn OUT OF everything we eat?

you know what I mean!

you always look for the tracers after you drop a few friends off at the pool.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

32. Whats wrong with corn?

I like corn. . .

[caty]

35. Corn is great

if you eat it in moderation and, even better, if you KNOW you are eating it. Corn and HFCS is in just about every processed food. Foods you would not think would have it. It can cause you to gain weight and it can raise you triglyceride levels.

[pitohui]

34. i don't get your issue with corn

corn is only partly digestible, don't ask me how i know this, i guess you'll just have to take it on faith :evilgrin: but seriously oats and corns are both cereal carbohydrates and both are just as bad for somebody who has issues w. overweight and/or their glycemic index

if you are overweight, you should not be eating any cereal at all

why single out corn?

[Left Is Write]

38. On the contrary -

Grains like whole oats and whole wheat are great sources of nutrition and dietary fiber. Fiber which is digested slowly and keeps a person full and satisfied longer.

There is a big difference between oats and corn, but the source should be minimally processed oats rather than something like Honey Bunches Of Oats, which likely processes the fiber right out of the oats.