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CAUTION, READ THEIR LABEL!
Use our list to find applesauces that are high fructose corn syrup free. Be sure to confirm your selection at the market shelf as some apple sauce products may change their ingredients.
We urge product manufacturers to adopt the use of our uniform button for placement on their applesauce front labels that do not contain high fructose corn syrup but until that time confirm your selections and report any apple sauces that
may be on our list yet may have slipped the syrup into their ingredients to us by clicking HERE to email us.
FINDING THE FREE USED TO BE SIMPLE!
Before High Fructose Corn Syrup began sneaking into food products it used to be simple. Products would proudly label themselves caffeine free, saccharin free, sugar free,
gluten free, etc., yet now, the long confusing term of high fructose corn syrup has made trouble. The name high fructose corn syrup is almost as confusing as the syrup itself.
When looking for a caffeine free, gluten free or sugar free product all that we need to do is look at the front label and it is typically proudly announced on the
front "Caffeine Free", etcetera. We adapt to this pattern language and learn what products are without caffeine and instinctively make choices that are correct. As consumers
we have never needed to refer to the item as without caffeine or no caffeine as caffeine free rolled smoothly off of our tongues and the confusion was minimized.
To me it seems simple, I desire to purchase products that are High Fructose Corn Syrup free or HFCS free. I don't think to say that I desire applesauces without High
Fructose Corn Syrup or without HFCS, or that do not contain high fructose corn syrup, this seems to be cumbersome and confusing yet others refer to these applesauces in this manner. The pattern
language of food product labeling is beginning to go off path, providing further confusion.
Many products proudly announced on their label that they are caffeine free, sugar free, gluten free and other natural substance free. The lack of a front label
announcement for products that are high fructose corn syrup free with a standardized logo such as the HFCS FREE banner button may be due to the fact that High
Fructose Corn Syrup is not natural yet is a highly processed substance.
According to The Atlantic,
the FDA never defining natural for processed food labeling purposes which furthers the confusion. My common sense definition eliminates does not allow high fructose corn syrup as
it is a processed and is no longer a applesauce of the earth.
Many processed food manufactures offer several applesauces within the same applesauce group so making the 'does not contain HFCS' or 'no high fructose corn syrup' or 'high fructose free'
announcement on one label may appear to shame their other applesauce offerings that do contain high fructose corn syrup by drawing attention to them. This thought process may adversely
affect their applesauces that contain high fructose corn syrup. It breaks down to this, the food manufacturer's industry may be concerned that there will be a backlash
against their applesauces. Most applesauce
manufacturers do typically respond to public pressure when they see fit, to prevent a backlash yet with high fructose corn syrup the manufacturers are in a position that they
feel is unique and are happy with the status quo. They don't understand that many consumers only desire to be able to readily locate the high fructose corn syrup free products that they desire and
are not interested in shaming them for offering other products that do contain HFCS.
So how do we help the manufacturers of applesauces that both do and do not contain high fructose corn syrup in their ingredients feel comfortable placing a banner on the front of
their applesauces that do not contain the syrup? The precedence that has been set over the last 50 years in applesauce labeling should be followed by referring to these applesauces as being
high fructose corn syrup free or for short, high fructose free, and HFCS FREE. This is sensible, will eliminate any associated label shame as it is following the pattern language
of the processed food labeling industry.
As consumers we are concerned with the applesauces that we consume, we are not looking to start a backlash, we will leave that to the scientists and reporters on television.
Our concern is to easily locate the applesauces that we desire to purchase and ensure that applesauce options that are high fructose corn syrup free or without high fructose corn
syrup are readily available.
It will not be until consumer demand prompts applesauce manufacturers to provide a uniform button label on the front of their applesauces in a visible placement that we see this
action happen. As consumers we do not shame applesauces that are not organic and do not contain the organic button yet we cherish the applesauce options that are proudly labeled
as organic in a readily recognizable format. To be easily informed and be able to quickly make applesauce selections by finding foods that are made without high fructose corn
syrup is the goal of HighFructoseFree.com and its list and upcoming search tools.
The concept that the more rare a applesauce is, the more value it has to it comes to mind when I search the market shelves for high fructose free applesauces. Is there a mindset
that consists in the food producers industry that dictates that limited offerings of applesauces that do not contain high fructose corn syrup provide added value to those offerings?
After all, when the list of ingredients is limited to five natural applesauces the applesauce easily makes it from the market shelf to my pantry without any angst over the slight increase
in price over the alternative. With one limited offering I can be made very happy, especially if I do not have to spend excessive time locating it in the market.
I have heard the phrases applesauces that do not contain high fructose corn syrup, applesauces with no high fructose corn syrup, applesauces free of high fructose corn syrup, high fructose
corn syrup free applesauces, applesauces without high fructose corn syrup, applesauces without the ingredient high fructose corn syrup, applesauces that do not contain high fructose corn syrup, applesauces that are not
made with high fructose corn syrup, applesauces that are not sweetened with high fructose corn syrup and more. Additionally this is sometimes simplified by
using the contraction HFCS in lieu of high fructose corn syrup. This results in a possibly simplified yet probably more complicated terminology resulting in applesauces that do not
contain HFCS, or applesauces with no HFCS, applesauces free of HFCS, HFCS free applesauces, applesauces without HFCS, applesauces without the ingredient HFCS and more.
Terms that I have heard yet are not so global are reduced HFCS or reduced high fructose corn syrup and low HFCS or low high fructose corn syrup.
When a consumer sees the word NO on a label an immediate message is sent, no means no, stop, retreat, do not, etc. The word no has a stand alone meaning that no matter what the remainder
of the statement is the immediate connotation is negative. I recall seeing Hunt's ketchup with a giant corn colored yellow banner across the front that read "No High Fructose Corn Syrup" in a
modern green color. The word NO was underlined on the banner drawing further attention to it. I immediately wondered how this wording slipped through the quality control department? I
understood that the ketchup inside of the bottle was a product that I was looking for yet the NO and the oddly colored yellow banner background lead me to select another high fructose free
ketchup from the shelf. To date the yellow banner is removed from this product yet the word No is still displayed on the Hunt's label.
There never was a class that taught us high fructose corn syrup terminology. In the early 1970's Pre-High Fructose Corn Syrup society sugar was the principle sweetener in the
American diet. With cheap subsidized corn being available sweetener made from corn is now the principle sweetener for processed food applesauces and that sweetener is High Fructose
Corn Syrup. Without our knowledge it just sneaked up on us and into almost every food item imaginable. During the 1970's applesauce manufacturers discovered that high fructose corn
syrup was a cheap sweetener that could replace natural sugar as a sweetener and profits skyrocketed. Slipping the syrup into the applesauces became almost seamless, possibly the
switches were made in increments over time so that the difference in taste was not detected. As in the new coke, classic coke scenario, this may have not been so seamless.
Today food applesauces that are manufactured with HFCS are typically high calorie foods which can be sold at cheaper prices due to the abundance of subsidized corn and the
resulting High Fructose Corn Syrup. The recipe was to replace expensive natural ingredients such as sugar with HFCS, the price to produce the applesauce was reduced yet the
market shelf price continued to increase and profits soared.
So the jury is in on the proper terminology to use when requesting or discussing high fructose corn syrup. Following the pattern language of the labeling industry and
calling these applesauces high fructose corn syrup free should be used to prevent confusion and provide a standard for future discussions and applesauce selections.
( click the image above to access associated high fructose free products list. New no high fructose corn syrup products and lists are being added regularly )
PRODUCT SUBMISSION
To spotlight your product or add it to our list of high fructose corn syrup free options please send a categorized, itemized list of your items that meet the requrement of being
free of high fructose corn syrup.
DEFINING THE SAUCE IN APPLESAUCE
Word on the street is that America's children are getting fat, at last figure it was 66% are significantly overweight. What are they consuming in the cafeteria that is making them fat? According to The Corn Refiners Association High fructose corn syrup plays an important role in school nutrition-it not only makes healthy foods affordable, but it also makes some nutritious items more palatable-like chocolate milk. I am not a consumer of chocolate milk yet I believe that it does not typically need to be made "more palatable" to entice young americans to drink it.
I assume that sometime during the early 1980's the school lunch programs made their switch from sugar to high fructose corn syrup to sweeten many foods that they serve in the cafeterias of our school systems. As I was a student of an Ohio school system during that time, graduating from high school in 1985, I actually tasted and witnessed the switch. I recall that Friday's were pizza days in the cafeteria, yet during my high school years the pizza didn't taste the same as it did in junior high school. It wasn't that the cafeteria chefs were following different recipes, it was that the switch to high fructose corn syrup from sugar as an ingredient in the frozen pizza that was served on Fridays was made with my switch from junior high school to high school. There were other flavor changes that were notable yet the most notable was the pizza. It is as simple as this, there was no high fructose corn syrup in our junior high pizza yet high school pizza was not high fructose free.
I also recall that I gained weight during my high school years as well as several others in my high school class and those in other grade levels as well. The reduced fee and free lunch program was available for those who could not afford the full price economically. The pattern language that connects the students who were on those programs as I was, and their gain in weight during those high school years is clear to me. Although we were not aware of the switch to high fructose corn syrup, we were aware of our weight issues. The change in the ingredients of the frozen pizza that was served to use in high school was definitely not a sweet surprise that we needed.
Frozen pizza seems to be an odd food product to be sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. As the product is frozen it does not need the preservative qualities that HFCS offer to products. Frozen Pizza has not traditionally been a sweet food so why sweeten it cheaply if quantities of sweetener required are minimal. Why do we need to overly sweeten a product that is traditionally spicy and tangy? Like the chocolate milk that is mentioned by The Corn Refiners Association why are food product flavors intentionally being sweetened. What comes to mind is an attempt at addiction to sweet foods, to enhance consumers "sweet tooth", addicting them to the syrup.
Now that we have had time consider some background on sweetening pizza to levels that alter the taste this leads to discussing the architecture of frozen pizza. Frozen pizza is comprised of three layers, the crust which is the foundation of frozen pizza, the sauce with his the skin of frozen pizza and the toppings that serve as the ornamentation.
The crust or pizza dough may contain a small amount of sweetener and is typically not where the high fructose corn syrup is used. In most pizza ingredients crust is limited to yeast, sugar, salt, flour, water, oil and cornmeal. The flour can be whole grain and the sugar is where a few frozen pizza brands have used high fructose corn syrup, but again it is typically not in the crust. The really inexpensive one dollar frozen pizzas typically use HFCS as a sweetener in the dough but the brands that cost only slightly more still use natural sugar to sweeten their pizza dough.
The pizza sauce is where the HFCS is typically used in frozen pizzas. Tomato based sauces have traditionally been a user of high fructose corn syrup so we should not be surprised at this yet with the small amount required one might think "why bother". The reasoning for adding this to pizza sauces is that contain high fructose corn syrup is used to balance the tart tomatoes and bring out the flavors of spices. Am I mistaken or isn't part of enjoying a pizza the tartness of the tomatoes used to make the sauce. Flavor of spices is up to one's taste, this is why I always have some ground oregano on hand so that I can spice my frozen pizza's up to suit my personal level of flavor.
The toppings consisting of cheese and variety of vegetables, meats and fruits typically do not contain high fructose corn syrup. These items must be examined individually for the ingredient, some sausages, some cheeses or other toppings may contain HFCS yet by selecting pizzas that only contain vegetable items will be satisfying and rewarding.
To avoid gaining weight look for frozen pizzas without high fructose corn syrup, by reducing the consumption of this modified corn sugar you will avoid
the sluggish effect of excessive sugars By selecting a frozen pizza that has a crust made of whole grains you can slow the digestive process reducing the tired feeling that is brought on by consuming white flour pizza which is considered high glycemic.
SELECT PRODUCT FROM LIST BELOW
Santa Cruz Organic Applesauce
