AZ_IPA

Recipes 

What impact would this have to our beloved dextrose, which we all already call corn sugar?

http://www.foodprocessing.com/industrynews/2010/106.html

And on that note, there is a difference between HFCS and dextrose, right?

devilishprune

Recipes 

High fructose corn syrup that is used in beverages and other food products is usually something like 55% fructose and 45% glucose, I think. Similar composition to sucrose.

Dextrose is just 100% D-glucose.

RogerMcAllen

Recipes 

This will have no effect on the dry product known as corn sugar since you cannot crystallize HFCS. The fact that HFCS doesn't crystallize means that you can use it to make things like chewy granola bars or thick sauces that won't solidify like honey. The name change will only affect the way food products are labeled for PR reasons.



The simplified HFCS process:

1. Corn comes into the plant where it is steeped, crushed, and separated into starch, protein, and oil.
2. Chop up the starch with amylases and you end up dextrose (starch is a polymer made up of many dextrose molecules linked together. Dextrose is aslo known as glucose and corn sugar. Dextrose syrup is also known as corn syrup)
3. React the dextrose syrup with an enzyme that converts dextrose into fructose (Before this enzyme was discovered, corn syrup contained only dextrose. The name high fructose corn syrup came about because any syrup containing fructose had higher levels of fructose than regular corn syrup. Right now the Corn Syrup/HFCS limit is 39% fructose)
4. Fractionate the syrup until the syrup has the right fructose level (42% fructose for baking, 55% fructose for beverages, 99% fructose for fructose syrup or for crystallizing into crystalline fructose)


In response to Devils,
Sucrose is made of a fructose linked to a glucose so it has a 50/50 ratio of fructose/glucose. If you have ever made invert sugar, you are splitting this bond and essentially making HFCS 50. HFCS 55 is 55/45 and HFCS 42 is 42/58. If the logic of "fructose is bad and will make you fat" held true, products made with HFCS 42 should be healthier than those made with sugar since they contain less fructose. Following the same logic you should also avoid fruit (high in fructose) and eat only smarties (pure dextrose) if you want to lose weight.

AZ_IPA

Recipes 

Thanks Roger...

I bet you detassled corn in your younger years? (I did, for Oetting's in Nebraska)

RogerMcAllen

Recipes 

No corn detassling for me. I just happen to be living in the city where ADM and Tate & Lyle are headquartered. Between them they account for something like 70% of the world's HFCS production.

AZ_IPA

Recipes 

without turning this into a debate thread, then the "fears" of HFCS causing health problems compared to "real" sugar are pretty much unsubstantiated?

kxx

Recipes 

An interesting post regarding HFCS and other sweeteners....

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=6501

Mermaid

Recipes 

Meh. I'm one of those freaks that can taste the difference between Coca Cola produced in Mexico vs. US... and the US version gives me a headache.

But.. It's not going to stop me from using corn sugar in my bottling bucket. If it makes the yeast happy, I'm not going to get in the way of that.

__________________
The sands of time were eroded by the river of constant change.

-------------------------
Primary: Empty
Secondary: Empty!
an empty fermenter is a sad fermenter
Bottled: Nut brown ale, Bink blond clone (she's a bitter Belgian!) Belgian Wit, several other tasty beers that have since been consumed!
On deck: TBD

RogerMcAllen

Recipes 

The fears are unsubstantiated, the real sugar thing is a PR campaign by sugar refiners who want to sell more sugar and by food companies who want to sell more product by differentiating from the competition by using advertising statements like, "now HFCS free" or by launching new products like Pepsi Throwback.

Pound for pound HFCS is the same for sugar. The only valid reason HFCS might make you fat is because it is so cheap that food companies can afford to use much more of it than they would sugar. In a blind taste test, people almost universally prefer things that are sweeter (a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down). Since HFCS is cheaper than sugar, for the same price you can formulate a sweeter product. A sweeter product will be more preferred by consumers so you will sell more. Over time the American palate's perception of sweetness has risen, so products in the US have more sugar in them than their foreign counterparts. A classic example is tea. In Asia they drink it strong and bitter, in Britain they take it with a cube of sugar, in the US we have the monstrosity Sweet Tea. To us Sweet Tea is a great drink, to most other people around the world it is mind blowingly sweet.

AZ_IPA

Recipes 

thanks again roger....