SCI 228 Week 2 iLab 1

Week 2 iLab 1) High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS-42, HFCS-55 & HFCS-90) 2) High Fructose Corn Syrup was originally discovered in 1957. It starts by making syrup out of corn starch which is mostly glucose. The syrup is then isomerized which changes some of the glucose into fructose. This process creates HFCS-42 and contains 42% fructose. When HFCS-42 is passed through an ion exchange it creates HFCS-90 that contains 90% fructose. HFCS-90 isn’t used as a sweetener. By combining HFCS-42 and HFCS-90, HFCS-55 is produced. This process was introduced during the late 1970s and is the most commonly used sweetener in soft drinks on the U.S markets. The main reason that HFCS-55 was discovered was because sugar was becoming more expensive while corn was becoming cheaper. Soft drink manufacturers could save money by switching to the corn based sweetener. Fructose is sweeter than glucose, so since sucrose is 50% fructose and 50% glucose, sucrose would fall in the middle. Therefore, HFCS-55 which contains 55% fructose would be slightly sweeter than sucrose or table sugar. However, you wouldn’t be able to taste the difference from HCFS-55 to sucrose. High Fructose Corn Syrup can be used in just about any product from breads to condiments to candy and drinks. It also delays the expiration date of most foods it’s added to compared against when sugar is used. 3) There is a lot of controversy as to whether HFCS is safe or not, it basically depends on which side you ask. Scientist themselves have different answers to this question. According to the FDA, they haven’t found any difference in safety of foods containing HFCS-42, HFCS-55, sucrose or honey. 4) Once again, because HFCS and sucrose are so similar, there isn’t a significant amount of proof as to whether it causes obesity or not. It all boils down to which side of the fence you ask the question. The key with either substance would be moderation. Excess of both HFCS and sucrose will cause obesity when sufficient exercise to burn off the added calories isn’t achieved.