Text 6760, 72 rader
Skriven 2008-05-09 16:45:44 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
   Kommentar till text 6683 av Stephen Haffly (1:396/45.27)
Ärende: Coke, no HFCS
=====================
Hi Steve!

>> > Not sure why it is there since Passover has come and gone.

>> But it is still not just "sugar".  It's sucrose, which I think is HFCS
>> in disguise - I could be wrong :) Maybe it's a little less HFCS ..

> It is "sugar" derived from cane or beet.  The processes used in making
> HFCS violate kosher rules about fermentation.  That is why there is no
> HFCS in "Kosher for Passover" Coke.

[...]


Sure, after some coffee and some more reading, silly me sees that sucrose is
just liquid sugar... That label was worrisome to me though, because it makes
you wonder why they didn't just say "sugar" in the ingredient list as some
other foods do. Just like HFCS is also liquid sugar, but it's the fermentation
process as you note that makes it non-kosher for passover .. and it created by
a different process than regular sugar, so they must say it's HFCS I guess..

I found this description of how hfcs is made.. interesting reading :)

" High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is produced by processing corn starch to
yield glucose, and then processing the glucose to produce a high percentage of
fructose. It all sounds rather simple--white cornstarch is turned into crystal
clear syrup. However, the process is actually very complicated. Three different
enzymes are needed to break down cornstarch, which is composed of chains of
glucose molecules of almost infinite length, into the simple sugars glucose and
fructose.

First, cornstarch is treated with alpha-amylase to produce shorter chains of
sugars called polysaccharides. Alpha-amylase is industrially produced by a
bacterium, usually Bacillus sp. It is purified and then shipped to HFCS
manufacturers.

Next, an enzyme called glucoamylase breaks the sugar chains down even further
to yield the simple sugar glucose. Unlike alpha-amylase, glucoamylase is
produced by Aspergillus, a fungus, in a fermentation vat where one would likely
see little balls of Aspergillus floating on the top.

The third enzyme, glucose-isomerase, is very expensive. It converts glucose to
a mixture of about 42 percent fructose and 50-52 percent glucose with some
other sugars mixed in. While alpha-amylase and glucoamylase are added directly
to the slurry, pricey glucose-isomerase is packed into columns and the sugar
mixture is then passed over it. Inexpensive alpha-amylase and glucoamylase are
used only once, glucose-isomerase is reused until it loses most of its
activity.

There are two more steps involved. First is a liquid chromatography step that
takes the mixture to 90 percent fructose. Finally, this is back-blended with
the original mixture to yield a final concentration of about 55 percent
fructose--what the industry calls high fructose corn syrup.

HFCS has the exact same sweetness and taste as an equal amount of sucrose from
cane or beet sugar but it is obviously much more complicated to make, involving
vats of murky fermenting liquid, fungus and chemical tweaking, all of which
take place in one of 16 chemical plants located in the Corn Belt. Yet in spite
of all the special enzymes required, HFCS is actually cheaper than sugar. It is
also very easy to transport--it's just piped into tanker trucks. This
translates into lower costs and higher profits for food producers."
http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/cornsyrup.html

The person who wrote the above also wrote a book named "Ode to Sucanat".
Sucanat is the alternative sweetener I had mentioned earlier to Ruth, that my
daughter uses with her family's food :)

Take care,
Janis

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