Contents
Where can you find glucose-fructose syrup?
Glucose-fructose syrup has gained its popularity among food producers for many reasons: it is stable in acidic foods and beverages, easy to store, easy to use – it dissolves easily, requires only a slight dilution before use, is less susceptible to raw material price fluctuations, and otherwise it does not crystallize. In the European Union, glucose-fructose syrup is most often found in bread, cereal products, confectionery, jams and preserves, yoghurts and other dairy products, spices (e.g. mustard and ketchup), and canned food.
In the EU, non-alcoholic beverages are still sweetened mainly with sucrose, while in the United States they are sweetened with fructose-fructose high-fructose syrup. This difference is due to the limitations of the European Union, which will be discussed later in the text.
Glucose-fructose syrup, Europe and the USA
In Europe, glucose-fructose syrup is the officially used name on the ingredient label. Sometimes we can also come across the term ‘isoglucose’, to which we should also be sensitized. The name isoglucose is used because of the production process that uses isomerization enzymes. We have described the production process of glucose-fructose syrup in previous articles. In the European Union (EU), Sugar Regime regulates the acceptable production value of syrup. SGF production is currently limited to around 5% of total EU sugar production. Therefore, the spread of this product in Europe is not as significant as in the USA. In the United States, SGF syrup is commonly made (mostly 55% fructose) and is known as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
What do we really know?
Research is different and it is not easy to separate the most reliable and objective ones. We have been aware of the harmfulness of simple sugars for years. As early as 1970, in the book by Hojna Yudkin, it was read that simple sugars abundant in the diet are very harmful and dangerous. In the 80s and 90s, there were reports that, in particular, fructose derived from sucrose and glucose-fructose syrup was to cause heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The real scandal, however, began in 2004 after a publication criticizing the syrup in the American Journal Clinical. It didn’t take long for the media to spread the news that due to a metabolism other than glucose, fructose could be more easily converted into fat and caused less insulin and leptin increases, which increase satiety.
Of course, these arguments were quickly commented on. There were voices that glucose-fructose syrup contains the same amount of fructose as sucrose, and the culprit in the obesity epidemic is the increased consumption of all simple sugars and total energy. Fructose was also whitened, which, when consumed in small amounts before a meal, was supposed to increase satiety, lead to lower blood sugar levels than glucose, and delay fatigue if consumed during a meal.
Syrup or sugar?
An article appeared in The Journal of the American College of Nutrition (2009 Dec; 28 (6): 619-26) emphasizing that the most commonly used types of glucose-fructose syrup (HFC-42 and HFC-55) are similar in composition to sucrose (table sugar) and consisting of approximately equal amounts of fructose and glucose. The main difference is that these simple sugars are not bound in the SGF solution. It was emphasized that sucrose easily detaches in the small intestine and is likewise absorbed in the form of free fructose and glucose, moreover, there is currently insufficient evidence to prohibit or otherwise limit the use of SGF. And indeed, despite the fact that, for example, in the United States, the consumption of SGF is decreasing, which does not decrease the degree of obesity. On the other hand, as we wrote in the article discussing the harmful effects of the syrup, the research shows a relationship between glucose-fructose syrup and obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, fatty liver, heart disease and gout. The spread of glucose-fructose syrup in the products is probably of great importance.
Attention
While the above-mentioned doubts do not leave a clear answer, it is known that high fructose consumption is associated with high levels of uric acid in the blood, so people suffering from gout should be careful about glucose-fructose syrup.
Photo from: Accidental Hedonist / Foter / CC BY
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