Because you asked...Invert Sugar
>> Thursday, May 28, 2009
A reader recently sent me an e-mail asking me if I knew anything about a mysterious ingredient called "liquid invert sugar" that was on the ingredient list of some granola bars he bought at Target. Great question! Funny, the ingredient has never registered with me, but I noticed on the ingredient list of another product the next day at the grocery store.
So...what is liquid invert sugar? Invert sugar is sucrose (a disaccharide of glucose and fructose) that has been broken into free glucose and free fructose. (Sound familiar? That's what HFCS is too - free glucose and free fructose - only the beginning ingredients and processing are completely different.) Invert sugar is sweeter than table sugar (sucrose) because fructose is sweeter than both sucrose and glucose.
Invert sugar is found naturally in honey and maple syrup. In fact, invert sugar is often referred to as "artificial honey," though it doesn't have any of the wonderful little goodies that honey (or maple syrup, for that matter) contain.
Invert sugar is sold as a liquid as either total invert sugar (50% fructose, 50% glucose) or as a mixture of half sucrose and half invert sugar (50% sucrose, 25% fructose, and 25% glucose).
Why use it? Invert sugar has a lot of desirable properties in baked goods and other processed foods. The sugar crystals in invert sugar are smaller than sucrose, which results in a smoother texture of the final product. The smaller crystals also dissolve faster than sucrose crystals. Invert sugar retains moisture better and improves shelf life. As little as 10-15% of invert sugar mixed with sucrose markedly reduces crystallization in the final product, resulting in longer shelf life as well. All the reasons that manufacturers like HFCS apply to invert sugar.
How is it made? Invert sugar is manufactured a couple of different ways - acid hydrolysis and enzymatic inversion. In acid hydrolysis, sucrose is subjected to acid and heat to break it into glucose and fructose. Many different acids can be used, including citric acid. The process is not perfect, however. Conversion of sucrose to glucose and fructose is low (around 40-70% from what I've read), and energy consumption and cost of production are high. Impurities from polymerization products are an issue with acid hydrolysis of sucrose.
Enzymatic inversion of sucrose is achieved using a yeast derived enzyme known as Invertase. Conversion of nearly 100% can be achieved through enzymatic inversion. Low temperatures can be used with enzymatic inversion eliminating polymerization products (and improving final flavor), and filtering of the Invertase is easy. Enzymatic inversion is not cheap, however, so both methods of inversion appear to be in use.
The home cook can also make invert sugar and in fact does so when making jellies or jams. Mixing sugar with citric acid, cream of tartar, or fresh lemon juice and boiling will result in some sugar inversion - enough to keep the remaining sucrose from recrystallizing.
Should I use Invert Sugar? Again, this is a personal decision. We avoid HFCS (of course) and also fructose as ingredients preferring to limit our free fructose consumption to natural products (like fruits, honey, and maple syrup) that have more to offer. Because of that, we'll probably also add invert sugar as a specific ingredient to our list of things to avoid, but I'm not going to be concerned about the invert sugar that is in jellies and other baked goods where it might form during the baking process.
Hmmm... Learning about invert sugar production does make me wonder how much sucrose if converted to fructose and glucose in our stomachs. I've heard the argument that HFCS is processed the same as sucrose in our bodies because sucrose breaks down into fructose and glucose in the highly acidic environment of our stomachs. I would love to know what the conversion of sucrose to free glucose and free fructose is in our body - something I haven't come across yet. Just one of those things I wonder about.
Keep your questions coming!
90 comments:
I don't know much about the chemistry of these things. But i don't believe HFCS is utilized by the body in the same way as sucrose. Triglycerides are raised & fat stored with HFCS much more than sucrose. It is my belief that it interferes with the ability to feel full as well.
Kathryn - It's controversial. We've given up HFCS in part because of the possibility of HFCS being processed the way you mention. (We have more reasons for not consuming it, but the underlying health aspect of consuming HFCS was our original driving force.) Too much fructose in any form has been shown to have the health effects that you mention.
BUT, there is a current thought in the research world that sucrose and HFCS might be processed the same way - because sucrose separates into fructose and glucose when in contact with stomach acid making sucrose and HFCS pretty much the same once in your stomach. Personally, I think that it will be a long time before we fully understand the health ramifications of HFCS and am happy to have it out of our house!
Thanks for that thoughtful post Cathy. I feel like I need to think of a sugar related question, just because I love your answers.
I have never seen invert sugar on a label, but I will probably notice now.
Very interesting. Mostly a rhetorical question, but I'm curious whether invert sugar will start getting used more and more as a way to get the more well-known HFCS off the ingredients list.
Laura - I doubt it. It's substantially more expensive than HFCS, and more expensive than sucrose. I'd guess that the companies that move away from HFCS simply switch to sucrose. It does seem to have its niche, though, so maybe I'll be proven wrong!
Thanks for the post. I had a big discussion about invert sugar with a friend a while back. I had the chemical make up totally wrong (I was thinking it was an enantiomer because of the "invert" name). I think we concluded it was ok. It sounds like you are on the fence about it, so I'm not worried about it at the moment.
Very informative post. I haven't come across invert sugar. I'll have to keep my eye out. I'm interested in the controversy regarding how it is utilized as well.
Great blog post! I appreciate the information you share as it helps me make informed decisions when feeding my family.
I have another question regarding fat. Is butter bad for you? I was under the impression that butter (within moderation) is fine because it is natural (as opposed to margarine). Some information that I read recently on a "healthy living" blog made me feel like I should be avoiding butter at all costs. I've also read that canola oil is better than other oils. Why is that?
I'm confused when it comes to fats. Which fats should I be feeding my family and why?
Jon - Love that you were discussing invert sugar! Just as an FYI, they call it invert sugar because when measuring sugar concentration using polarimeter, plane-polarized light is rotated to the right through a sucrose solution and to the left (opposite) in an invert sugar solution. So light is "inverted" through the invert sugar solution.
Courtenay - Are you reading my mind? Great questions about fat! I'm actually working on a post on saturated fat for hopefully later this week. It's not as clear cut as it seems, and you are definitely asking the right kinds of questions! I hope to have another post on canola oil soon too. So, hate to leave you hanging, but check back soon!
Great informative post, Cathy. Thanks
The disaccharide sucrose (table sugar) is indigestible by humans. It must be broken down into its glucose (a.k.a. dextrose) and fructose (a.k.a. levulose) components. Thankfully, mother nature has supplied us all with the enzyme invertase in our saliva and gastic juice, to do just that!
HFCS is made in 2 common forms: HFCS 42, which is 42% fructose, 52% dextrose, 3% maltose, 3% higher saccharides. HFCS 55, used in soft drinks, contain 55% fructose, 41% dextrose, 2% maltose and 2% higher saccharides.
The "carbohydrate profile" of HFCS is remarkably similar to that of natural honey.
oh..but i don't know the process of invert sugar..now,i'm doing seminar about it.can U help me? i am from VietNam. vui khi gặp bạn
great blog, Cathy. You seem to be saying the HFCS is no different from invert sugar? Could you clarify?
Courtenay - Pls avoid Canola like the plague as this is an artificially created oil. Go read this article:
The Real Story on Canola Oil
(aka Can-ugly Oil) by Fred Pescatore. Just google title of article and author's name.
The best oils to use are rice bran oil (very high smoking point), Canadian Nutiva hempseed oil (excellent stuff), virgin coconut oil, grapeseed oil and virgin olive oil.
Polyunsaturates go rancid quickly but masked by deodorisation during processing. Most vege cooking oils mostly polyunsaturates) are high in Omega-6, which is the cause of inflammation in the body and inflammation is the single biggest contributor of contemporary diseases. Avoid peanut oil, soya oil, sunflower seed oil, cottonseed oil, margarine, partially-hydrogenated oils or shortenings (trans fats)
Take precautions when buying virgin olive oils as there have been cases of fraud from adulteration of the oils with cheap, low quality stuff. Coconut oils have been unjustly demonized by the big oil corps to divert the market. Saturated oils are good for you so stick to butter (or, better still, ghee), plus good animal fats. No margarine.
Google for the oil expert Dr Mary Enig "The oiling of America" and other articles. Bruce Fife's book and articles on virgin coconut oil. Best website for spreading food facts and fallacies - Weston Price foundation.
Good sugar substitutes: Stevia, Palm sugar (low glycemic index of only 35), Lohan sweetener, Malt syrup (rice and barley). You can buy some of the sweeteners at iherb.com or swansonvitamins.com
Cheers, Joe
Invert sugar and HFCS are NOT the same thing.
Invert sugar is sucrose split into component glucose and fructose in a hydration reaction.
Corn syrup is made by natural enzymatic reaction of amylase on starch, yielding 100% glucose. High-fructose corn syrup makes the extra step of introducing an enzyme that doesn't normally occur in nature to convert glucose to fructose. They have to genetically modify microorganisms to get this to happen in any significant quantity.
You have to understand fructose isn't a molecule; it's a family of molecules. There are different handedness, linear or cyclic, fructofuranoses and pyranoses. The fructose form this enzyme produces is different than what you can get from fruit or honey, and probably different from invert sugar.
Fructose is not a family of molecules.
"Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple monosaccharide found in many foods."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose
Fat is confusing. There's some contradictionary research regarding saturated fats. Check out Wikipedia. We need more omega 3's though.
Anonymous - Your comment really has no relationship to the post.
I had never listened about Invert sugar, but it has happened to me that I sometimes want to cook something so I look the recipe and I found out that I don't know all the ingredients it contains! Thanks for the information
Thanks for the information. I was looking at the ingredient list on some Greek honey flavored yogurt that we got, and one of the ingredients listed was honey powder (cane sugar, invert sugar and honey). This was the first time we had seen invert sugar in anything.
As a treat, I caved and bought Wheat Thins for the kids "junk food" craving because it didn't have HFCS...in carefully studying the ingredients when I got home (curious about what they substituted instead of the ubiquitous HFCS), I discovered invert sugar. No one is writing much about it. My gut says it can't be good, since that box of Wheat Thins did not agree with any of us and the kids say they'll never want them again. All in all, a good thing, but again it does make me wonder just what invert sugar really does.
All I know about this is that after eating 2 chewy granola bars with this ingredients, I have a massive headache the likes of which I normally get when I accidently eat something with Sucralose/Aspertame or such in it.
The body converts all sucrose in the diet to glucose and fructose. So from a nutritional viewpoint in is all the same sucrose and invert sucrose (i.e. glucose and fructose). This is all very simple.
The problem is sugar (sucrose or HFCS) period! - NOT whether it is completely broken before consumption (HFCS) or after consumption in the body (table sugar). All sucrose (table sugar) becomes inverted period!
Now HFCS can be similar or different from table sugar in this regard. HFCS-50 is 50%glucose and 50% fructose and thus no different to the body than table sugar. HFCS-42 used in baking goods is 42%fructose and 58% glucose (less fructose than table sugar. HFCS-55often used in soft drinks, is 55% fructose and 45% glucose - so it is higher in fructose than table sugar - However, because it is sweeter than table sugar you don't need as much HFCS-55 than table sugar for the same sweetness and thus you actually consume less fructose then you would get if table sugar was used to acheive the same level of sweetness.
Everyone is missing the point! The problem is that AMericans consume too much sugar!!!! Period. Be less concerned with whether it is fructose or glucose. The exception to this, of course, is for diabetics. Diabetics need to avoid glucose and so fructose is healthier for diabetics since it doesn't raise blood sugar.
Again, the problem is too much sugar! not whether it comes from corn (HFCS) or sugar-cane (table sugar). By the way, apples and pears are 2/3 fructose and 1/3 glucose (higher in fructose than most HFCS-55.
I found this post after googling invert sugar. I was looking for information after finding invert sugar as an ingredient in containers of Goya brand Nectars (juice). After reading the post and comments, I am still not sure if it is good for you, bad for you, or neither!
My husband and I also saw the inverted sugar in Goya peach juice/nectar. We are trying to decide between that and Kern's peach juice, which contains HFCS. Kern's has less sugar per serving, Goya more juice. It's a toss-up.
The problem is not glucose, it is fructose.. your body has a capacity to absorb as much glucose as you can throw at it, and it will all be stored in the liver, and what is not needed is excreted.
Fructose on the other hand, is NOT processed by the body the same way... in fact, the body processes fructose by the same biological pathways as alcohol... same enzymes are used and storage in the liver is the same, as little oily droplets that your liver cannot properly process... if you wanna know more about this , view this youtube series by Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
It is an hour long video, but it very illuminating and informative
Great info! Thanks. I received two boxes of chocolates for my birthday (last month) and looked at the list of ingredients. Invert sugar was listed second. So,of course, I wanted to know what that was. Upon further searching,it seems that bakers prefer this form of sugar in their products. This is the first time I actually saw this listed in a product's ingredients.
There is nothing wrong with HFCS. Period. It is in fact the most logical solution to several factors, and considerations: among them availability and price, and allows us to have more sweetness with less calories. What is wrong with that?! I am not in farming, I am not in agribusiness, I am a chemist and a nutritionist and having read dozens of textbooks about nutrition and human metabolism I fail to see even a minimal problem with HFCS.
Mike,
There have been studies done in a number of universities in the US that prove HFCS is one of the leading feeders of cancer cells.
Cancer cells like any kind of sugar, but High Fructose Corn Syrup makes them 'jump for joy'! I for one just wonder if this invert sugar on the labeling isn't another way to slip HFCS into us without us knowing it. It was done with the Aspartame, by changing its name to Nutri-Sweet, them again to Sucralose. Some studies might have shown that the processes were different, but the end result was the same.
Based on what I have read, invert sugar is about 25% sweeter than regular white sugar, which makes me feel it is not such a bad alternative. Even though I agree, all sugars including HFCS are bad because of obvious reasons, but consuming these in moderation is probably fine. Additionally, God knows what all chemicals and additives these sugar syrup suppliers add the during manufacturing of their products.
Thanks for your informative post as always.
The Girl Scouts are now using invert sugar in their cookies instead of HFCS. Interesting.
When sucrose enters the body it is broken down into Glucose and Fructose through Glycolysis. This does create energy, but it uses some energy to get that energy. When fructose does not go through the Glycolysis process and gets stored. This uses less calories and is more 'fattening' than sucrose
Thanks for your participating upon healthy diet - Alright are commercial products interest upon popularity but the way to understand such properties of chemistry content may be that of how volume per mass is defined.
That indeed means naturally to absorb 1 gram of sugar from fruit or from pastry is still to absorb 1 gram of sugar the kind of calories. Although, easy going are diggest sugar may diffuse rapidly upon blood absorbtion but, to prefer 1 kg of sugar from starch is to introduce 1 kg of calories stocking potential into one's organism so the king is to assimilate a 1 kg of fruit sugar subject to calories retention. However, as the commercial products are quit expensive, to avoid fruits and pastry is to enjoy any diet program built from high rate of fiber content that is hearth healthier while oneself is really suffering under diet disease.
Thanks for your advances.
There is little difference between HFCS and table sugar. Those who boycott HFCS and yet eat table sugar don't understand how the body processes fructose & glucose. Glucose is processed by the entire body. Fructose is ONLY processed by the liver. Therefore, when we consume HFCS, table sugar or ANY Sucrose (including those found naturally in our foods), that same fructose will go to the liver and the glucose will go its way and our liver will work double time processing the fructose. It doesn't matter if it's HFCS or the sucrose found in dates, for example. What we need to do is limit all sugars. Moderation is key...but we get so caught up in demonizing HFCS, we do so ignorantly.
The real questions remaining about the difference between sucrose and HFCS are:
1. Does the taste, consumption of the sucrase enzyme, or some other trigger warn the body in such a way that facilitates a more orderly processing of the glucose and fructose that will be released from it?
2. Is sucrose separated into its component parts so gradually that the liver is less likely to be overloaded with a bust of simple sugars?
While HFCS and "invert sugar" do have some desirable effects of the texture of some products, they noticeably affect the taste of these products, giving them a dull sticky-sweetness and sometimes a disgusting aftertaste. I first remember noticing this with a plastic tub of cheap ice-cream my mother brought home in 1976. Since then that taste has affected one food after another; I guess I'm lucky to be repulsed by something that is pretty harmful anyway.
Thanks for the post
Can adding invert sugar for Delay Kick Sugar Honey
thanks
Thanks for the post
Can adding invert sugar for Delay Kick Sugar Honey
thanks
After World War II as the German doctors set up shop in the USA most were appalled to find out that in the USA ice cream was being made with manmade invert sugar and some sodas were made with manmade phosphoric acid. They knew (common knowledge in Germany at the time) if you fed a child under the age of 10 years old or a pregnant mother the combination of manmade invert sugar and manmade phosphoric acid, it could induce leukemia in the child or the new born. The irony is that in the USA, most children celebrations serve ice cream and soda in fairly large quantities and at home for children treats and rewards.
Germany did not use manmade invert sugar in their ice cream and would never think of adding phosphoric acid to a drink. However today there are many processed products that are fed to pregnant mothers, infants and children that cause childhood leukemia. Just ask a scientist in the USA today, they have been quite aware of the facts for many years.
So next time you purchase ice cream and soda, make sure they do not include manmade invert sugar and phosphoric acid.
Fantastic!
Ok so fructose and glucose are both sent through the cycle called glycolysis (breakdown of glucose) the fructose enters a stage or two later but the products from this breakdown power the Krebs cycle which produces atp (adenosine triphosphate)...which is what all living cells run on. Protein and fats eventually run through this cycle also but have additional preprocessing in the body. Basically all macro nutrients (carbs, fats, proteins) are made of the same atoms arranged slightly different. Anyway, these additional processing steps require atp and that's why avoiding carbohydrates increases metabolism.
Awesome post! I wanted to learn about invert sugar so that I could develop a recipe which would duplicate Van's Natural Foods Cranberry Almond Whole Grain Bars. They contain brown rice syrup and invert sugar. I will just use honey to substitute for the invert sugar. Luckily, I have brown rice syrup on hand.
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I am a diabetic and really had to find out some facts about sugars. All fructose is not the same. How it is bound or not bound to another molecule is very important. As an example that everybody should have learned in high school, sodium is a deadly poison and so is chlorine. However, if they are bound together as sodium chloride we have a compound that all our bodies actually need (i.e. common table salt). In table sugar (sucrose) there is one molecular bond (with glucose) that must be broken by our bodies before it can be used. In fruits there is bonding going on as well, and in some foods, fructose has many bonds. Free fructose goes so rapidly into our system that it triggers insulin almost instantly and that is the problem with both high fructose corn syrup and invert sugar. Even honey, which more or less has free fructose, takes longer to trigger insulin than either of these man made sugars. Triggering insulin does a lot of things to our bodies and there is not space here to go too much into this except that having even a small amount of these man made sugars introduced into our food makes our bodies think we have to save energy (i.e. save more of what we eat as fat) and makes us want to eat or drink more. Instead of drinking one soda to quench thirst, we now drink two or three. Insulin is triggered and we want more. The more molecular bonds fructose has in what we eat, the better it is for us. Sucrose has only one binding link so if we eat too much of it (and it is everywhere here in the U.S.), it is not so good for us, but where there is no bond, well, bad is the best word for that. The high fructose corn syrup industry and the companies that want the benefits of high fructose corn syrup (more sales, longer shelf life, etc.), want us to believe that because there are the same amounts of fructose and glucose as in table sugar, they are the same. They are not.
I think, Invert Sugar is made with the different type of Chemicals like acids, Sugar Processing Chemicals and it also included glucose & fructose.
Thanks to give knowlege though this blog.
I came to know that sucrose made up of glucose and fructose but i want to know what will be result of sugar processing chemicals on sucrose.
Hi, I found this post have googling Invert Sugar after reading the ingredients on my Be Natural snack bar today. With it appears to be a very healthy looking snack, on review it has a heap of sodiam, emulsifiers, sweetners, invert sugar, glucose, humectant, a bunch of vitamins and minerals I"ve never heard of and it just got me wondering.
This article has been really informative.
I am wondering if you can give me some advise on another snack bar I happen to have at my desk - which contains golden syrup and honey - would this have the same effect as invert sugar on the system?
THanks!
Inverted sugar can be made with simple items such as cream of tartar, lemon juice. In the making of jams and jellies the pectin in the fruit creates inverted sugar. Also commonly asorbic acid, citric acid can be used. Other items can be phosphoric acid, lactic acid, diammonium phosphate yeast nutrient, ammonium carbonate (sold as leavening in middle eastern markets).
It is frequently used in belgian beer and distilling of gin, scotch and other alcohols.
It is used frequently by cooks and chefs when making caramelized itms usuall6 lemon juice or as previously mentioned cream of tartar.
There are 3nzymes that are used also I would prefer the mor3 comm9n items.
So bqsically if you had moms or grandma's jelly you have eaten inverted sugar basically you use less sugar to sweeten an item.
I also think not sure but is lower on the glycemic scale.
I truly believe one of our issues is scale and quantity that has an effect on our health and lives in a society of super size and large portions that has a larger impact on our lives. I was a nurse with more than 20 years experience and what frightenz me the most is the increase in childhood obesity. Moderation and activity and the dcrease in meals cooked at home being the most extreme changes I've seen 8n those years.
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I wonder what happened to Cathy? We've moved into a weird age...blogs that start with much promise, but fizzle out. In a few years, the internet will be littered with dead blogs, forever trapped in a crystal of time. Time is not our friend.
I know the post was a while back, but to the Wheat Thin family; I have bought Wheat Thins for years and never had a problem. I suspect that if you all felt poorly after eating them I suspect it had nothing to do with 'invert sugar' but perhaps the date of the product. Wheat thins are also made with whole wheat and can be a food allergen as well. Also it could have been something else entirely that you ate or a touch of a stomach 'bug' since your whole family was affected.
Very informative but it does not expell whether or not invert sugar is a GMO....
Appears to be a lot of bum info to me Dr Bill
Pure, unsalted, grassfed organic butter is good for you. It won't keep you skinny, but it's not unhealthy in the least. And canola oil is very low quality and goes rancid quickly when cooking. If you want "healthy" oils, use coconut or avocado oil. Coconut oil is actually a super food that you can eat all day long by itself and actually get massive health benefits. Instead of "Minimizing intake" like you would with other oils, it's good to use it in everything possible.
To answer your final question (didn't read all the other comments, sorry)
Disaccharides like sucrose can't be absorbed in the small intestine. Enzymes for each of them are found attached to the cells membranes of the intestinal walls, where they break them down. The resulting monosaccharides (glucose and fructose, in the case of sucrose) are absorbed.(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC292710/?page=1)
The problem with fructose is that unlike glucose, which passes through the liver and goes to the rest of the body to be used for energy, fructose is absorbed in the liver. I the liver it is processed into fats. (http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/4/895.full)
It's on the ingredients of Cadbury's milk tray. It's seeing it there that lead me to this site.no wonder I feel bloated after having those extra sweet chocs.
It's on the ingredients of Cadbury's milk tray. It's seeing it there that lead me to this site.no wonder I feel bloated after having those extra sweet chocs.
Is this possible, that some label have invert sugar under sugar, or has to be listed as Invert sugar?
Yeah too bad Cathy has stopped responding. Probably the demands of life. My feeling on sugars is that anytime we are manipulating foods so that they are transformed from their natural state, it is very likely that our physiology will be compromised in some way while digesting and absorbing the altered product.
Any time they change the packaging of any products I find there is a change in the ingredients list
I have been buying Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars. The Sea Salt Caramel flavor is my favorite. Each bar has 16 grams of sugar. One of the ingredients is Invert Sugar. I had no idea what it was and it's been haunting me, so I finally found your blog today. I have not bought anything with HFCS in years. I also don't eat ice cream because of the saturated fat content. These frozen yogurt bars seemed like a lesser evil, but after reading your informative blog, I'm not so sure. Another snack to give up. I think Jen Mek was right when she said moderation is the key. Thank you for the interesting reading. More research to do.
It's not that HFCS or is better or worse than any other sugar and sweetener source made from sugar. It's not a cancer agent--it's what it's PUT INTO. Since it is a cheap sweetener, it goes into junk foods which contain a number of *other* things that are bad.
If HFCS was replaced in "healthy" things that already have sugar, you'd be fine.
Everyone has missed a point about HFSC, and that is that it is made from GMO corn, and all GMO corn has been soaked in the former's fields by Roundup. The main reason for this genetic modification of corn is so that the corn crop can withstand LOTS of Roundup (which is essentially Agent Orange tailored to kill crop weeds). It is pretty obvious that an unhealthy amount of this Roundup chemical will remain in the processed corn, and therefore will also show up in HFCS. Thus, the whole argument about what TYPES of sugar is not so important as the fact that ANYTHING made from corn will have some Roundup contamination. So now if you want something to worry about, look at all the stuff on the grocery shelf that has various forms of corn product in it - probably about 70% of all shelf items.
And, by the way, more than 90% of all corn in America is GMO corn, and therefore has been saturated with Roundup.
Start reading labels, and be scared, very scared.
Rain blue, there is no place for that kind of language on a blog post. I am so sorry that you feel the need to communicate so offensively. Makes me wonder what kind of a friend you are to others, and if you have any, what kind are they?
Date sugar is the only sugar we use since it is an ACTUAL WHOLE FOOD made only with pulverized dates. Go to nutritionfacts.org for the answers to all your questions about sugar and food/ health. It's real, RESEARCH-BASED information you can trust... Nobody trying to sell anything.
Has anyone else experienced digestive distress from eating foods with invert sugar? It sounds like the family who ate Wheat Thins did.
I have been experiencing problems including diarreha since I started eating Otis Spunkmeyer fresh baked cookies at work.
When I researched the ingredients, they looked good and healthy, except for perhaps the invert sugar. Hence I found this blog about invert sugar.
I have also become aware of EXTREME craving for these cookies, against my better judgement, as they seem to be causing dramatic digestive distress. I wonder if the Invert Sugar makes you want more, or if there is something else causing the cravings (addiction)?
Regarding posters opinions regarding HFCS...My Gastrointestinal doctor advises his patients to completely avoid HFCS. There is correlation regarding the use of it in commercial foods and the increase in Diabetes ( over worked pancreas to produce insulin ) and also in Fatty Liver Disease. Studies show if the rate of Fatty Liver Disease stays the same as this year.by 2020 it will be the number one cause for need of liver transplants. Being I had elevated liver enzymes and I have avoided HFCS my enzymes have come down to normal range.... We all know that processed foods are not healthy...HFCS is processed sugar
Just noticed that Fig Newtons have invert sugar in the ingredients and had to look it up. Very informative article.
I am a beekeeper and make "bee candy" to place in the hives over winter to keep the girls from starving. I quit using HFCS because of a dangerous chemical that will be produced if the sugar is overheated. That chemical is deadly to the bees.
I now use table sugar (if I am out off framed honey) and I invert it with lemon juice or vinegar. Bees cannot digest sucrose and fructose is the easiest on them.
Although people love sweet things that the sour ones, it turns out that the sour ones are what one should eat for a healthy life. I fully agree with you on that. A life less sweet is the best. Quality Plagiarism correction help offered to ensure that any content published is correct, accurate and original. Try us and make your website a better place for all your clients.
Hi,
I am a beekeeper and i ask if someone give me the method to product inverted sugar (great quantities)....
And how i can analyse it?
Thanks for any help
I have been buying JUMEX Mango Nectar (mango puree from concentrate) 1.06 quart, made in Mexico for $1.00. Then I learned it uses HFCS so I started buying a new brand, TROPICAL GROVE Mango Flavored Juice Drink (concentrated orange, apple, grape, pear, & mango juices) with invert sugar, made in Canada.
I read all of this forum and still do not know if invert sugar is safer than HFCS.
Digestive distress from invert sugar and HCFCs is very real to me - biscuits with sugar in - ok, biscuits with invert sugar and HCFCs - digestive upset on every occasion! I don't understand the science but I know from experience it's true for me.
FYI. The human body must break down any polysaccharides or disaccharides (like glucose) into monosaccharides before they can be absorbed through the villi and microvilli lining of the small intestine (first section called duodenum). Any sugars not converted will ferment. Monosaccharides like fructose and glucose are digested easily when found in food sources naturally.
Water + sucrose (table sugar) + lemon juice + heat will result in inversion. Invert sugar is just a disaccharide broken down into monosaccharides. Our bodies break disaccharides down to monosaccharides itself anyways. Our bodies can only absorb the smaller monosaccharides for utilization in the body. Also, fructose is sweeter than sucrose, so you will use less and therefore eat less sugar!
Stop being scared by the science of food. It is not all bad.
McDonald's uses invert sugar in their sweet tea. I came across this article when I looked up the ingredients in their tea and saw invert sugar. Great to know what it is now! Thanks for all the helpful info and comments.
Shredded wheat with the white sugary stuff on it has inverted sugar. It is what made me google the term and come across this page
Does anyone have alternative uses for Medium Invert sugar such as non-human consumption? I have a salvage load to sell, the bee-keepers are not very interested in it. I know some sugars are used to make plastics, rubber and products similar. I have also heard it may be used to feed cattle. If anyone knows of uses beyond the food grade industry your knowledge would be most appreciated!
I am here following a google search to find out why the cookies i bought yesterday gave me indigestion last nite. The only unusual ingredient i saw was "invert sugar," so that is my prime suspect. My stomach normally tells me when i eat things that humans shouldn't be eating. Whatever the culprit, the remaining cookies will go in the trash, and invert sugar will go on my no no list.
This stuff (invert sugar) gives me HORRIBLE Sugar crashes. Manufacturers, save your money and just use SUGAR.
I was just reading the label on the soft baked Peanut Butter Belvita package, and I too noticed that ingredient 'invert sugar'. So I decided to look it up and ended up on this website. Thank you for the explanation. I would never have guessed it was a sneaky way for manufacturers to get us to eat HFCS. I don't eat this stuff very often, but I had it left over from a box I bought months ago, probably 7 or 8 months, and it was in my desk drawer. It is peanut butter, and I do like peanut butter even though I know most brands also contain some form of corn syrup or HFCS, so I decided to read the label while I was eating it. Now, I can't even enjoy something as simple as this. I suppose I could go home and make my own peanut butter cookies, but I don't like keeping cookies and similar things around the house because they are just too tempting. I just bought myself a food processor to encourage healthier eating on my part. One of the reasons I no longer like cooking after work is because I am doing it for one, and all the effort that goes into manually chopping veggies and fruits just doesn't seem worth it. If it works at least it will keep me from consuming foods that contain HFCS or invert sugar, and probably other things that are not good for me as well.
HFCS is notorious for mercury by products
Please remove “rain blue’s” Post - it is inappropriate and no one should have to read that.
@Manda I agree. Plus coconut oil tastes amazing. Does wonders for hair aswell.
@Hobie Pat-ty Thank you I 2ND
Pure Gelato Sydney. Highest Awarded Gelato Manufacturer,
Retailer & Online orders in Sydney for Pure gelato and ice cream cake.
Very real digestive distress two days in a row. I realized the common denominator was Dunkin Donuts new "Brown Sugar Cold Brew". They use a brown sugar syrup and when I found the ingredients online, I started to question inverted sugar. I have never noticed it before.
I have to avoid Sucralose because of similar digestive issues!
Came here after seeing it in WHOLE FOODS brand [365 everyday Value] Cola - Carbonated Filtered Water, Invert Sugar Caramel Color, Tartaric Acid, Natural Flavors. Caffeine Free. Tastes Funky. 160 calories 41g sugars.... better not to drink soda at all anyway.
Here because I saw invert sugar in the ingredient list on a McDonald's sweet tea. Drank some and have a headache that will not go away. Also, have a family member who is allergic to everything citrus and citric acid. Wondering if this is why she reacted to the tea as well.
"Manda" your comment from August is FLAWED, 〔coconut oil doesn't live-up to its claims about effects once injested despite what the many advertisements tell you〕Also, how do you feed butter grass? "grassfed butter"
This article was informative and precise on how sugar consumption is a bad idea. Sugar consumption differs from person to person. Check now is normal sugar an evil in our diet?
I saw it for the first time today on a DeMerts Pecan Turtle. Immediately had to research the name and found your page.
Thank you for the thoughtful information.
This article is about the 100% natural supplement Gluco Trust. You came to this article because you wanted to learn more about the product.
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