[Tribal Dragon]

One of Vitamin Water's main ingredients is crystalline fructose. I'm sticking to diet soda.

What is Crystalline Fructose? Filed under: Additives, Sweeteners, HFCS on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 by JoLynn Braley If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
If you have visited my blog before, you may have noticed that I have written a few posts regarding high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, as it is more commonly known. Not only have I been writing about it, but I have also been talking about it. In one of my college courses (I am finishing up my undergrad as an adult student, B.S. in IT with a minor in music), I was spreading the word about the dangers of HFCS and how it creates a fatty liver, and even cirrhosis of the liver.
My professor showed me the ingredients of his bottled drink (a type of “health” drink, I don’t recall the brand) and asked me if [B]crystalline fructose was the same as high fructose corn syrup. This was the first I had heard of this ingredient so I was very intrigued and set out to do some research on it.[/B]
What I have learned is that crystalline fructose “is produced by allowing the fructose to crystallize from a fructose-enriched corn syrup.” This information is from the sugar producers themselves, at sugar.org. This explanation is very straightforward: it is made from corn syrup, and not only corn syrup, but “fructose enriched” corn syrup. Would another name for that perhaps be high fructose corn syrup?
To quote one of my previous posts:[INDENT]HFCS can be manufactured to either contain equal amounts of fructose and glucose, or up to 80 percent fructose and 20 percent glucose.” Fructose and glucose are metabolized differently in the body. “Glucose is metabolized in every cell in the body, however all fructose must be metabolized in the liver.
[/INDENT]I have learned that Crystalline Fructose contains 99.5% minimum of fructose assay, which is an even higher percentage of fructose than what makes up HFCS. Another ingredient of crystalline fructose is arsenic. I don’t know about you, but I don’t care what the amount is (in this case the chemical specs state 1 mg/kg maximum), I don’t want to be ingesting arsenic.
Additional chemical compounds that make up crystalline fructose are heavy metals, lead, and chloride. I obtained this information from admworld.com in their PDF document that I used to research this post.
Even if you do not drill down into the chemical composition of crystalline fructose, the bullet points of the document clearly show that this sweetener provides the same outcome and is used in the same way as HFCS is:

• It is an ingredient in the same processed foods that HFCS is: sodas, other beverages (sadly, it is used in “health drinks” like the one my college professor had), breads, low-calorie dressings (read the labels of low-fat salad dressings), cereals, frozen foods, protein bars (supposed to be healthy!), and basically all processed foods.
  
• It extends the shelf life of food.
  
• It provides intense sweetness so only a small amount needs to be used (economical).
  
• It is made from corn (again, economical).
  
• It prevents baked goods and “nutrition” bars from drying out.

Of course, the health dangers of crystalline fructose are not outlined, and they will be the same as high fructose corny syrup since this is simply another form of fructose corn syrup, however crystalline fructose includes an even higher percentage of fructose than HFCS does. Remember that fructose must be processed completely in the liver, and when a diet includes a large amount of it (if you eat mainly processed foods), then it creates a fatty liver, and even cirrhosis.
I firmly believe in public education on these topics. Even if you have heard of these ingredients, you may be surprised to know how wide spread their use is, especially since these corn syrups are used in breads. How many ready-made sandwich shops are using bread made with crystalline fructose or high fructose corn syrup? I do not know these figures currently, however I would bet that most of these breads do contain fructose corn syrups, since most of the breads that you can buy in the grocery store contain them.
In my humble opinion, it sounds like the food industry has come up with a new name for high fructose corn syrup, while increasing the level of fructose in it. It is unlikely that these corn syrups will disappear any time soon, however as long as you are knowledgeable about what you are eating, the more conscious you will become in your decisions concerning what you put into your body. We all deserve to live with the highest level of health possible, and clearly fructose corn syrup sweeteners will not be found along the path to outstanding health.

[WoolyGoat]

(I am finishing up my undergrad as an adult student, B.S. in IT with a minor in music)

sounds reliable

[Tribal Dragon]

sounds reliable

I looked at the ingredients last night. Shit has crystallized fructose in it as its second ingredient. After seeing that I know it isn't good for you.

[WoolyGoat]

Unless you're have 2 or 3 of them per day, you're fine. If what this "expert" says is true, then you're only in trouble if you drink tons of the stuff AND eat a lot of processed foods.

[Anhil8tor]

how about fuze?

[Tribal Dragon]

how about fuze?

I looked a few of them, and they used the crystalline fructose as well.

[Flumper Barflusterbutt]

Fitty Cent owned 25 percent of that company. This must be bullshit. He wouldn't be part of this.

[Anhil8tor]

the diet green tea dosen't have citric thingamagig

[quint]

how about powerade?

[Anhil8tor]

Unfounded allegations
Recent unfounded allegations suggest that fructose is uniquely responsible for the current obesity crisis in the U.S. These allegations — such as increased fat production or increased appetite — are based on poorly conceived experimentation of little relevance to the human diet, which tests unphysiologically high levels of fructose as the sole carbohydrate, often in animals that are poor models for human metabolism. The consequences of such exaggerated diets are predictably extreme, and are thoroughly reviewed by Forbes, et.al.6
Meeting consumer demand
A recent consumer survey conducted for the Calorie Control Council shows that more than 180 million adult Americans are incorporating low calorie, sugar-free foods and beverages into their meal plan as part of a healthy lifestyle.10 People will continue to demand a greater variety of low calorie products as they strive to make healthier food choices. Fructose can help meet this demand because of its unique sweetness and functionality.

Fructose has been used in whole new categories of food and beverage products, such as shelf-stable nutrition bars, soft moist cookies, pourable frozen juice concentrates and energy-reduced products.

Some are even suggesting the application of fructose for those with special dietary or nutritional needs, like endurance athletes.

Benefits

* Sweetness
Fructose is the sweetest of all nutritive sweeteners. It has roughly 1.2 to 1.8 times the sweetness of sucrose in most food applications.11, 12
* Flavor Enhancement
Its sweetness perception peaks and falls earlier than glucose and sucrose, “unmasking” fruit and spice flavors.
* Ingredient Synergy
The interaction of fructose with other sweeteners and starches results in a synergy that boosts the sweetness, cake height (baked goods) and viscosity of foods and beverages.
* Shelf-stability
Fructose does not hydrolyze in acidic conditions like sucrose does; so finished product sweetness and flavor are stable over extended storage times.
* Solubility/Resistance to Crystallization
While sold in crystalline form, fructose recrystallizes with difficulty once it is solubilized in foods. This property made possible the development of soft moist cookies.
* Humectancy
Fructose binds and retains moisture so well that it can replace sorbitol and glycerin in foods, thereby improving taste. Used in low-moisture granola-type bars.
* Surface Browning
A major appeal of baked and roasted foods is the pleasing brown surface color and alluring aroma, produced by a chemical reaction between reducing sugars and amino acids. Fructose is the most highly reactive simple sugar.
* Frozen Applications
Fructose maintains the integrity of frozen fruit by controlling water and preventing damaging ice crystal formation that can destroy fragile fruit tissue.
* Glycemic Index/Insulin Release
Glycemic index has been advocated as a means to gauge the compatibility of foods with the special needs of people with diabetes. Fructose has a low glycemic index and results in moderate release of insulin to the bloodstream relative to glucose and sucrose.
* Dental Caries
The only proven health risk of nutritive sweeteners at typical consumption levels is dental caries. Fructose is among the least cariogenic of the nutritive sugars.

Primary applications areas for crystalline fructose include dry mix beverages, low calorie products, flavored water, still and carbonated beverages, sports and energy drinks, chocolate milk, breakfast cereals, baked goods, yogurt, fruit packs and confections.
Summary
Fructose and HFS are not the same. Fructose is sweeter than sucrose so less is needed to achieve the same sweetness, offering calorie savings. Fructose has a low glycemic index and does not cause surges and dips in blood glucose levels. Pure crystalline fructose offers many functional benefits when added to a wide range of foods and beverages, improving product palatability and stability.

[BIRD33]

I'd probably drink the revive version even if it had small traces of cyanide.