Some sweet corn is sweeter than others.

[drcuriosity]

At my parents' place at the moment. Mum discovered that the "no added sugar" variety of Wattie's cream style corn actually tasted sweeter than the variety that has added sugar. So we did a bit of a comparison and some research.

No added sugar (per 100g):
ENERGY - 305kJ
CARBOHYDRATE - 11.4g
- SUGARS - 4.3g

Standard:
ENERGY - 405kJ
CARBOHYDRATE - 16.7g
- SUGARS - 2.9g

How is it that the former brand has more sugar content? Checking the ingredients, there are two differences. One has no added sugar, and also contains supersweet corn - a eugenically-selected recessive variety of sweet corn that produces more sugar. Since the mutant sugar enhancement alleles are recessive, it needs to be kept away from standard field corn crops. However, note there's still a higher carbohydrate content in the standard variety, hence more energy with less sweet taste.

Interesting stuff, this food.

Comments

[iceprincesswhn.livejournal.com]

There is an excellent local bakery that prices their bread at about $3 a loaf that's also HFCS-free, so I tend to patronize them when possible.