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

[wolfwitch.livejournal.com]

We'll turn you into a "gentleman farmer" yet. ;)

[morte-o-merce.livejournal.com]

THe difference probably comes in different types of sugar. Even though it is genetically engineered, the "no added sugar" variety, while technically having a higher sugar content, has only the naturally occuring non-processed sugar inherent in the corn. The corn with added sugar, on the other hand, likey contains processed sugars which are far less healthy than their naturally occuring counterparts.

[drcuriosity]

Indeed, the standard variety has "sugar" listed separately on the ingredients - most likely processed cane sugar since we don't have enough of a corn surplus/lobby to put high fructose corn syrup in, well, pretty much everything like the U.S. seems to.

[drcuriosity]

I'm certainly working on learning a thing or two :-)

[morte-o-merce.livejournal.com]

HFCS is jsut as bad if not worse than the processed cane.

That's why, when I bother touse sugar at all, I go for raw unrefined sugar. It is healthier and tastes a hell of a lot better.

[thehollowmen.livejournal.com]

Good research.
I'm always a little skeptical of anything written that isn't smack bang on the nutritional information.

[drcuriosity]

Given that HFCS is effectively a glucose-fructose mix, and refined cane sugar is essentially sucrose (a disaccharide of glucose and fructose), it's mostly the same stuff. The main difference seems to be that HFCS metabolises faster because the body doesn't need to break it down as much.

Of course, any nutrient can be harmful in sufficient quantity. (Or excessive quantity, for that matter.)

[iceprincesswhn.livejournal.com]

hehehe Molasses. I remember reading about that.

The thing about the HFCS is that here in 'Murrica, you can't seem to get even BREAD without HFCS without serious and intense searching. It makes one quite angry at the corn lobby very quickly.

[drcuriosity]

A friend of mine who's studying at UW said that he finally found a good sourdough bread at Safeway recently, though it does cost about $3/loaf. Me, I'm really liking the idea of a bread maker.

[wolfwitch.livejournal.com]

Have one already. ;) Though making bread by hand, if one doesn't have arthritis and has the time & space available, can be a very enjoyable experience.

[drcuriosity]

Not something I've really done before, but I'm certainly happy to learn :-)

[ankhst.livejournal.com]

It doesn't apply to corn, but in the case of fruit the added sweetness can come form a reduced acidity (or higher pH I suppose). Apples don't taste as sweet as strawberries, despite having more sugar, because they are more acidic. The lower acid fruits, like melons, berries, and most stone fruit can taste sweeter while having less sugar.

Same applies to coffee...less acidic or bitter the brew, the less sugar you'll want to add...unless you just happen to like lotsa sugar.

[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.