Ode to ketchup

Those who know me know that I try not to eat high fructose corn syrup.  I buy into the thought that it's bad for me - worse than regular sugar.  I know, I know, there are ads out there that claim high fructose corn syrup is the same to your body as regular sugar.  But have you looked at who funded that research?  The National Corn Grower's Association.

Now, the first thing you learn in a research methods class is that it's not a good thing to have someone with a vested interest fund your research...results might be skewed.

I'm assuming they're skewed.  I've read enough evidence contrary to this claim.  But even if they're not, HFCS is not something I choose to put in my body.  I try to avoid a lot of processed sugar, too, preferring to use natural sugars instead.  (Though I can't claim I don't add sugar to my cake pops.)

Anyway, the other day I was searching for ketchup.  Mmmm, ketchup.  I like my ketchup with the hearty potato-based diet the Russian insists on.

So, I'm happily trucking along down the aisle of Fred Meyer in search of my yummy sauce when I arrived at a small red section of the store.  Aaaah, ketchup.  Heinz, you're a tasty friend.

Imagine my dismay when the Russian grabbed a bottle of my red goodness and perused the ingredients list.  "This has high fructose corn syrup."  In ketchup?  Are you kidding me?  I know it's in practically everything.  But ketchup?

One by one, we pull each type of ketchup from the shelf.  High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Over and over again.  Finally, we find an organic ketchup that does not contain HFCS.  That (small) bottle lasted all of a week.

Last weekend at Huckleberries, we found a much larger selection of organic ketchup.  Apparently, this is the only kind of ketchup that does not contain HFCS.