HFCS & Company Response

[jurisbo]

Hi. I'm new to this board in the last month. I have been lurking ever since we discovered that my son's behavioral issues were related to dairy.

We're fairly new to living with food allergies and sensitivities. We've known for just about a year that my daughter (4.5) is very sensititive to HFCS. My son (2.5) can't have dairy, apples, or dyes. I didn't know that he was also sensitive to HFCS until a day and a half ago when I accidentally gave him pizza made with olive oil and garlic tomatoes that contained HFCS (stupid of me!). We experienced the most horrific 24 hours that we've had since we cut out dairy. My kids' symptoms are mainly behavioral with some skin rashes, and I barely made it through yesterday with his awful behavior. It's like he was not even my kid anymore.

I emailed Del Monte yesterday, asking them to please consider removing HFCS from their tomatoes, since most store brands I use don't contain any and my kids have health issues with that unnecessary ingredient. Their response just angers me. If they had seen my son yesterday, acting as though he had been drugged, I don't think they would doubt that it can have a different effect than regular sugar on some children. I pasted the response below.

--Shawn

Thank you for your e-mail about Del Monte Petite Cut Diced Tomatoes with Garlic and Olive Oil. We're glad you took the time to contact us and appreciate the opportunity to respond.

Del Monte uses High Fructose Corn Syrup in some tomato products because it helps reduce acidity and as a natural sweetener, it helps enhance the natural sweetness of the tomato. High Fructose Corn Syrup is commonly used in the food industry and is almost identical to regular table sugar. In fact studies have found that High Fructose Corn Syrup and Sugar are absorbed and metabolized by the body in the same way. Since they also contain the same calorie content, substituting one over the other as an ingredient would not change the nutritional values.

All tomato products contain some natural sugar in the form of simple carbohydrates. You may be interested to know that we do not add any sugar to our tomato paste and tomato puree. At Del Monte, we strongly believe that our products can contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

[WildIris]

Yeah, let me translate that letter for you:

"Thanks for writing but we don't really care about you and your kid. All we care about is making money, and HFCS is cheap sugar."

[kjbrown92]

That's why I buy Hunts tomato products. Oh look, it's just tomatoes. No sugar. So I guess it isn't necessary is it. And how is high-fructose corn syrup a natural product? Yuck.

I would simply not buy their product, and I would also tell everyone I know (such as you're doing now) not to buy their product as well. It will do more than a letter.

And, just out of curiosity, is it only HFCS and not all corn that does this to your kids?

And did his pizza only have tomatoes and no cheese? You said he couldn't have dairy, and then you said you gave him pizza, so I was sort of confused....

K

[jurisbo]

Your translation is spot-on! I actually wasn't looking for a debate with the company. I was hoping to just send them a quick note, thinking that if they heard from enough people they might eventually consider changing their recipe. I was surprised to get back a "you're wrong" email.

I know for certain that HFCS is a trigger for two of my kids, but I haven't noticed any reaction to other corn-based products. Do most kids who have behavioral reactions to HFCS do so because of corn allergies? Come to think of it, I've been using a lot of corn/canola oil blend lately instead of butter and I haven't noticed behavior like I did yesterday with the HFCS. The kids also have corn-based cereals occasionally with no behavioral changes.

My son had a skinprick allergy test, and the doctor said milk and apples were mild allergies. He actually didn't recommend we do anything, but I found this website accidentally just over a month ago and cut out dairy. We have found him to be a completely different child. Prior to this, he had trouble sleeping, seemed as though he didn't hear us when spoken to, and was generally like a crazy pinball child. Shortly after cutting out milk, he started sleeping better, calmed down, had longer conversations with us, and suddenly memorized the alphabet, songs, and prayers.

I can see how the pizza comment would be confusing. We just make homemade pizza without cheese or dairy of any kind. After having it like this a few times, we don't miss the cheese at all.

Another random question...we didn't feel like we got very accurate results from the skinprick test that our allergist did, so we're feeling this out on our own right now. I know of another allergist in another state that does blood tests on kids my son's age. Would this be more accurate for us? My son still has rashy-looking cheeks and bumps on his arms/torso. We think he's allergic to something else, but we don't know what yet.

--Shawn

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by jurisbo

Another random question...we didn't feel like we got very accurate results from the skinprick test that our allergist did, so we're feeling this out on our own right now. I know of another allergist in another state that does blood tests on kids my son's age. Would this be more accurate for us? My son still has rashy-looking cheeks and bumps on his arms/torso. We think he's allergic to something else, but we don't know what yet.

--Shawn

Allergy testing (blood or scratch) can be hit or miss for kids under 4 or 5, so if it's a great distance and expense to get additional testing, it may not be worth it. You could start by eliminating the top allergens for a couple weeks and see if your ds's skin improves. If so, add back in one food at a time (for 4-5 days) before adding any others and watch for reactions. I personally would suspect wheat, soy or corn. Wheat, in particular, is known to cause behavior issues (along with dairy).