Interesting article... down with high fructose corn syrup!

Nothing Natural about 7UP

The new commercial showing 7UP cans being picked from trees may have taken you by surprise: 7UP now has an "all natural" soda? It sounds like a healthful replacement for the original sugary beverage when in fact according to CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest) the parent company of 7UP, Cadbury Schweppes, is advertising an untruthful health claim. The original 7UP dropped many of its artificial ingredients leaving five so-called "all natural ingredients." One of these five ingredients is high-fructose corn syrup, which is, in fact, far from natural. Though not any better or worse nutritionally than plain table sugar, high fructose corn syrup is produced using a complex, multi-step industrial process by which starch is extracted from corn and converted with acids or enzymes into glucose and fructose.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is a consumer advocacy organization whose twin missions are to conduct innovative research and advocacy programs in health and nutrition, and to provide consumers with current, useful information about their health and well-being. The nonprofit CSPI has said that it will sue Cadbury Schweppes unless the company drops the claim.
"Pretending that soda made with high fructose corn syrup is 'all natural,' is just plain old deception," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "High fructose corn syrup isn't something you could cook up from a bushel of corn in your kitchen, unless you happen to be equipped with centrifuges, hydroclones, ion-exchange columns, and buckets of enzymes."

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have an official definition of "natural" foods, and CSPI has urged the organization to adopt a definition that would prevent high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, and other ingredients that are more than minimally processed from being called natural.
Bottom line: While the sound - and possibly even the taste - of natural soda may be enticing, 100% fruit juice, carbonated or truly "all natural" water is a more healthful choice.

Source: The Center for Science in the Public Interest, www.cspinet.org