Are Fruit Juice Concentrates a Healthier Sweetener?
The USDA reports that Americans ingest an average of 20 teaspoons of sugar (caloric sweeteners such as table sugar and corn syrup) per day-twice the suggested limit. Huge increases in sugar consumption in recent decades can likely be linked to the proliferation of corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup as sweeteners. (Nearly all processed foods contain at least one of these, largely due to their cheaper cost than table sugar and their ease of use in the food manufacturing processes.) As public awareness of the harmful effects of sugar and corn syrup has increased, we have begun to look for ways to cut back on the sugar and corn syrup. However, we are a culture that loves our sweets. We still want to have our cake and eat it too, so to speak. Artificial sweeteners enjoyed popularity for awhile, but as evidence has mounted regarding their dangers, consumers are looking for healthier natural sweeteners. Health-minded people often turn to fruit juice-sweetened products (such as juices, ja
