Page 51 - Spring2009

bolic syndrome—the very portrait of the modern American addicted to a these traditional foods: “Agave nectar is a newly
diet of HFCS-sweetened sodas. created sweetener, having been developed during
the 1990’s.” 33
AGAVE “NECTAR” TO THE RESCUE
As the educated public has shied away from foods containing HFCS, THE BIG DIRTY SECRET ABOUT AGAVE
the industry has brought a new sweetener on the scene, one used espe- In spite of manufacturers’ claims, agave
cially in foods aimed at the health-conscious consumer: agave “nectar.” “nectar” is not made from the sap of the yucca
Agave nectar is advertised as a “diabetic friendly,” raw, and “100% natural or agave plant but from the starch of the giant
sweetener.” Yet it is none of these. pineapple-like, root bulb. The principal constitu-
Agave nectar is found on the ent of the agave root is starch,
shelves of health food stores primar- similar to the starch in corn
ily under the labels, “Agave Nectar or rice, and a complex carbo-
100% Natural Sweetener,” and hydrate called inulin, which
“Organic Raw Blue Agave Nectar.” is made up of chains of fruc-
In addition, it can be found in foods tose molecules.Technically
labeled as organic or raw, including a highly indigestible fiber,
ketchup, ice cream, chocolate, and inulin, which does not taste
health food bars. sweet, comprises about half
The implication of its name, of the carbohydrate content of
along with the pictures and descrip- agave. 34
tions on the product labels, creates The process by which
the impression that agave is an agave glucose and inulin are
unrefined sweetener that has been converted into “nectar” is
used for thousands of years by na- similar to the process by which
tive people in central Mexico. “For The starchy agave root bulb. corn starch is converted into
thousands of years natives to central HFCS. The agave starch is
35
Mexico used different species of subject to an enzymatic and
agave plants for medicine, as well as for building shelter.” Thus reads the chemical process that converts the starch into a
copy on an agave package. And it is true that natives would also allow fructose-rich syrup—anywhere from 70 percent
the sweet sap or liquid of one species of agave to ferment naturally, which fructose and higher according to the agave nectar
created a mildly alcoholic beverage with a very pungent flavor known chemical profiles posted on agave nectar web-
as pulque. They also made a traditional sweetener from the agave sap or sites. (One agave manufacturer claims that his
36
juice called miel de agave by simply boiling it for several hours. But, as product is made with “natural” enzymes.) That’s
one agave seller explains, the agave nectar purchased in stores is neither of right, the refined fructose in agave nectar is much

BEES ON HFCS

According to USDA, approximately 420 million pounds of honey is produced each year for human consumption in
North America. Most people believe honey is produced exclusively by the natural enzymatic and digestive conversion of
pollen, nectar or other organic plant materials by bees to the digestible multi-saccharide known and defined as “honey.”
However, true natural honey, whether USDA-certified or not, in various grades, is only produced in the mid spring to late
summer, when the biological materials are readily available for bees to digest, convert and regurgitate.
So how is honey production in many regions maintained continuously into the fall, winter and early spring, when
the sources for conversion do not exist? The answer is the widespread practice of feeding bees refined sucrose or refined
crystallized or liquid HFCS during the months when pollen and nectar are not available. The bees then run the sweetener
through their digestive tracts. The resulting product is labeled as honey but it may not have the same quality as natural
honey. Higher levels of refined fructose in honey cause accelerated Maillard browning reactions when heated above 140
degrees F.
These additional months of stress on the hives—which often include keeping the hives under light twenty-four hours
per day—eventually cause mite infestation in the hives and large bee kill-offs. These cyclical kills, approximately every
fourth or fifth year, cause a shortage in production, and honey prices spike upward.

SPRING 2009 Wise Traditions 49