Do You Know What’s In Your Pancake Syrup?
Some background story to this post: Our daughter plays hockey and this past weekend her team had an end-of-season pancake breakfast after their practice. That morning I made a batch of pancakes for her to eat with her team, as I knew those at the party would have eggs and dairy. When she came home I asked her how everything was and she said “good, but that pancake syrup was DIS-GUS-TING! I ate my pancakes plain“.
Yes, this was her first meeting with “pancake syrup”. She has always enjoyed pure maple syrup with her pancakes, until this day. Part of me was able to gloat for all the times we say “you kids have such good food, you don’t even realize it“… this time, she did realize it. She asked what it was, and I explained that it is a ‘fake kind’ of’ maple syrup made up of sugar, colors, water and other things. Got me thinking about the actual ingredients. I remember checking into them years ago, and decided to do so again.
Here’s the ingredient (note: ingredient, not ingredients) for our maple syrup: pure maple syrup.
And here’s the ingredient list for a leading pancake syrup: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, water, cellulose gum, caramel color, salt, sodium benzoate and sorbic acid (preservatives), artificial and natural flavors, sodium hexametaphosphate.And, then there’s the ‘Lite’ version, which boasts a “Smart Spot” logo. This logo supposedly means the product meets some higher nutritional standard because it has 50% less calories. Okay, then, let’s see the ingredients in this ‘lite’ version: high fructose corn syrup, water, cellulose gum, caramel color, salt, sodium benzoate and sorbic acid (preservatives), artificial and natural flavors, sodium hexametaphosphate.
Really? A product containing hfcs (high fructose corn syrup), artificial flavors, preservatives, and chemicals is considered a “smart choice” just because it has less calories.
Paint also has less calories but I won’t pour that on our pancakes.
It’s no wonder we are confused as a society about food choices. We have big initiatives supported by companies like Pepsi (“Smart Spot”) to ’show us the way‘ towards eating healthier. And, I’m sure most of you watching the Olympic coverage now understand that McDonald’s and Coke are the dietary cornerstone of athletic champions. As the McD’s ad boasts “you don’t have to be an olympic athlete to eat like one”. Brilliant marketing? Yes. Shameful? Bigger yes. Our daughters were watching some of the events, and I had to explain how these companies use their advertisting to try and convince children that these foods are good for you to eat, but that it’s simply not true.
Interestingly, I sometimes have feedback about my baking recipes, and that it gets expensive when using maple syrup, or even agave nectar. But, that’s the trouble with our food choices in stores. Real food is often more expensive than the junk.
Pure maple syrup is simply expensive than white sugar, and it’s also a helluva lot more expensive than “pancake syrup”. But it tastes a helluva lot better too. More importantly, it’s much better for you. Cost should be more than a monetary consideration, after all.
What do you want in your body (or your children’s bodies)… pure maple syrup, or ’high fructose corn syrup and sodium hexametaphosphate’? Obviously, maple syrup is still a sweetener, and we shouldn’t be drinking the stuff. But, if you plan to pour anything on your pancakes, what would you now choose?
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Agreed. What’s even worse than “Pancake Syrup” is sugar-free pancake syrup. I was subjected to some recently for the first time ever. It was like something I’d imagine astronauts would eat when their only other option was space station cannibalism.
[...] know what’s in my pancake syrup… do you? Since the 1950s, consumption of meat (since the first wave of factory farms), cheese (since the [...]
this article makes a point applicable to so many common products out there. yuck. have you heard about pure, organic date syrup? it’s my kids favorites on pancakes. we even like it better than maple syrup, especially because of all the goods in dates!
Firstly, I would start by not feeding children pancakes. Fried flour with butter is about as healthy as eating cardboard.
Then, I would choose not to feed them maple syrup. Pure maple syrup has about 53, I repeat, 53 grams of sugars in it per 1/4 cup. That’s 2 snickers bars worth of sugar.
Yes, high-fructose corn syrup is terrible for a child’s body, but so is “regular” sugars like sucrose. Maple Syrup is mo more “real” than high fructose corn syrup or sucrose.
http://drp.ly/uAfq
Watch that and see the science of how sugar effects a human body, and especially a child.
I use either PURE Maple syrup (only one ingredient, who cares about calories, etc.!) or brown sugar (ORGANIC) that I mix with cinnamon (an EXCELLENT antioxident (SP?).
Let it be known; I prefer a nice well-done waffle over flapjacks any day!
Ciao!
Michael, fortunately I’ve never tried the sugar-free stuff. Lucky to have missed that one! (even during my “diet soda” days – ugh)
ilikeitwhole, that’s a new one to me, and I’d love to try it. We don’t have the breadth of whole food products in Canada that are in the US, so I’ve never seen this. Going to check into it – thx!
sunoxen, we eat a whole foods diet, and even our pancakes are made with whole-grain flour, sometimes with hemp or salba added, and NO butter (we are vegan). I believe in baking healthy treats for kids. We eat pancakes maybe once every couple of weeks. Having maple syrup with those pancakes doesn’t trouble me when I know my kids are probably eating hummus or chickpeas for lunch, or quinoa or brown rice with a legume-based soup for dinner. I am quite tuned in to nutrition for my kids, and the perils of sugar. I disagree that there is no difference between hfcs and white sugar and healthier sweeteners like brown rice ryup and maple syrup. My kids eat very healthy – every day. They don’t know what a Snickers bar is, and have never stepped inside a McD’s. So pure maple syrup with their whole-grain pancakes? Absolutely, I’ll take care of their overall diet and let them enjoy being kids.
Jay, I love adding cinnamon to sauces too and also to my smoothies – probably my favorite spice!