When I was a kid, our household used to use Log Cabin syrup on our pancakes and waffles. Since I’ve been married to Carol, we’ve leaned more on using actual maple syrup. But it;’s expensive, and a few months ago decided to get some Log Cabin, partly out of nostalgia and partly out of the fact that I remembered liking it.
It wasn’t until I had actually opened the bottle when I read the ingredients: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup…Wait a minute. The bottle says Log Cabin Original Syrup, “a family tradition since 1887.” I have a strong sense that this product did NOT have HFCS when I was growing up. This is ORIGINAL? And my fear of HFCS predated this report about possible Mercury Poisoning. (Didn’t Graham Parker have a song named that?)
My wife bought a new bottle of Log Cabin last week. “Now! NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP” is displayed boldly. It just has corn syrup, liquid sugar (water, sugar), water, salt plus a bunch of other stuff that show up in processed foods these days and are in both versions -natural and artificial flavors, cellulose gum, preservatives, sodium hexametaphosphate (say what?), and caramel color.
Silly me. I finally figured out the word “original” is used by Pinnacle Foods to distinguish it from the “Lite” and “Sugar-Free” versions. I’m really glad Log Cabin has dropped HFCS – will they return to HFCS if there’s a sugar shortage? – but maybe we’ll see if we can find money in the budget for REAL maple syrup again.
ROG