Make Your Own High-Fructose Corn Syrup

(Credit: Sam Dean)

Artist Maya Weinstein makes her own high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), that ubiquitous, often demonized sweetener that is in many of the processed foods we eat (Americans eat an average of 60 lbs of the stuff per person per year). The jury is still out on whether HFCS is more harmful to health than table sugar although like sugar it packs a caloric punch. It cannot be purchased as a stand alone sweetener so Weinstein set about making her own. This is her recipe:

Mix 10 cups of Yellow Dent #2 corn extract with one drop sulfuric acid, one teaspoon Alpha-Amylase, one teaspoon Glucose-Amylase, and one teaspoon Xylose, strain through a cheesecloth, and heat. Then, once the slurry has reached 140 degrees, add Glucose Isomerase, bring to a boil, let cool, and enjoy!

Doesn't that sound delicious? And it only costs $70-$80 to make a small jar. 

(Credit: Sam Dean)

This is an art project that is meant to make us take a closer look at the food we ingest. Weinstein has plans to make bleached, fortified white flour (cured in hydrogen peroxide) and also her own Red Dye #40.
Read more about Weinstein's process Bon Appetit

Thanks Bruce!