I came home and search the Internet for "agave nectar fraud" and this is what I found. www.naturalnews.com
Agave nectar is derived from the agave plant mainly produced in central Mexico. Often times agave is labeled as "organic" and "raw", which is believed to be untrue. To get to the "agave nectar" state, the agave "starch" must be converted through a process that chemically refines and alters the sap into a refined sweetener. This process is similar to that of making corn into corn syrup. Does this make it organic or raw? Corn syrup is a horrible product, but can agave be just as bad, maybe worse? Do the research and make a decision. I would like to hear back from you about your opinion.
Well how come the agave labels say "Organic" and "Raw"? Who is regulating the labels that we see everyday? Well, apparently nobody at least not very close. "In a stunning report released in October 2008, the U.S. government's own accountability office reported that of the thousands of food products imported into the US each year from 150 countries, just 96 total food items were inspected by the FDA to insure label accuracy and food safety."
Who can you trust then? The answer- your local provider. Yes, buy local! This is the best way to find organic, raw(if that is what you are looking for), honest food. We can help our fellow neighbor's with their farm and/or business. Shopping local allows us to be our own quality inspector. Trusting someone else to do the job is just foolish.
Shop Local. Know where your food comes from. Eat vegan.
Enjoy.
Vegan Chef Period.
Barry, Joy startled me with this news several months ago. Jorge Cruise (The Bellyfat Cure) writes: "Agave nectar is highly processed and has even more fructose than corn syrup- agave nectar can be up to 90% fructose. It triggers the same responses as white sugar and HFCS. It is neither a natural food, nor organic".
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, indeed rather startling news.
ReplyDeletei agree it is not raw and most things in packages labelled organic in this country are totally fraudulent. But i do not believe agave triggers glycemic reactions the way corn syrup or other refined sugars do. Research is not showing that.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we all know that any hyped ingredient that is marched out as healthy is usually problematic and worse than what it is replacing. Hydrogenated oils in the 70's were supposed to save you from unhealthy butter and it turned out they were even worse.
So yes, i am somewhat weary of agave and not all that fond of its flavor. But i am far more weary of the anti agave articles coming out. They are almost as absurd as some of the anti soy articles that are so common.
Are there any traditional uses of agave as a sweetener or is this a modern industrial food? If there are traditional uses, i would explore those methods of production and see if it is still employed. This is something i am not aware of or familiar with