Why is there corn syrup in fat free half and half?

How? Because it's pouring rain here and the Independence Day festivities got postponed to tomorrow and I got bored of cleaning the house on a holiday. ;-)

Seriously though, let's suppose that ALL of the 2g of sugars in 2T of LoL "half and half" are from corn syrup. 2T of the corn syrup I have on hand contains 20g sugar, meaning 1T has 10. Or 1t has 3.33g. 2/3.33= .66, which I (aggressively?) rounded down to 1/2 tsp.

BUT, now that you question it, I'm thinking there's a lot less corn syrup in it. Because a cup of skim milk seems to average 12 grams of sugar, which means that if the "half and half" were all skim milk, 2T would have 1.5 grams of sugar from the milk alone. Which means that roughly .5 gram sugar is attributed to corn syrup. So change my calculation to .5/3.33 = .15 which means a smidge over 1/8 tsp of corn syrup per 2 Tbsp serving.

Obviously there are other factors at play, and I'm half asleep as I'm doing the math so I welcome you to call me out on any inaccuracies, but I'd be surprised if I'm far off base by saying that a mere 4% of fat free half and half is corn syrup. The GRAS ingredients cause me more concern, whether warranted or not.

I've never noticed a taste difference in coffee, but then I'm no coffee aficionado and I tend to drink my coffee quite dark anyway. I've never used it in cooking, nor would attempt to.

This post was edited by foodonastump on Sat, Jul 5, 14 at 2:08

Well, I don't exactly know why, but "pure" albeit ultra-pasteurized half and half aggravates my mild lactose intolerance. If you think fat free half and half tastes bad, you've probably not tried some of the milk alternatives for your coffee--rice milk anyone? :( Skim milk is actually one of the worst things for lactose intolerance. But so is any kind of milk really, half and half should be the least bothersome, but for me, it is just the same as all the rest. Don't know why the fat free half and half doesn't bother me, must be the carageenen offsets the lactose! :) I know, drink your coffee black, Lpink! I don't even LIKE coffee, but it is the only hot caffeinated beverage I can drink anymore with my various inflammatory problems. Again, tea is supposed to be very healthy with all the anti-oxidants, but it is something that bothers me the most.

As for "cooking" with fat free half and half, I don't cook with it, but if I have some in the fridge, and I want a bit of "milkiness" in a dish I will splash some in it. I do this mostly for soups and pasta sauces. But not all that often, I only buy fat free half and half occasionally. I can't find it locally right now so I use a mix of half and half and almond milk. I found out on here that soy interferes with thyroid medication, so I had to kick soy milk and soy-based non-dairy creamer to the curb.

I gotta find me a nice dairy farmer to befriend so I can get unpasteurized milk. Actually that doesn't work for me either since I use very little milk overall, just to lighten my coffee. Almost all the coffee "creamers" I buy go bad on me most of the time before I can use them up, hence my experimenting with other uses.

I almost don't want to dive into this conversation... ha ha! I was a half and half 'junkie' for a while - I used a bit in my coffee, and when my milk would go bad, I'd use half and half as a substitute (it just lasts longer). When my cholesterol decided to bump up, I switched to 'fat free' land o lakes half and half (among other changes) to cut back on saturated fats. Initially I thought it tasted unpleasant. But as with many things, one often (not always) gets used to the taste. When I drank more sodas (eons ago) and switched to sugar free, it was nasty, but after a while, it was fine, and now, when I drink a cola, which is not often these days, I refer to it as 'the hard stuff' because it's so sugary to my tastes - and it keeps me awake at night (does this mean I'm getting old?!). Same with the change from whole milk to skim. So, fat free half in half did help lower my cholesterol, among other things, and frankly, eventually tasted just fine, and I was fine with the ingredients - one looks at ingredients when one is cutting back or eliminating in some way.

I have to admit, I'm back to whole milk for the most part, and half and half. And truthfully, full fat half and half initially tasted far too rich. And yes, I keep heavy cream in the fridge too. But having said all this, if someone drinks fat free half and half, I say, fine. It's not nasty. There are nastier things out there. If one doesn't like the taste and prefers the real thing, that's fine too : )

Oh, and lpinkmountain, I agree, I'd far rather have fat free half and half than 2% milk in my coffee too.

Half-and-half may be a common addition to your morning cup of java whether you pour it in at your favorite local coffee shop, at the diner, or in the comfort of your own home. But this ingredient isn't only to sweeten and jazz up your coffee; it's often used in quiches, omelets, soups, and even sauces to give them a creamier texture.

But have you ever asked yourself why it's called "half-and-half"? Half-and-half is a combination of cream and milk. To be exact, according to Bon Appetit, "Half whole milk, half heavy cream. Boom: half-and-half!"

So you may be wondering what happens when companies make a fat-free version? Or how do they make cream fat-free? Well, if you have been buying a fat-free version in an effort to have the delicious taste with fewer calories, you're likely never going to want to buy a non-fat again because the truth isn't very yummy.

Fat-free half-and-half doesn't have any cream

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Fat-free half-and-half is basically skim milk with plenty of additives and sweeteners, such as corn syrup (via The Kitchn). Eck! Now you know that's what has been giving it that sweeter flavor, but those additives aren't good for you. You may have been trading a reduction in calories without realizing you were adding lots of hidden, not-so-great for you ingredients.

According to Bon Appetit, "It looks the same on the shelf, but tastes completely different: artificial, not creamy." It turns out that it's a marketing ploy because it's not made with cream, which is half of what half-and-half is. "It's nonfat milk that's been treated with corn syrup and thickeners to approximate the taste and texture of regular half-and-half, according to The Kitchn.

You likely noticed that the non-fat version had significantly less calories, but it's possible you completely overlooked that the sodium content is double, states The Kitchn. The next time you reach for a the fat-free version of half-and-half, think again because you're likely paying a lot more money for far less liquid, and on top of that, you're getting fat-free milk with additives.

Does fat free half and half have corn syrup?

Does regular half and half have corn syrup?

Why is it so hard to find fat free half and half?

Is there a fat free half and half?