Final answer:
The question focuses on different types of sweeteners, including corn syrup, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, and honey, aiming to understand their composition and implications in the context of food labeling and nutrition.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question pertains to various sweetening substances that might be listed on the Nutrition Facts label of a product like Oreos. These substances include corn syrup, sucrose (table sugar), high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and honey. Each of these sweeteners has different properties and uses in food manufacturing.
Corn syrup is a sweet syrup made from the starch of corn and contains varying amounts of glucose, depending on the processing. Sucrose is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose, with a molecular formula C12H22O11. High fructose corn syrup, which is made by processing corn syrup to increase the level of fructose, has been associated with the obesity crisis due to its widespread use in various food products. Lastly, honey is a natural sweetener produced by bees from flower nectar, and it is composed mainly of fructose and glucose.
Regarding the conversation around these sweeteners, there has been a trend of manufacturers switching back to using natural sugar due to negative perceptions around high fructose corn syrup, as described in a New York Times article. Another interesting fact is that the FDA rejected the rebranding of HFCS as 'corn sugar'. Additionally, sucrose provides about 4 kcal/g of energy, which is typical for carbohydrates.