I was talkin’ to you Ms. Coffee. 
I’ve had a similar problem shopping for canned fruit for my toddler son.
You’d think fruit packed in it’s own juice would be the norm. Nope.
Packed in heavy syrup. Packed in light syrup. No sugar added (sweetened with Splenda).
I have to literally hunt down the rare cans that are 100% fruit in their own juice.
And those convenient little single servings of fruit in the multi packs? All of them are packed in high fructose corn syrup. I’ve never found them without it. (I’m looking at you DelMonte & Dole)
Heave you tried buying ‘applesauce’ lately? It’s the same story with regard to sugars and sweeteners. What the fuck is so hard about cooking up some apples, mashing em up, and putting them in a jar?
You can get jars of applesauce which have an ingredient list of “apples, water”. That’s all we ever bought when I was a kid, so I was literally in college before I actually looked at the applesauce in stores and saw that there were sugared versions. I never understood why. Apples are sweet enough on their own, and you can add some damn sugar your own self if you want.
You know where I’ve had the best luck with that? Dollar stores. Seriously. 2 cans for a dollar for pineapple rings in real pineapple juice. Peaches or pears in pear juice, fruit cocktail in pear juice again. No colors or flavorings or sweeteners added.
Of course, they’re probably dripping in lead solder from cans made in China, but at least there’s no HFC in lead!
You CAN, but not everywhere, and you have to read labels very carefully. You find a lot of
SUGAR-FREE APPLESAUCE
with Splenda!
Where in the past the same exact label (minus the Splenda star), same colors, same fonts, meant Apples, Citric Acid and Water. Now that’s called ‘Natural Style’, except when it isn’t.
I’ve been trying to drink more fruit juices, and I’ve learned that anything described as juice “cocktail” with have HFC in it. And of course, that’s what the stores are more likely to have on sale. I’ve also had to watch out for “100% of your daily Vitamin C requirement” as opposed to “100% Fruit Juice”.
It’s true, I can confirm this. The majority of their canned fruit is in natural juice and they have some other interesting imported fruit items very cheap, as well.
Mr Coffee is percolating with rage.
Well, you know what they say… “When Juan Valdez is out picking beans, the devil will convene to get into Ms. Coffee’s jeans.”
I’m going to have to keep this in mind for my 16 month old. I’m having a hard time finding any fruit without HFCS, too. He likes fresh fruit, but still has gagging issues from his reflux, so it’s easier on him if it’s softer fruit.
The applesauce thing pisses me off. I stock up on the ‘natural’ stuff in the cups when it’s on sale because I have no idea why anyone thinks children need applesauce with added sugar. We put a little cinnamon on top and he thinks it’s manna from the gods.
My mom kind of rolls her eyes at the natural/organic stuff we buy now, but a lot of it is because we’re trying to avoid HFCS as much as possible, and even friggin’ CRACKERS have it.
Have you looked at bread labels lately? Damned near impossible to buy bread without HFCS in it!
Yes. Honestly, I’m so not Suzy Homemaker, but I’ve considered making my own bread. I’m noticing a huge change in the way my body reacts to hunger if I avoid foods with HFCS, and I can’t see a reason not to try to eliminate it completely if possible.