Stretch Armstrong keeps best at room temperature. Stretch Armstrong is made of latex rubber filled with gelled corn syrup, which allows it to retain shape for a short time before shrinking to its original shape. An estimated 67 different versions from Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Australia, and other countries released Stretch Armstrong variations between 1976 and the 1990s. The last two were filled with a granular solid in place of the viscous liquid found in the other figures. A vacuum pump, which attached to the heads of these figures, removed the air from within, which "froze" the toy in its stretched position.
High-fructose corn syrup grown steadily during the early 21st century. In the U.S., HFCS is among the sweeteners that mostly replaced sucrose (table sugar) in the food industry. Factors in the rise of HFCS use include production quotas of domestic sugar, import tariff on foreign sugar, and subsidies of U.S. corn, raising the price of sucrose and lowering that of HFCS, making it cheapest for many sweetener applications. The relative sweetness of HFCS 55, used most commonly in soft drinks, is comparable to sucrose. HFCS (and/or standard corn syrup) is the primary ingredient in most brands of commercial "pancake syrup", as a less