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Aside from the obvious nutritional benefits of ingesting natural sugars from their source, eating foods created from refined sugar of any kind seems to fall firmly within the jurisdiction of the epithet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
This article was written by The Corn Refiners Association so many will choose to take this article with a grain of … sugar, but even though it is written by the most interested party, I am satisfied that my parental questions and objections have been answered with a minimal amount of sugar coating.
Just to be clear, for those who tend to skim instead of read (and then make all kinds of angry comments), this article does not claim that high fructose corn syrup is as healthy as natural sugar consumed concurrent with, say, a slice of watermelon. It simply says that it is no better or worse than any other refined sugar.
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Three top researchers corrected inaccuracies and misunderstandings concerning high fructose corn syrup’s impact on the American diet. They also examined how the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers this sweetener in light of the upcoming 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans in a session, High Fructose Corn Syrup: Sorting Myth from Reality, at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California.
“Contrary to its name, high fructose corn syrup is essentially a corn sugar,” stated sweetener expert John S. White, Ph.D., president of White Technical Research. “Recent marketing claims that sugar is healthier than high fructose corn syrup are misleading to consumers.”
“By every parameter yet measured in human beings, high fructose corn syrup and sugar are identical. This is not surprising since high fructose corn syrup and sugar are metabolized the same by the body, have the same level of sweetness and the same number of calories per gram,” noted James M. Rippe, M.D., cardiologist and biomedical sciences professor at the University of Central Florida.
“This is a marketing issue, not a metabolic issue,” stated David Klurfeld, Ph.D., national program leader for human nutrition in USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and editor of the June 2009 Journal of Nutrition supplement, “The State of the Science on Dietary Sweeteners Containing Fructose,” in response to recent reformulations by manufacturers of products that once contained high fructose corn syrup. “The real issue is not high fructose corn syrup. It’s that we’ve forgotten what a real serving size is. We have to eat less of everything,” he noted.
Increased Caloric Intake, Not a Single Sweetener, the Likely Cause of Obesity
Fructose-containing sweeteners — such as sugar, invert sugar, honey, fruit juice concentrates, and high fructose corn syrup — are essentially interchangeable in composition, calories, and metabolism. Replacing high fructose corn syrup in foods with other fructose-containing sweeteners will provide neither improved nutrition nor a meaningful solution to the obesity crisis, according to Dr. White. “In light of similarities in composition, sweetness, energy content, processing, and metabolism, claims that such sweetener substitutions bring nutritional benefit to children and their families appear disingenuous and misguided,” White says.
Growing Body of Evidence
The American Medical Association helped put to rest a common misunderstanding about high fructose corn syrup and obesity, stating that “high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.” Even former critics of high fructose corn syrup dispelled myths and distanced themselves from earlier speculation about the sweetener’s link to obesity in a comprehensive scientific review published in the December 2008 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
To learn more about the latest research and facts about sweeteners, please visit SweetSurprise.com.
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CRA is the national trade association representing the corn refining (wet milling) industry of the United States. CRA and its predecessors have served this important segment of American agribusiness since 1913. Corn refiners manufacture sweeteners, ethanol, starch, bioproducts, corn oil, and feed products from corn components such as starch, oil, protein, and fiber.
Filed under: Health, Nutrition | Tagged: Health, high fructose corn syrup, Nutrition, sugar
I think a lot of this attitude that high-fructose corn syrup is evil is due the appeal to nature logical fallacy. Sugar is natural, but high-fructose corn syrup has a big, scary chemical-sounding name. Many people still assume that natural is always better, even though that is clearly false.
I like that regular ol’ refined sugar, which is making a comeback. It’s hip right now, until it’s evil again.
I have fond memories of that 70’s/80’s commercial, “Pure cane sugar, that’s Hawaii!”
I like all sugar — high or low fructose corn syrup, refined, brown, powdered etc., hence, why I’m chubby. It’s called overconsumption. (And that’s why the terrorists hate us.)
I think the HFCS issue should not be whether it’s better than “natural” sugar or not. The issue is that it shows up in the darnedest places. Places where you didn’t even expect to find sugar! Like tortilla chips! Or tomato soup.
I’m not a fan of HFCS, but mainly because it’s a poor taste substitute for cane sugar or white sugar. Ever try a Coke made with all sugar instead of HFCS, or a chocolate bar? Tastes totally different. Scientifically they may not be the same, but if we’re talking about quality of food, which is largely based on taste, then my preference is for the white sugar. You use less to achieve the same flavor as HFCS, and it’s tastier.
I am concerned over how HFCS is made, since there is a large amount of mercury used in the synthesis process by several manufacturing sites in the US. While not all sites use the mercury-containing caustic soda to make HFCS, some are and independent tests are showing that its appearing in foods that kids and teens commonly eat. It may be sugar, but it is good for you? It would appear not.
A new study of rats by researchers from the University of Florida suggests that a diet high in fructose may lead the body to develop a resistance to a protein called leptin, which helps control appetite. Some studies indicated HCFS does not metabolize like sugar and contributes to insulin-resistant diabetes.
The problem is that High Fructose Corn Syrup is still a huge unknown. And it’s ubiquitous. Getting information about it from Corn Refiners is tantamount to getting information about tobacco safety from Phillip Morris. I can’t believe you referred us to sweetsurprise.com.
Many flags have been raised that it may not be safe. I am not going to sit around waiting for proof that it is bad for me. At this point, I have to see proof that it isn’t bad for me.
You know that there is a possibility that this stuff is very dangerous. If you continue feeding it to your kids, you’re rolling the dice. We all know it is unknown. The question is how much we are willing to risk.
And nobody is saying it is the worst evil.
The worst evil is Trans Fat.
I’ve not seen a single person say HFCS is anywhere near as bad as trans fat.
What about the mercury?
And the fact that they are using it to sweeten things that just don’t need to be sweetened?
I prefer to skip the added sweeteners and at the very least steer clear of the artificial ones.