Sweet and Lowdown: High Fructose Corn Syrup Digs In

The other day I found myself hungry and in a health food store. While this could have been an expensive predicament, as I could have gorged myself on an array of premium prepared foods, I knew this was just an in between meals/post work out sort of hunger that could easily be addressed and satiated by a minuscule, but carbohydrate-rich, snack. I spied a shelf full of Tiger’s Milk Bars, which used to be a health food store mainstay back in the 70s (actually, it used to be the only energy bar option out there) and so I figured something with this pedigree, while maybe not entirely healthy, would be at least healthful.

Within moments after purchasing, I thought to take a look at the ingredients of this Protein Rich Tiger’s Milk Bar. Guess what the first ingredient was? Sugar? No, that would be so 1970s. Try high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The very first and more prominent ingredient is HFCS! Where have all the flowers gone, indeed!

Since I first reported on the health concerns surrounding HFCS there has been a notable and vocal movement to combat the ubiquity of HFCS and an ongoing attempt to get it out of the majority of processed food products. In an effort to address concerns and skepticism about the inclusion of HFCS in all manner of sodas, salad dressings, breads, cereals, etc, the Corn Refiners Association produced a series of cynical ads trying to bolster the image of HFCS and gain some spin control (note: after publishing a criticism of the Corn Refiners Association’s ad campaign, I received a direct email from them asking me to reconsider my stance).

If anything, this wound up intensifying the backlash and gave marching orders to a growing mainstream opposition of outraged consumers who want HFCS out of their favorite products and sugar in its place. Major companies have seemingly been listening to the determined criticism and concern and just recently ConAgra decided to reformulate one of its biggest brands, replacing the high-fructose corn syrup in Hunt’s ketchup with old-fashioned sugar. According to the New York Times, Gatorade, several Kraft salad dressings, Wheat Thins, Ocean Spray cranberry juice, Pepsi Throwback, Mountain Dew Throwback and the baked goods at Starbucks, to name a few, have all followed suit and are all now made with regular sugar. One of the results of this controversy is that bulk HFCS sales are significantly down (down 9 percent in 2009) and are expected to decline further this year.

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Antoinette R.

4:40PM PDT on Aug 26, 2010

great post

send a green star

Jim S.

6:21PM PDT on Jun 13, 2010

Hi Inez, what does aspartame have to do with this?

Inez Deborah A.

5:57PM PDT on Jun 13, 2010

The less sweetening the better, and I long suspected aspartame might be dangerous and now thye have found out it is

10:28AM PDT on Jun 9, 2010

The intensity of most flavors depends on context - i.e. whether it's mixed with salts or fats, how well-dissolved or emulsified it is, etc. (Of course, individual nueral acclimation and genetics probably plays a role too.)

In fact, one thing I can't the food industry for lying about is that the government's effort to get them to cut back on salt will be a really tricky proposition, because it enhances the perception of so many other things, including sweetness! Cutting back on either sugar or salt can be done, but both at the same time and they'll have an American revolt on their hands!

That said, conventional widsom and food-formulator types is that fructose is the sweetest sugar, gram for gram, which is why the mere 20-25 grams of fructose sugar in an apple or other fruit can be so sweet. So, I would expect HFCS to be pretty sweet as well. Certainly, if you ever tasted the bottled corn syrup sold as a retail sweetener (which is pretty close to HFCS), you'll be zinged by how sweet it is.

Stephen W.

7:21AM PDT on Jun 9, 2010

@Betsy - sugar and HFCS are *not* equally sweet (at least to me). Sugar definitely tastes sweeter to me so I can use less and get the same sweetness.

Do you have any links to the research showing no difference in metabolism? Last I heard, it was still a debated subject on if there was a difference and how much difference it made. I've read at least one study (no saved links and memory of source is gone) claiming exactly the opposite - that there is a different metabolism for HFCS vs sugar (since the sugars in sugar are bonded and must be broken down before absorption) though they did not have a conclusion on if it was significant.

For me personally, I definitely gain weight (or at least maintain it) more easily on HFCS. I tend to have very regular routine (including foods eaten and similar) and if I do nothing except change from HFCS soda to sugar soda (when both varieties of Pepsi products were available), I lose a small amount of weight.

Betsy H.

6:03AM PDT on Jun 9, 2010

Reformulating products to remove high fructose corn syrup misleads consumers into thinking that products sweetened with other sweeteners, such as sugar, are healthier. Yet, there is no scientific basis to suggest that baked goods, juice drinks, and other products made with sugar are ‘healthier.’ So why the switch? It’s about marketing, not metabolism. Perception has become reality in the minds of consumers, despite the fact that both table sugar and HFCS are equally sweet, contain 4 calories per gram, and research confirms there is no difference in how the body metabolizes high fructose corn syrup, sugar, or honey. Table sugar is also refined (processed) and offers no nutritional advantage.

Grace J.

12:18PM PDT on Jun 7, 2010

about time, HFCS is poison but it doesn't kill u quickly it also seems that it is more troublesome for some than others

Julia W.

12:39AM PDT on Jun 5, 2010

There is a difference. Just look at the connection between time-frame when HFCS began saturating our food supply, and the time-frame when obesity and diabetes levels skyrocketed. I'll take the devil I know, thanks. We've been using sugar for centuries (in smaller quantities, yes), and we didn't have the massive health crisis we have now. It's at least worth a shot. The crisis is so bad, we have to try something.

Linda J.

12:20PM PDT on Jun 3, 2010

thanks

11:29AM PDT on Jun 3, 2010

@Consumer F: Yes, HFCS is different. Sugar tastes sweeter per calorie so less can be used to maintain the same sweetness. HFCS is corn-based so far more people are allergic to it. Sugar is a bonded molecule which is harder for your body to absorb (if it's enough harder to make any substantive difference is an open question).

In my small study of one (me), doing everything the same but switching from Mt Dew (HFCS) to Mt Dew Throwback (Sugar) in the same amounts does make a small (2-3 lbs) difference in weight maintained. Nothing else was changed - just switching from HFCS sweetened Mt Dew to sugar sweetened Mt Dew (both with identical calorie counts as Pepsi did not take advantage of sugar being sweeter to lessen the calories).