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High fructose corn syrup is something that we commonly hear we should avoid. When we ask why, we're told that it's bad for us. But is it really that bad? The New York Times takes a look at that question by going straight to the source and talking to the scientists who put out some of the first research linking HFCS to obesity, as well as many other members of the scientific and medical community.
Basically, the upshot of all this hype is that high fructose corn syrup isn't that bad - certainly no worse than other forms sugar. In fact, it is only high in fructose when compared to regular corn syrup and actually has less than table sugar. This doesn't mean that the medical community isn't saying it is health food, but experts like Dr. Walter Willett, the chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health, say '"There's no substantial evidence to support the idea that high-fructose corn syrup is somehow responsible for obesity," and seem to believe that we would still have an obesity problem if all the HFCS in food disappeared overnight.
More recent medical studies, instead of focusing on HFCS specifically, have looked at products that have added sugar in any form and recommend that they all be consumed minimally, whether the sweetener comes from corn, cane, beet or other sources.
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7-03-2006 @10:25AM mr.kaiser said... I believe however the problem with high fructose corn syrup is its ubiquity. American consume HFCS in just about everything and having a diet based on a single product isn't health in and of itself, even if one was to only consume carrots.
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7-03-2006 @11:02AM Milem said... Sugar still tastes much better than high-fructose corn syrup. You can tell the difference, for example, when you taste a Mexican or European Coke--both are made with sugar instead of the HFCS used in the U.S. formula.
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7-03-2006 @12:00PM d.s. said... doesn't anyone wonder where the stuff comes from or how its made? surely it doesn't grow in a field! what little i have learned isn't comforting...
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7-03-2006 @12:44PM Brighella said... My objection to high fructose corn syrup is its origins - from corn that is more than likely Genetically Modified. Its not the sweet thats bad, its removing the water and the fiber that balances the sugars. I also agree with the comment that its in EVERYTHING. Just try to avoid it, and you'll find yourself staying away from just about any kind of packaged processed foods
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7-03-2006 @1:05PM Dmnkly said... Good article, though I'm sure those who are certain HFCS is evil and the root of the nation's health problems won't let a little science get in the way of that belief.
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7-03-2006 @1:26PM fred said... Also a large concern is what type of corn the syrup was derived from. Was it an unadulterated strain of corn? Was it GMO? What else might be creeping into our diet with the syrup?
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7-03-2006 @2:21PM Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said... "Just try to avoid it, and you'll find yourself staying away from just about any kind of packaged processed foods"
Shouldn't we be trying to do that anyway?
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7-03-2006 @2:39PM Matt said... It's the third page of the article that comes closest to the real problem: HFCS is much cheaper than regular (cane or beet) sugar. That, combined with the fact that it's a hygroscopic fluid that helps keep foods moist, means that it's a godsend to the processed food industry. They can afford to put HFCS in thousands of products for which sugar would be too expensive, and they do.
(This, by the way, is only a side effect of the fact that there's subsidized price floor for sugar in this country. In other countries, sugar is much cheaper than HFCS. That's why Coke and Pepsi bottled outside the US use 100% sugar, not HFCS of any kind.)
Sugar is hygroscopic too, but HFCS has properties that make food processors love it a bit more. They put it in more foods and market them more aggressively, and they work pretty hard to hide how much sugar is in a product. Again, Marion Nestle really takes this on in her new book "What to Eat" - she points out over and over again that the food industry keeps saying "exercise personal responsibility" while doing its best not to give you the information you need to do that. Sure, all sugars should be consumed in moderation - but when you're facing a food label that has seven different names for "sugars" on it, it's an uphill battle.
The food industry's response: that's your problem, you irresponsible eater.
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7-03-2006 @4:42PM Dmnkly said... Brighella...
I'd very much like to hear from somebody who is an authority on the subject (I most certainly am not), but I suspect it's irrelevant whether the corn used is organic or GMO or from Mars. I'm uncertain of just how free of impurities HFCS generally is, but if the resulting syrup is simply fructose and glucose, wouldn't that mean it's going to be exactly the same regardless of the corn used? Similarly, if you took the most idyllic crystal clear mountain spring water and a bucketful of sewage, removed all of the impurities from both and then distilled the result to get pure H2O, the two would be completely indistinguishable, would they not?
To be clear, I do not know the answer. All I mean to suggest is that the assumption that different source corn results in a different end product is not necessarily correct.
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7-05-2006 @2:23AM kitchenmage said... Dmknkly,
There are questions, at least for me, that go beyond the purity of the end product. If the corn is indeed GMO, then it raises questions of the impact on the greater eco-system during growing as well. Deaths of butterflies that feed on the corn have been reported, as well as cross-pollination with non-GMO'd crops.
Since the latter can result in the 'owner' of the GMO'd corn, going afer a neighboring farmer for financial "damages" based on their unwittingly having the GMO'd corn in their field, you can see how there are additional issues here for some folks.
I'm also not sure that it's true that your clean water from sewage is actually exactly the same as the non-sewage water. I am betting there are traces of things that used to be things you really wouldn't want to drink. So maybe we're talking comfort thresholds here, how many particles derived from dissolved sh...--you know what I mean--how many particles per glass of water are you willing to tolerate? I'm pretty intolerant of untested changes to the planetary habitat, no matter how safe Monsanto says it is. And turning what used to be the bread basket into the "corn for secondary uses" center because it's useful for a handful of businesses/folks doesn't seem like it's a wise idea.
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7-05-2006 @2:08PM Dmnkly said... Kitchenmage...
Heh... well, we could discuss the public's uninformed and irrational paranoia when it comes to the subject of trace amounts of fecal matter, but that's another matter entirely :-)
You are correct, however, that I erred in assuming that Brighella was referring to health concerns. She may very well have been referring to a myriad of other issues.
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7-05-2006 @2:21PM Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said... "The food industry's response: that's your problem, you irresponsible eater."
You mean it's NOT my responsibility to watch what I eat? Cool! Who do I sue, and how much can I get?
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7-10-2006 @9:57PM Michelle O'Brien said... I am curious to know how 7-Up soda gets away with the new 100% Natural campaign...being that one of the ingredients is the HFCS...it sounds to me that saying it is "natural" is a bit of a stretch???
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8-10-2006 @3:14PM Diane said... I was watching Oprah, Dr. Oz says that HFCS prevents the body from breaking down fats that we ingest. It's no wonder that americans are getting obese. Have you ever looked at the lables on the foods you eat. HFCS is in almost everything processed from soft drinks to jellies to speghetti sause. I say plain sugar is getting a bad rap, granted we should not consume to much, although we americans on average per year consume about 15 to 20 pounds per year.
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8-17-2006 @7:37PM Greg Deeter said... While I am not certain if corn syrup is actually "illegal" in Europe, I was just in France, Germany and Austria last month and when trying the sodas there, loved them. When reading the labels I discovered that they contain sugar, not HFCS. I hate the sticky after-taste of corn syrup. Our entire family used to drink Dr. Pepper but when it too switched to corn syrup. that ruined the taste and hardly anyone drinks it anymore because of that.
Anyway, in Germany they have an excellent soda that is actually a combination of Fanta Orange and Fanta Cola, and of course with real sugar. Loved those! Wish we had real sodas in Texas.
Greg
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