Corn Syrup Wars Rage On

There's an ongoing controversy over whether high-fructose corn syrup is nutritionally equivalent to sugar. A constant back-and-forth on how bad — or not bad — for us HFCS actually is has left consumers harboring a distrust for the corn-based sweetener.

Many scientists say that sugar and HFCS are equally bad for us. Other, albeit small, studies have shown that the two are metabolized slightly differently, to HFCS's disadvantage. In all the confusion, shoppers are still suspicious, and soda companies are responding to consumers' skepticism by launching sugar-based sodas, like Pepsi's new "vintage" drinks.

Over the years, various industry groups have tried to convince the public that HFCS is nothing to worry about. Perhaps you've already seen the latest attempt, by the Corn Refiners Association, in a series of TV ads in which incredibly happy and earnest people tell each other that HFCS is nutritionally equivalent to sugar. The campaign, called "Sweet Surprise," includes a sunny website peddling "The facts about high-fructose corn syrup."

Of course, all this energy spent on debating which sweetener is worse distracts attention from what we should really be discussing: We should be consuming fewer sweets. This is unfortunately not a straight-forward issue of cutting back on how many lumps you put in your tea. As Time magazine wrote in 2008,

Because high-fructose corn syrup extends the shelf life of foods, and farm subsidies make it cheaper than sugar, it's added to a staggering range of items, including fruity yogurts, cereals, crackers, ketchup and bread — and in most foods marketed to children. So, unless you're making a concerted effort to avoid it, it's pretty difficult to consume high-fructose corn syrup in moderation.

What we really need is a consumer attention on getting the sweeteners out of our food. If we eat way too much sweetener, no matter what kind it is, we will be damaging our health.

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