• High fructose corn syrup is just sugar
• No significant differences between HFCS and other sweeteners
• Not responsible for obesity
It’s just sugar.
Unfortunately, sugar made from corn, especially high fructose corn syrup, suffers from an image problem. And, even more unfortunate, hordes of folks apparently seeking ways to discredit the American agricultural industry seize on misconceptions and misinformation about the make-up, digestibility and overall health effects of corn syrup to push their cause, whatever it is.
The crusade often blames high fructose corn syrup for the epidemic of obesity in this country, discounting the role of common sense, personal responsibility and exercise. The latest such campaign I’ve noticed is a Facebook page—BAN HFCS.
The page includes such claims as:
Interesting observations, but these assumptions do not mesh with the facts. The amount of fructose in high fructose corn syrup is about the same as sugar and honey. Two formulations of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS 42 and HFCS 55) include respectively, 42 and 55 percent fructose. That compares with 47 percent fructose in honey and 50 percent in table sugar. Agave nectar, a natural sweetener, contains 75 percent fructose.
And not all medical and nutrition experts agree that corn sweetener behaves differently in the digestive system or has a different effect on human health than any other sweetener. For example:
The problem with offering opinions that disagree with any movement’s established dogma is that folks become too entrenched in their own ideologies to consider another point of view. They preach to their own choir and the best we can do, perhaps, is offer another set of facts, supported by acknowledged experts, to prevent that body from growing too big.
It’s just sugar. And like all parts of our diets, it’s up to us to watch how much of it we consume. That means reading labels and adjusting recipes, meals and snacks accordingly. And it doesn’t hurt to walk a few blocks once in a while either.