High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Introduction

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sweetener derived from the industrial processing of corn, increasingly appears on the ingredient lists of American processed foods. Corn syrup began being used in the 1800s, but HFCS was not developed until the 1950s and 1960s. In 1967, HFCS began appearing in U.S. food, and today the average American consumes 63 pounds of the sweetener each year. The development and rise of HFCS in the United States has occurred within the context of an increasingly industrialized and specialized agricultural system. Today, two companies (Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland) buy one-third of all U.S. corn crops and also control the processing steps needed to make HFCS. Corn enters our food system in many forms beyond corn on the cob as cornmeal, corn syrup, cornstarch, and other substances. In addition to contributing to the American obesity epidemic, HFCS production carries adverse environmental effects at each stage of processing (Pollan, p 112-134).

Research Analysis

What the research shows is that high-fructose corn syrup is not the same as regular table sugar, despite the claims of the CRA and advocates of the ingredient. The researchers analyzed the diets and livers of 427 adults with NASH and found that 19 percent of them consumed drinks containing fructose. 52 percent of the subjects consumed between one and six servings of beverages containing fructose per week, while another 29 percent consumed at least one serving per day. The consumption of older patients' fructose worsened the number and severity of injuries to the liver.

Discussion and analysis

In addition to its effects on the environment, HFCS may be having adverse effects on public health. Some consumers and scientists suggest that the rise of obesity and diabetes in the United States is partly attributable to the introduction of HFCS into Americans' diets. Increases in HFCS consumption have not been offset by a decrease in consumption of other sweeteners, meaning that Americans are eating more sweets than ever before.

Use as a Sugar Substitute

In North America, HFCS has begun to replace sugar in various manufacturing processes food. The Canadian soft drink uses about 20 times that of sugar as a sweetening agent. The main reasons for this change are as follows:

HFCS is cheaper because of the abundance of corn, subsidies and taxation of imported sugar,

due to its liquid form,

HFCS is easier to mix and transport than sugar crystallizing

the use of HFCS leads to products with ...