High Fructose Corn Syrup Seeks to Become Corn Sugar?
I know I’m a few weeks behind on this but we should all congratulate ourselves. I guess all the bad press for high fructose corn syrup is beginning to pay off. So much so that the Corn Refiners group is asking the government to let them change the name of high fructose corn syrup to corn sugar. They are saying that sugar is sugar. To me this is the same thing the government did with Adult and Juvenile onset diabetes. When our diets got so bad that we gave a supposedly adult disease to children, the government reacted by changing the name.
Now that high fructose corn syrup has been questioned and villified, what do they want to do? Hide behind a different name. Check out the press release courtesy of Stone Hearth Newsletters.
Press Release from the Corn Refiners Association
Washington, DC – In an effort to help clarify the labeling of food products for consumers, the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) today petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow manufacturers the option of using ‘corn sugar’ as an alternative name for high fructose corn syrup.
“Consumers need to know what is in their foods and where their foods come from and we want to be clear with them,” said CRA president Audrae Erickson. “The term ‘corn sugar’ succinctly and accurately describes what this natural ingredient is and where it comes from – corn.”
Contrary to widespread consumer belief, high fructose corn syrup – a safe and affordable natural sweetener found in many popular products on grocery shelves – is not high in fructose when compared with other commonly used nutritive sweeteners, including table sugar, honey and fruit juice concentrates. Like table sugar, it is roughly half glucose and half fructose and is metabolized by the body in the same way as regular table sugar. In fact, the high fructose corn syrup that is used in many foods, such as baked goods, is lower in fructose than table sugar.
But independent research demonstrates that the current labeling is confusing to American consumers.
For example, independent research indicated that despite the fact that high fructose corn syrup and table sugar contain approximately the same amount of fructose, nearly 58 percent of respondents believed high fructose corn syrup has more fructose than other table sugar.
Corn sugar – or high fructose corn syrup – has been used for more than 40 years to enhance flavors in foods and beverages and maintain freshness.
A continuing series of inexact scientific reports and inaccurate media accounts about high fructose corn syrup and matters of health and nutrition have also increased consumer uncertainty.
Yet, the facts are straightforward. For example, in a December 2008 report, the American Dietetic Association confirmed that high fructose corn syrup is “nutritionally equivalent to sucrose (table sugar)” and that the sweeteners contain the same number of calories per gram. The ADA found that “once absorbed into the bloodstream, the two sweeteners are indistinguishable.”
As Americans grapple with an “obesity epidemic,” well-renowned nutritionists question whether sweetener confusion could lead consumers to make misinformed decisions about sugars in their diets.
“The last thing we want is for Americans to think that avoiding high fructose corn syrup is the answer,” said Registered Dietitian Carolyn O’Neil. “All added sugars should be consumed in moderation – corn sugar, table sugar, honey and fruit juice concentrates. These sugars contain an equal number of calories that must be burned off– or the body will convert them to fat.”
“We hope that the FDA will act positively on our petition in the interest of consumer clarity,” said Erickson.
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The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) is the national trade association representing the corn refining (wet milling) industry of the United States. CRA and its predecessors have served this important segment of American agribusiness since 1931. Corn refiners manufacture sweeteners, ethanol, starch, bioproducts, corn oil, and feed products from corn components such as starch, oil, protein and fiber.
As usual the ADA and RD’s line right up with the corn lobby. I’ll bet they are a sponsor and have a nice display at the ADA Convention.
Michael Boyle's Strengthcoach.com Blog 
October 24, 2010 at 12:29 am
What a bunch of BS, the government should be doing things to help the people, not the Corn Refiners Association. I recently moved to Europe and I am so glad that high fructose corn syrup is not allowed here. It is not contained in anything and I don’t have to constantly be checking labels for it. Funny how Europeans are much slimmer than Americans… I know this is not the only reason, but it is certainly one of the factors.
October 22, 2010 at 1:36 am
Do you have the study reference? That would be a good one to have.
October 21, 2010 at 8:22 pm
I am floored! I can’t believe the claims I’m hearing here! Outrageous! I’m walking talking proof that eliminating High Fructose corn syrup (as well as avoiding all hydrogenated oils and a couple of other things) can help a person shed 95 pounds and go from size 18 to 6 in less than 4 years. Actions speak louder than words. The FDA is practicing a move like…if the rats get too smart to eat the poison…convince them it’s something else that’s safe to eat. If High Fructose Corn Syrup is safe to eat, then why do they find the need to chang it’s name to something that already exists. We already have something called corn sugar. I mean…really?!?!?!?!
October 21, 2010 at 7:27 pm
I read about this too, Mike. It’s all about the economic bottomline for these people. Denial mode too – fancy renaming exercises, vanity sizing on clothing and the like. Thanks for posting the latest update. Rock on.
Rick Kaselj
of ExercisesForInjuries.com
October 21, 2010 at 6:10 pm
They seem to ignore the study out of Princeton just last year that showed that rats fed HFCS get fat, while those fed twice the concentration of sucrose do not. HFCS has profound effects that drive eating that makes it more than just sugar. Just look at it on the glycemic index, off the charts! I imagine the Gov’t will give them what they want, though.
October 20, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Whew, John was venting but not too far off base I don’t believe. If you look at any institutional food menu it is downright scary…processed carbs, sugar, high starch, etc. I know why….it’s cheap, plain and simple. But iti is inexpensive in the short term and disastrous and expensive in the long term.
And the CRA’s statements are misleading and disingenuous. Let’s assume HFCS is metabolized just like sugar. The point is there is too much sugar in our food system…regardless of the form it’s in.
October 20, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Its scary. I know one RD who was threatened for recommending too much protein. The best nutritionists I know are often not RD’s. Have you read The End of OverEating? Scary book. Billions of dollars are spent in the assisted suicide we call “dining out”.
October 20, 2010 at 1:05 pm
When training to be a dietician in 2001, which was only 9 years ago, these drones were still promoting trans fats in the form of “fortified margarine.” They put a Holy white jacket on my and I was supposed to tell someone with heart disease to eat orange juice, jelly, cereal, bread and milk all at one sitting for breakfast. I took my professor aside, a dietician drone with a Master’s degree, phD, etc. and explained to her this breakfast was too high in carbohydrates and asked her if I give them a menu that would actually control their blood sugar. She said I must say whatever is on that paper. I have that paper as proof how backwards the American Dietetic Association was. I quit school that day. Being a dietician would be like admitting you train at the weakest karate school on the block. Running all the food operations in public schools, nursing homes and hospitals is nothing to brag about. Government beurocrat dieticians are destroying our country.