What's So Bad About High Fructose Corn Syrup?

By Joyce Hendley, May/June 2009

The truth behind the buzz about this controversial sweetener.

READER'S COMMENT:

"I love all of you people that are smart enough to understand that, this entire article is a sham, provided by a company that creates sugar for a living. It makes me think there is hope out there.

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Glossary of Sugars

Glucose

A so-called “simple” sugar naturally found in all foods that have carbohydrate. Starch (e.g., in potatoes, pasta) is many glucose molecules linked together.

Fructose

Another simple sugar, fructose is often called “fruit sugar” because it’s the main type of natural sugar in fruits (and honey).

Sucrose

A natural “complex” sugar that’s about half glucose, half fructose (two “simple sugars”); it’s extracted from sugar cane and sugar-beet plants and refined to make “table sugar.”

Corn Syrup

A syrup used mostly in baking that’s virtually all glucose; it’s made by extracting and breaking down starch from corn into separate glucose molecules.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

First available in 1967 and used by commercial food manufacturers, it’s made by converting some of corn syrup’s glucose into fructose. High-fructose corn syrup is high in fructose only in relation to plain corn syrup; chemically, it’s very similar to sucrose: about 50/50 glucose and fructose.