Because Americans are eating less high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the makers of HFCS want to change its name to “corn sugar” to improve its image and sales. On September 14, 2010, the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use the new name on food labels.
While the FDA could take a couple of years to decide whether to accept the change, the CRA is already using the name in a new, aggresive marketing campaign on its website and in TV commercials.
Using “corn sugar” just confuses the consumer because the term sounds like something natural. There’s nothing natural about HFCS, though, because it’s a heavily processed product and does not occur naturally. See the article “The High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Debate.”
Does HFCS cause more health problems than other sugars? Some studies suggest that it does, others don’t. Unfortunately, makers and soft drink companies paid for some of the research that suggests HFCS doesn’t pose additional health risks. Can we trust this research? I don’t know because I haven’t reviewed it. However, after pouring through study after study in other nutritional areas, I’ve come to realize that we shouldn’t trust most studies due to poor experimentation practices, sweeping generalizations in conclusions not supported by the data, lack of ethics in performing objective experiments, etc. An international gathering of scientists several years ago came to the same conclusion about most nutritional studies.
My advice is to avoid processed foods as much as possible, which includes HFCS. However, it’s best to avoid as much sugar as possible. Sugar, no matter what type, causes a lot of problems in the body. Read my article “A Funny Thing Happened before Drinking an Orange Juice” to find out more about the various problems.