Sugar Wars: Industry front group defends high fructose corn syrup

Big Corn is fighting it out with the Big Apple in ad wars. Last year, the Corn Refiners Association launched a series of ads defending the processed sweetener against its attackers. This year, The New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene launched ads asking subway riders if they were "pouring on the pounds." The posters depict a bottle of soda, sports drink, or sweetened ice tea morphing into blobs of fat as it’s poured into a glass. Now, the deceptively named Center for Consumer Freedom is getting in on the food fight.

The group—which according to SourceWatch was founded with tobacco industry funding and has been financed in the past by sweetened-beverage companies, including Coca-Cola, among other major food industry players—launched it’s own poster in New York asking "Big Apple or Big Brother?" Now the group has launched a million dollar ad campaign defending high fructose corn syrup.

The SweetScam campaign includes this ad, which depicts a sugar cube, a honey bear, and an ear of corn in a police line-up for causing weight gain. The "victim" isn’t sure which culprit is to blame, but thinks it might be the corn because he’s "seen that high fructose corn syrup guy on the news." The police officer informs him they all have the same calories, and are "processed by the body the same way too." He releases the sticky suspects after determining that the victim is "making this stuff up without any proof."

The point is summed up as "a sugar is a sugar." To a certain extent that’s true—and most Americans would do well to consume less of all of them. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American should consume no more than about 40 grams (approximately 10 teaspoons) of added sugars a day–added sugars don’t include those that occur naturally in fruit and other foods. But the average American consumes more than twice that amount about 22 teaspoons per day, and adolescent boys between 14 and 18 consume more than three times more, about 34 teaspoons per day.

I’m still not sure what crime high fructose corn syrup was charged with in the ad. If the infraction is that the sweetener is chemically worse for you than table sugar, you’d have to let the corn guy go due to lack of evidence. The two sweeteners are almost identical chemically, both about half fructose and half glucose. While high-fructose corn syrup has been implicated in a rise in type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other health problems, there's no clear evidence that it increases their risk more than regular sugar does. Instead, the association may simply reflect the fact that we consume so much of it.

And that’s where high fructose corn syrup’s guilt lies—it’s everywhere. Manufacturers began substituting high-fructose corn syrup for white sugar in the 1970s, mainly in beverages and processed sweets. Because it costs less and helps extend a product's shelf life its use has soared. It is the primary sweetener of food industry choice in most soft drinks and a common one in other foods, including breakfast cereals, salad dressings, cheese spreads, yogurts, jams, peanut butter, and bread. Chances are—if the victim in the ad gained weight from eating too much food, rather than not getting enough exercise, high fructose corn syrup and sugar could both be culprits—but because it’s in more foods, high fructose corn syrup may very likely deserve a greater share of the blame.

—Kevin McCarthy, associate editor

Read more on the whole truth about high-fructose corn syrup, and see our report on cereals for kids and our cereal Ratings (subscribers only).

Photo courtesy of kaibara87

Comments

[Audrae Erickson]

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data show that per capita consumption of sugar has always exceeded the per capita consumption of high fructose corn syrup. In fact, consumption of this corn sweetener has declined since its peak in 1999. According to USDA estimates, annual per capita consumption of high fructose corn syrup for 2008 was 37.8 pounds. The 2008 sugar consumption estimate was over 9 pounds greater at 47.2 pounds per person.

High fructose corn syrup is used in the food supply because of its many functional benefits. For example, it retains moisture in bran cereals, helps keep breakfast and energy bars moist, maintains consistent flavors in beverages and keeps ingredients evenly dispersed in condiments. High fructose corn syrup enhances spice and fruit flavors in yogurts and marinades. In salad dressings and spaghetti sauce, it improves flavor by reducing tartness. In addition to its excellent browning characteristics for breads and baked goods, it is a highly fermentable nutritive sweetener and prolongs product freshness.

It is true that this highly versatile ingredient performs numerous functions besides sweetening that make it useful in many food preparations. But it does so in most cases using very small amounts. Taking bran cereal as an example, Americans would need to eat 87 bowls in a single day to reach the recommended daily allowance of added sugars from high fructose corn syrup. For bread, they would need to eat 39 slices. For spaghetti sauce - 20 servings. For salad dressing - 50 servings.

As many dietitians agree, all sugars should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced lifestyle.

Consumers can see the latest research and learn more about high fructose corn syrup at www.SweetSurprise.com.

Audrae Erickson
President
Corn Refiners Association

[Esteban]

So wait a minute -- if we got rid of HFCS, wouldn't we just be drinking (and eating) more regular sugar? And wouldn't that be just as bad?

So why make this one sweetener into a whipping-boy? It's like saying we should eat less steak and more pot roast. The only people in this debate who make sense to me are the folks saying that there's no difference. Because there isn't.