High Fructose Corn Syrup takes a well-deserved nosedive

The Long Goodbye

When people are at the end of their rope and about to snap, they often say slightly irrational things.

That’s what seems to be going on in the corn refinery industry–the folks that make and market high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

At the recent Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit, a representative for Cargill North American (a corn milling company) commented on the declining demand for HFCS. He said: “While there has been a decline in that area, it does feel like it is starting to slow down.”

So…the HFCS nosedive “feels like” a slower nosedive? Well! That IS impressive. High five, Cargill!

At the same summit, Audrae Erickson of the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) had this to say: “We have seen an increase in consumer understanding on HFCS following our nationwide educational campaign. Consumers better understand that a sugar is a sugar.”

Even though that sounds like a thinly-veiled threat (you can imagine Audrae shaking her fist: They just BETTER understand!), I’m pretty sure she’s saying consumers now have a better understanding. Or at least some of them have a better understanding of what CRA WANTS them to understand.

The CRA position: HFCS is chemically similar to sugar. That is, it’s about half glucose and about half fructose. And this comparison to sugar is supposed to be a GOOD thing, as if sugar were some sort of health food.

But then they want it both ways. Because when it comes time to sell their product to the food industry, HFCS is not like sugar at all. It’s less expensive to process and has a longer shelf life.

So SOMETHING different is going on. And that difference, however slight, appears to add up to significant health concerns.

For instance, in a new study, Duke University Medical Center researchers gathered dietary information from more than 400 subjects with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. NAFLD is triglyceride fat accumulation in the livers of people who drink little or no alcohol. In advanced cases, inflammation and scarring destroy liver cells.

The Duke team found that more than 80 percent of the subjects drank HFCS beverages, and nearly 30 percent said they did so every day. Liver scarring was most pronounced in those with the highest HFCS intake.

Another pair of studies from Princeton shows how HFCS might prompt fat buildup in the liver.

In the first study, rats given water sweetened with HFCS gained significantly more weight compared to rats given sugar water. And in the second study, rats with access to HFCS for six months not only gained considerable weight, but also showed signs of developing metabolic syndrome, including a high increase of triglycerides.

Add these to previous studies that link HFCS intake to insulin resistance and high blood pressure, and you can see why someone would say some odd things if they were in the unenviable position of having to sell you on HFCS.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Sources:
“HFCS Education Slows Demand Decline” Stephen Daniells, NutraIngredients-USA, 3/1/9/10, nutraingredients-usa.com
“High Fructose Corn Syrup Linked to Liver Scarring” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay News, 3/19/10, healthday.com
“A Sweet Problem: Princeton Researchers Find that High- Fructose Corn Syrup Prompts Considerably More Weight Gain” Hilary Parker, News at Princeton, 3/22/10, princeton.edu