Should we call it “corn sugar” or “HFCS”? Doesn’t matter. Junk, by any name, is still junk

Their hands were tied. And they knew it.

Last year, the FDA told the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) that food packaging could not list high fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar.”

No way around that, right? CRA’s long-standing request hit the FDA brick wall. End of story.

Well… No. Hardly.

Turns out, it’s the FDA with hands tied. Not CRA.

You might have noticed that CRA is still running TV commercials that call HFCS “corn sugar.”

How do they get away with it? Easy. The FDA doesn’t regulate commercials. That’s the FTC’s job. And so far, the FTC hasn’t called out CRA on their easy use of the phrase “corn sugar.”

According to The Consumerist, the agency isn’t likely to rule on this issue anytime soon. Two reasons…

1) The ads use “corn sugar” almost as if it’s a slang term. Nobody is saying it’s the “official” designation for HFCS.

2) HFCS isn’t a product. You can’t go to the store and buy a jar of HFCS. So the ads aren’t trying to sell you “corn sugar.”

But something is for sale. The ads are trying to sell all of us on the IDEA of corn sugar.

So when they show a handsome farmer dad and his adorable little girl out walking in a cornfield, stay strong! Resist the rise of warm-n-fuzzy emotions!

All they want to do is get inside your mind and plant the simple deception that “corn sugar” is the same thing as cane sugar.

It’s not. Don’t buy it.

Sources:
“Why Is Big Corn Continuing To Run ‘Corn Sugar’ Ads Even After FDA Denial” Chris Morran, The Consumerist, 6/8/12, consumerist.com