Battle Over Sweetener Lacks Scientific Basis

Food manufacturers are continuing to remove the sweetener high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from their products, based on the current unpopularity of HFCS with consumers.

HFCS has become the latest boogeyman in the fight against obesity. It's blamed for everything from diabetes, to migraine headaches, to the rise in overweight Americans.

However, according to scientific data high fructose corn syrup reacts within the human body exactly like standard table sugar. As a result food manufacturers may be falsely perpetuating the misconception that this sweetener is unhealthy.

This same practice may also cause problems down the line. First and foremost, one of the main benefits of using high fructose corn syrup is that it's much cheaper than table sugar. While the sugar industry is very much enjoying the current trend away from the corn-based sweetener, many food manufacturers are struggling to absorb the cost.

And when it comes to keeping manufactured foods safe from spoilage, high fructose corn syrup is significantly less likely to become home to microorganisms. The monosaccharides in corn sweetener make it inhospitable to these microbes.

Unfortunately, while the scientific argument regarding high fructose corn syrup is over, this sweetener still has a long way to go before it can recover in the eyes of the public.