Critics and competitors of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), notably the sugar industry, have for many years used various public relations campaigns to claim the sweetener causes certain health conditions, despite the lack of scientific evidence that HFCS differs nutritionally from sugar. [1] The HFCS industry has tried to respond to these campaigns with their own efforts.
In May 2006, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) threatened to file a lawsuit against Cadbury Schweppes for labeling 7 Up as "All Natural" or "100% Natural", [2] despite the presence of high-fructose corn syrup. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has no general definition of "natural"; however, FDA regulations define "natural flavoring" to include products of vegetables. [3] Current FDA policy is that it does not object to labeling HFCS as "natural." [4] The CSPI also state that HFCS is not a "natural" ingredient due to the high level of processing and the use of at least one genetically modified (GMO) enzyme required to produce it. On January 12, 2007, Cadbury Schweppes agreed to stop calling 7 Up "all natural". [5] They now label it "100% Natural Flavors". [6]
In September 2008, the Corn Refiners Association [7] launched a series of United States television advertisements that stated that HFCS "is made from corn", "is natural" (changed from previously stated "doesn't have artificial ingredients"), "has the same calories as sugar or honey", "is nutritionally the same as sugar", and "is fine in moderation", in the hopes of keeping consumers from avoiding HFCS products. The ads feature actors portraying roles in upbeat domestic situations with sugary foods, with one actor disparaging a food's HFCS content but being unable to explain why, and another actor questioning the comments with these claims. Finally, the ads each make reference to the Corn Refiners Association website. [8] [ failed verification ]
2010 Corn Refiners Association ads feature parents walking through a corn field, talking about children's nutrition concerns and being confused by recent HFCS information. So they consulted "medical and nutrition experts" and discovered that "Whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference." [9]
Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, called the advertisements "deceptive", [10] stating: "High-fructose corn syrup starts out as cornstarch, which is chemically or enzymatically degraded to glucose and some short polymers of glucose. Another enzyme is then used to convert varying fractions of glucose into fructose...High-fructose corn syrup just doesn't exist in nature." However, Jacobson also stated that: "The special harmfulness of high-fructose corn syrup has become one of those urban myths that sounds right, but is basically wrong. Nutritionally, high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose may be identical." [11]
Since HFCS is present in a "staggering" amount of food in the US, and in most foods marketed to children, there are doubts as to whether it can be consumed in moderation:
...unless you're making a concerted effort to avoid it, it's pretty difficult to consume high-fructose corn syrup in moderation [11]
A March 21, 2009 The New York Times article said that some food companies and restaurants were using sugar in their product as a selling point in order to attract customers who prefer not to consume high-fructose corn syrup. As one example, the article cited Jason's Deli, a chain of delis with 200 restaurants in 27 states. The chain had replaced high-fructose corn syrup with sugar in everything except a few soft drinks. Daniel Helfman, a spokesman for the deli chain, was quoted as saying, "Part of this is a huge rebellion against HFCS... but part of it is taste." [12]
PepsiCo recently put forth a "throwback" version of Mountain Dew and Pepsi-Cola, designed to taste the same as these drinks did in the 1960s and 1970s. One aspect of the formulation is that sugar is used instead of HFCS. PepsiCo stated that HFCS and sugar are "essentially the same" and that the only reason HFCS was eschewed was in order to accurately reflect the taste of the past. [13] Dr Pepper also released a "heritage" version of Dr Pepper Soda in 2009 that was made to the original formula and used beet sugar instead of HFCS. Since its establishment in 1891, the Dr Pepper bottling plant in Dublin, TX has continued to use the original formula sweetened with Imperial Cane Sugar (see Dublin Dr Pepper). [14] In addition, the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, and most Coca-Cola bottling plants in Europe also uses sucrose. [15] Sucrose-based Mexican imports of Coca-Cola and other soft drinks are getting increasing penetration into US markets. [16]
In May 2010, Hunt's removed high-fructose corn syrup from its ketchup due to buyer preference as a result of health concerns, [17] but has since put High Fructose Corn Syrup back in their ketchup. [18] Heinz now offers a ketchup made with sugar instead of HFCS called "Simply Heinz." [19]
Popular campaigns by nutritional experts and belief by a rapidly increasing faction of the consuming public in the United States that high-fructose corn syrup has harmful health effects continues to result in increasing reformulation of popular processed foods and reduced sales of HFCS by 9% in 2009 as compared with 2007. Known health risks include weight gain/obesity, type-2 diabetes, elevated LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels, long-term liver damage and mercury exposure. [20]
Ivan Royster of South Carolina, now residing in Raleigh, North Carolina began a Facebook page which has grown to over 190,000 fans, lobbying for the ban of HFCS in the U.S. An article recently published by Organic Connections magazine covered Ivan's protest and the Corn Refiners Association's counter to his efforts. The article includes links to Ivan's Facebook page and a study on HFCS. [21]
On September 14, 2010, the Corn Refiners Association applied for permission to use the name "corn sugar" in place of "high-fructose corn syrup" on food labels for products sold in the United States. According to a press release, "Consumers need to know what is in their foods and where their foods come from and we want to be clear with them," said CRA president Audrae Erickson. "The term 'corn sugar' succinctly and accurately describes what this natural ingredient is and where it comes from – corn." [22] The association, however, did not provide clarification as to a change in what the FDA already considers corn sugar, i.e., dextrose [23] or any of the other corn-derived sugars such as corn syrup and maltodextrin.
TIME stated that the CRA's decision to change the name of HFCS was because HFCS had such a bad reputation. [24] In response to the proposed name change, The New York Times ran an article asking nutrition experts what they would suggest as appropriate names for HFCS. Three of the five experts recommended alternate names, including Michael Pollan who suggested "enzymatically altered corn glucose". Dr. Andrew Weil recommended not changing from HFCS, calling the term corn sugar "too vague" and the CRA's attempt to change HFCS's name "Orwellian". However Dr. Barry Popkin felt that "corn sugar" was an appropriate term. [25] [26]
On May 31, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration ultimately rejected the petition. [27] In its decision, the FDA defined sugar as a "solid, dried and crystallized food" while syrup was "an aqueous solution or liquid food." In addition, the term "corn sugar" had already been approved as another name for dextrose, which has been commonly used as a food ingredient since the 1970s. Among the public health concerns cited were those individuals with hereditary fructose intolerance or fructose malabsorption, who have been advised to avoid ingredients that contain fructose. While individuals with fructose allergies have associated "corn sugar" (dextrose) to be an acceptable ingredient to their health when "high-fructose corn syrup" is not, changing the name of HFCS to "corn sugar" could put these individuals at risk. [27]
Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was imitated by other manufacturers. Most colas contain caffeine originally from the kola nut, leading to the drink's name, though other sources have since been used. The Pemberton cola drink also contained a coca plant extract. His non-alcoholic recipe was inspired by the coca wine of pharmacist Angelo Mariani, created in 1863.
A sweetener is a substance added to food or drink to impart the flavor of sweetness, either because it contains a type of sugar, or because it contains a sweet-tasting sugar substitute. Many artificial sweeteners have been invented and are now used in commercially produced food and drink. Natural non-sugar sweeteners also exist, such as glycyrrhizin found in liquorice.
Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a ketonic simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed by the gut directly into the blood of the portal vein during digestion. The liver then converts both fructose and galactose into glucose, so that dissolved glucose, known as blood sugar, is the only monosaccharide present in circulating blood.
7 Up or Seven Up is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo.
Corn syrup is a food syrup which is made from the starch of corn and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor. Corn syrup is not the same as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is manufactured from corn syrup by converting a large proportion of its glucose into fructose using the enzyme D-xylose isomerase, thus producing a sweeter substance.
Orangina is a lightly carbonated beverage made from carbonated water, 12% citrus juice, as well as 2% orange pulp. Orangina is sweetened with sugar or high fructose corn syrup and natural flavors are added.
Diet or light beverages are generally sugar-free, artificially sweetened beverages with few or no calories. They are marketed for diabetics and other people who want to reduce their sugar intake.
Sierra Mist was a lemon-lime flavored soft drink line. Originally introduced by PepsiCo in 1999, it was eventually made available in all United States markets by 2003. The drink was rebranded as "Mist Twst" in 2016, but reverted to Sierra Mist in 2018. The brand was aimed at competing with The Coca-Cola Company's Sprite brand and Keurig Dr Pepper's 7 Up.
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzymes. To make HFCS, the corn syrup is further processed by D-xylose isomerase to convert some of its glucose into fructose. HFCS was first marketed in the early 1970s by the Clinton Corn Processing Company, together with the Japanese Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, where the enzyme was discovered in 1965.
Glucose syrup, also known as confectioner's glucose, is a syrup made from the hydrolysis of starch. Glucose is a sugar. Maize (corn) is commonly used as the source of the starch in the US, in which case the syrup is called "corn syrup", but glucose syrup is also made from potatoes and wheat, and less often from barley, rice and cassava.p. 21
D-Psicose (C6H12O6), also known as D-allulose, or simply allulose, is a low-calorie epimer of the monosaccharide sugar fructose, used by some major commercial food and beverage manufacturers as a low-calorie sweetener. First identified in wheat in the 1940s, allulose is naturally present in small quantities in certain foods.
The American Beverage Association (ABA) is a government lobbying group that represents the beverage industry in the United States. Its members include producers and bottlers of soft drinks, such as The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper, along with other non-alcoholic beverages.
Corn sugar may refer to:
The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) is a trade association based in Washington, D.C. It represents the corn refining industry in the United States. Corn refining encompasses the production of corn starch, corn oil, and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
Pepsi-Cola Made with Real Sugar, originally called Pepsi Throwback—and still branded that way in some markets—is a soft drink sold by PepsiCo. The drink is flavored with cane sugar and beet sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, with which soft drink companies replaced sugar in their North American products in the 1980s. In June 2014, the Pepsi Throwback name was replaced by the current name, which continues to be made without high fructose corn syrup. As of April 2020 it received a new logo. The "throwback" name was also used for a variant of PepsiCo's citrus-flavored Mountain Dew.
In the United States and Canada, Mexican Coca-Cola, or Mexican Coke or, informally, "Mexicoke", refers to Coca-Cola produced in and imported from Mexico. Mexican Coca-Cola is sweetened with white sugar instead of the high-fructose corn syrup used in the U.S. since the early 1980s. Some tasters have said that Mexican Coca-Cola tastes better, while other blind tasting tests reported no perceptible differences in flavor.
High-maltose corn syrup is a food additive used as a sweetener and preservative. The majority sugar is maltose. It is less sweet than high-fructose corn syrup and contains little to no fructose. It is sweet enough to be useful as a sweetener in commercial food production, however. To be given the label "high", the syrup must contain at least 50% maltose. Typically, it contains 40–50% maltose, though some have as high as 70%.
Added sugars or free sugars are sugar carbohydrates added to food and beverages at some point before their consumption. These include added carbohydrates, and more broadly, sugars naturally present in honey, syrup, and fruits. They can take multiple chemical forms, including sucrose, glucose (dextrose), and fructose.
Renee Dufault is an American research scientist. A former Food and Drug Administration researcher and whistleblower, who brought media attention to three separate studies that discovered mercury contained within high fructose corn syrup. After several years, Dufault and her independent research team were able to find a direct connection between inorganic mercury and glucose levels in the blood that showed dietary inorganic mercury exposure may be a risk factor in the development of diabetes.
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