High-fructose corn syrup, abbreviated as HFCS, has fast-tracked its way into becoming one of the leading sugar substitutes used in our nation’s food industry. Due to the United State's high sugar taxes and low corn prices, HFCS is more cost efficient to manufacture and produce, as opposed to typical table sugar (sucrose). The use of this less-expensive sweetener allows for the food and beverage corporations to keep the selling price of the final products at a low, in turn making for a happy consumer. However, how would consumers feel if they knew that HFCS is not a “natural” commodity and that is potentially harmful to their health?
“In 1983, the Food and Drug Administration listed HFCS as ‘generally recognized as safe’ (known as GRAS status) for use in food; it reaffirmed that ruling in 1996,” said Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Association (CFA). This basically means that of the studies they have conducted, the product for the most part seems to be safe. It is outrageous to think that the FDA allows products to be on the market when they are usually safe, but not necessarily all of the time. In 2008 the FDA released a letter deeming that HFCS be labeled as “natural” because it falls under their definition of the word “natural,” which to them “means that nothing artificial or synthetic has been included in or added to a food.” This definition of “natural” seems logical, however, it is the process that HFCS undergoes that turns the natural sugars into a synthetic compound, making it synthetic. “High fructose corn syrup is an industrial food product and far from "natural" or a naturally occurring substance,” says physician Mark Hyman in the Huffington Post, “It is extracted from corn stalks through a process so secret that Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill would not allow the investigative journalist, Michael Pollan to observe it for his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. The sugars are extracted through a chemical enzymatic process resulting in a chemically and biologically novel compound called HFCS.” The controversy of whether or not HFCS should be considered natural is important because it determines whether or not food and beverage manufacturers can label their products containing the sweetener as “all natural,” despite the fact that it contains this essentially synthetic ingredient.
Another controversial aspect of this processed sweetener is how it affects people’s health. “The average American increased their consumption of HFCS (mostly from sugar sweetened drinks and processed food) from zero to over 60 pounds per person per year,” says physician Mark Hyman, “[and] during that time period, obesity rates have more than tripled and diabetes incidence has increased more than seven fold.” Supporters of HFCS counter this argument by claiming that all sweeteners are equal when it comes to weight gain and that it has no worse effects on health than natural sugar. However, recent research at Princeton University showed that the animals being tested became obese by drinking HFCS but not by drinking sucrose (table sugar). Since the product has not been researched for long enough to provide completely concrete and adequate findings, HFCS has not “officially” been labeled as an unhealthy thing to consume; and it is because of this that corn refiners are able to stay out of the health-conscious limelight. Dr. Hyman denotes in the Huffington Post article that “The goal of the corn industry is to call into question any claim of harm from consuming high fructose corn syrup, and to confuse and deflect by calling their product natural ‘corn sugar’ [the CFA’s intended name change]. That's like calling tobacco in cigarettes natural herbal medicine.” The CFA wants to change the name because they think it would change the image of it to a healthier one, when in reality they are trying to confuse consumers into not thinking they are ingesting products containing HFCS.
The detrimental effects that are said to be resulting from HFCS consumption are due to how the chemicals are absorbed into the body. Unlike natural sugar, there are no chemical bonds between the fructose and glucose in HFCS. As a result, there is no need for the body to digest it so it is more quickly absorbed into the blood stream. The fructose goes straight into the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol), potentially causing an array of liver problems. The glucose is also rapidly absorbed and triggers large spikes in the body’s fat storing hormones. It is “…both these features of HFCS [that] lead to increased metabolic disturbances that drive increases in appetite, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and more,” stated Dr. Hyman. It is ironic that if this kind of research had been presented twenty years ago, the FDA would have probably never labeled HFCS as “generally recognized as safe.” Yet now, they strive to label it as “natural.” Information like this, coming from a mass array of credible doctors and scientists, makes it difficult to understand why there has not been a recall or boycott of the product. Consumers need to take it upon themselves to avoid purchasing products containing HFCS, otherwise, it will grow increasingly more abundant in the daily American diet and continue to take its toll on the health of the general public.
In the end, regardless of how cheap or convenient high-fructose corn syrup is obtain, consumers need to realize that it is neither a natural or healthy product to consume. Current research and statistical observations consistently point towards this chemically processed sweetener as the cause of a wide variety of health problems in the U.S., not only in adults but also in children who are most likely unaware of the potentially harmful substance they are putting into their bodies. It is the responsibility of not only the FDA, but the consumers as well, to make the world healthier by discouraging the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup. So, when you are making your weekly trip to the grocery store, make sure to avoid products containing HFCS (possibly “corn sugar” in the near future), in order to keep yourself as well as the people you care for healthy.
Works Cited
Crowley, Laura. "HFCS is natural, says the FDA in a letter." (2008): n.pag. Web. 9 Nov 2011.
June, Geraldine. United States. Department of Health and Human Services. College Park, MD 20740: Food and Drug Administration, 2008. Print.
Morran, Chris. "Is High Fructose Corn Syrup Considered A Natural Ingredient?" The Consumerist. N.p., 05/05/2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.
Hyman, Mark. "5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You ." Huffington Post 05/13/2011, n. pag. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
Johnson, Dale. "High-fructose corn syrup, obesity link." 03 06 11. The Washington Times, Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
United States. Department of Health and Human Services. College Park, MD 20740: Food and Drug Administration, 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.
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