Proposed Name Change For High-Fructose Corn Syrup Still Misleading

Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson

September 15, 2010

The term “high-fructose corn syrup” has misled many people into thinking that the sweetener is composed largely of fructose. But it is not. Sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are nutritionally the same. So soft drinks and other products sweetened with sugar are every bit as conducive to weight gain as products sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. The bottom line is that people should consume less of all added sugars.

I don’t know if “corn sugar” is the best term to replace “high-fructose corn syrup” because it sounds like the sugars come right out of the corn. Canada calls the ingredient glucose–fructose syrup; another option might be “chemically modified corn sweetener.”