Is High Fructose Corn Syrup Really That Bad?

Hi,
I was wondering what you think about high fructose corn syrup. I've heard conflicting thoughts and wanted to know if it's really that bad for you?  Danielle A.

Hi Danielle,
Good question!

Corn syrup itself does not contain fructose. Food scientists realized if they added fructose to corn syrup, it would be a good medium to add to sweeten foods and beverages. It has a texture different from sugar crystals that lends itself well to a lot of products. There really isn't any such thing as "low-fructose corn syrup". At the time, it was just a way of identifying corn syrup that had fructose added to it, period.

In my professional opinion, it's not that high-fructose corn syrup is worse than sugar in any way--it has the same number of calories gram for gram--but it's the fact that so many things nowadays are unnecessarily sweetened. Why do they need to add sweetener to fruit juices? canned fruits? bread?

In moderation, there isn't anything wrong with this method of sweetening certain products. It's the fact that some people consume sugars (of any kind) in excess amounts and frequency that eventually leads to obesity and many chronic diseases.
 
You can find more details about high-fructose corn syrup on the website, SweetSurprise.com.