High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has a new name…corn sugar. But it’s still the same processed syrupy stuff that is used in countless products as a cheap preservative, thickener and sweetener. The name change came about to disguise HFCS from consumers who have been avoiding it ever since it gained a reputation as being uniquely bad.
Anxious to convince consumers that HFCS is no different than the sugar we all know and trust (mainly table sugar), along with the name change came an ad campaign claiming, “Sugar is sugar. Your body doesn’t know the difference.” The first statement that “sugar is sugar” is an oversimplification. Sugars come in many forms—sucrose, fructose and glucose, for example—each with their own molecular structure. Corn syrup, from which HFCS is derived, is naturally high in glucose (a less-sweet type of sugar). To make HFCS, additional enzymes are introduced to increase the fructose (the sweetest of all natural types of sugar). So HFCS (high in fructose) differs from corn syrup (mostly glucose), and both differ from table sugar (sucrose–a disaccharide of fructose and glucose).
In terms of how our bodies metabolize different sugars, it’s been widely reported that, compared to sucrose, HFCS is more readily converted to fat by the liver and doesn’t make us feel as full, leading to a greater potential for over eating and weight gain from consuming too much of it. But some reputable health experts are coming to the defense of HFCS, claiming that it has been mischaracterized and linked to research testing high levels of pure fructose, and then generalizing those findings to high fructose corn syrup. HFCS is not all fructose—it is roughly half fructose and half glucose—the same as sucrose.
The debate is not over when it comes to the health impacts of HFCS, but if HFCS is able to change its image from an inferior and unhealthy sweetener to one of equal standing with our beloved sucrose, it will continue to have an image problem for environmental reasons.
For starters, going from seed to HFCS is very energy intensive. Producing and processing other sweeteners is not carbon neutral by any means, but HFCS—because it comes from corn and is highly processed—consumes more than its share of fossil fuels. To grow corn, large amounts of energy are used to make and apply fertilizer and pesticide (more than for any other food crop, according to David Pimentel, a professor in Cornell University’s College of Agriculture), operate heavy farm machinery and transport corn to processing plants. Once the corn arrives at the processing plant, to get HFCS, first corn is milled to get corn starch which is then processed into corn syrup and finally the syrup goes through enzymatic processing to raise the fructose level.
Yet another problem with HFCS is that unless it’s certified organic (I’ve never seen such a thing) chances are huge that it is a genetically modified substance. Eighty-five percent of all corn produced in the U.S is genetically modified, and according to NaturalNews.com two of the enzymes required to make HFCS, alpha-amylase and glucose isomerase, have been genetically modified. Genetically modified foods can pose serious risks to humans and will, eventually, lead to uncontrolled biological pollution, according to the Center for Food Safety.
Corn is also a monocrop that is contributing immensely to a loss of biodiversity. In the U.S. corn is the predominant crop covering 72.7 million acres of farm land; much of our food was either fed corn or contains some form of corn. Between corn-fed beef, corn flakes and corn sugar-sweetened whatever, Americans consume 1,540 lbs. of corn per capita a year—so says the United States Department of Agriculture. Our over-reliance on corn is a threat to biodiversity—both in the ecosystem and in our diet.
Avoiding HFCS (corn sugar), corn syrup and generally too much corn-base or corn-fed anything can help lower demand for corn, reduce your exposure to GMOs and improve biodiversity. Some non-corn based, natural sweeteners include agave nectar, barley malt, date sugar, maple sugar and Stevia. A good article on natural sweeteners is Care2’s Directory of Natural Sweeteners, by Annie Berthold-Bond.
Even if the makers of HFCS, and the companies who use it in their products, are successful at proving our bodies don’t care what kind of sugar you feed it, the Earth still will.
Crissy Trask is the founder of GreenMatters.com, a green lifestyle coach, and the best-selling author of It’s Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living. You can follow her on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, and subscribe to her blog.
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