Is this ridiculous battle finally over?
A couple of years ago, the Corn Refiners Association decided they’d had it with all the bad press about high fructose corn syrup. You know, the “bad press” that reveals that the stuff is linked to obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and liver scarring.
So they set out to rebrand high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Suddenly, it was “corn sugar,” and they started a shiny new ad campaign to win everyone over.
Well, that didn’t sit too well with the plain ol’ regular sugar producers. Last year, they sued Big Corn to stop their “corn sugar” shenanigans. They started a knock-down, drag-out fight when they sued the corn folks. The FDA tried to call out Big Corn advising them to stop using “corn sugar” as a synonym for HFCS, but they couldn’t do anything about an ad campaign for an entire industry.
Well, the FDA just struck another blow after a 20-month review of the facts. And maybe this one will stick.
Late last month, they sent a letter to the president of the Corn Refiner’s Association (CRA), denying their petition to rename high fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar.” The reason given was…well… simply that the CRA just didn’t have good enough reasons for the rebranding. They tried to say consumers were confused by the name “high fructose corn syrup” and that “corn sugar” would solve this confusion.
But the FDA seems to have gotten wise to what we already know–it had nothing to do with confusion. And everything to do with the fact that consumers had their eyes wide open.
The FDA also pointed out that sugar is crystallized and syrup is…syrup. So calling it “sugar” just wouldn’t fly.
I do wish the FDA had slammed them with the studies showing what junk the stuff is, but I suppose I’ll have to settle for this slightly less dramatic smack down.
So, we should finally see an end to the “corn sugar” and “it’s perfectly natural” propaganda. I’m sure the CRA will come up with some new clever way to try to gloss over the major problems with high fructose corn syrup, but I for one will enjoy the reprieve.
P.S. Keep reading to learn how amino acids can help with depression.
Sources:
“Big Corn Still Believes We Are All So Very Confused About HFCS, Consumerist (consumerist.com)
“FDA: High Fructose Corn Syrup Isn’t ‘Corn Sugar,’” Consumerist (consumerist.com)
“FDA Nixes Name Change for Corn Syrup,” Medpage Today (www.medpagetoday.com)
