High Fructose Corn Syrup: History, Uses & Health Impacts

The history of high fructose corn syrup and its uses in America are relatively recent. After first being developed in the late 1950s, it became a popular sweetener in the mid 1970s and saw its use explode in the 1980s and 1990s. Part of its widespread use was based on its inexpensiveness. Because it cost less to refine, food producers and manufacturers began using it in many of their products. Since then, it is believed that Americans receive nearly a third of their daily calories from high fructose corn syrup.

Obesity

• While not the sole cause of obesity, HFCS is undoubtedly a contributing factor. Compared to table sugar, the calorie content is identical and HFCS contains only slightly more sucrose. Fructose itself does not contain fat, but as it is broken down in the body, its sugar content is changed into fat that usually shows up in the belly or abdominal area.

Cholesterol

• Like fat, high fructose corn syrup does not contain cholesterol but in the body, it is broken down into LDL or "bad" cholesterol. Excess amounts of LDL cholesterol in the body can lead to hardening of arteries and heart disease.

Diabetes

• One of the leading causes of diabetes is obesity, causing an overabundance of fat cells to block glucose from getting to the cells that need it. Without the necessary fuel that glucose provides, cells eventually die. Two of the chemicals that help transport glucose through the bloodstream are insulin and chromium--the latter of which is depleted by intake of HFCS.

Mercury

• Early in 2009, several major newspapers and magazines like U.S. News and the Washington Post reported that nearly half of all high fructose corn syrup samples also contained measurable amounts of mercury. However a follow-up report published by the Corn Refiners Association questioned the results, saying that the original research ignored low levels of mercury that naturally occur in food and are part of most diets. This second study concluded that any levels of mercury found in high fructose corn syrup are not sufficient to cause concern for consumers.

Conflicting Studies

• In recent years, studies, like the one published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, have shown primarily the health risks of eating products sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. Yet research has been conducted (some of it sponsored and paid for by corn growers and refiners) to try and combat the negative information surrounding HFCS. The reports have included statements from the American Medical Association, Food and Drug Administration and other medical and dietary watchdog groups attesting that the nutritional value of high fructose corn syrup is nearly identical to that of table sugar and other sweeteners.