We hope consumers won't fall for the effort to rebrand high fructose corn syrup as "corn sugar."
The national Corn Refiners Association reportedly is trying to do away with high fructose corn syrup -- not the product, just the name. That name, as many are aware, has been vilified by nutritionists and other health experts who claim that it is a major contributor to the national obesity epidemic.
Corn syrup is everywhere in the average American diet, an ingredient in prepared foods ranging from soda to spaghetti. Because corn production is subsidized by the government and because corn syrup is a stable, easy-to-use sweetener, it has replaced more expensive cane sugar in thousands of products.
While the corn industry claims corn syrup is, calorie for calorie, no different from other sugars, some nutritionists say it is more likely to contribute to obesity than cane sugar. Even if that is not the case, corn syrup represents a lot of empty calories in our national diet.
To read the complete editorial, visit www.heraldonline.com.
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