Controversial Corn-Derived Sweetener in the News Again

No doubt, Yoshiyuki Takasaki, the Japanese government scientist who patented high fructose corn syrup as a cheap alternative to sugar, had little inkling of the raucous debate that ultimately would follow the release of this product.

In marketing terms, HFCS as it’s commonly known, turned out to be a bonanza. It is available in everything from Campbell’s tomato soup to Ritz Crackers and Wonder bread, the New York Times reported July 2.

Its cheapness compared to ordinary sugar has had a lot to do with its success. Food manufacturers can buy the sweetener at prices 20 to 70 percent less than sugar. Soda manufacturers, in particular, owe HFCS a huge debt. The Times cites a 1983 Forbes magazine article that estimated Coca-Cola reaped a $70-million-a-year costs advantage over Pepsi by switching to the sweetener.

Ironically, though, the heady success of HFCS may prove its undoing. Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2004, Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and George Bray, a professor of medicine at Pennington Medical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., noted the sharp spike in U.S. male and female obesity rates following the widespread use of the sweetener in 1980.

Is there a link? Even Popkin and Bray stress that their article was intended only to raise questions and to spark more scientific debate and research.

Other researchers express outright doubt regarding the link between HFCS consumption and spiking obesity rates.

The Times, for example, cites one researcher, Dr. Walter Willet, chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, who describes heightened public concerns about HFCS as overreaction.

One of the biggest questions is whether HFCS really is that different from ordinary sugar in the way it is processed by the body. Some studies have shown that fructose promotes weight gain by not prompting the production of hormones that regulate appetite and fat storage.

Other research findings have challenged these conclusions, including a study conducted by the Rippe Lifestyle Institute, which revealed that HFCS acts no differently in the body than table sugar. The randomized, double-blind study tested how beverages sweetened with HFCS or table sugar affect circulating levels of blood sugar, insulin and satiety hormones in 30 normal-weight women. It turned up no differences in circulating blood sugar levels, insulin levels or levels of leptin or ghrelin, hormones believed to be involved in regulating food intake

In addition, the makeup of HFCS and sugar are similar. The type of HFCS used in sodas and other sweetened beverages is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose --- not much different than sugar, which is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose. The version of HFCS used in other products, such as bread, jams and yogurt, is actually lower in fructose --- 42 percent fructose and 58 percent glucose.

At Auburn University, Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutrition specialist and professor of nutrition and food science, also harbors doubts, though he concedes HFCS may be an indirect contributor.

Perhaps an even bigger factor behind spiking obesity rates has been the marked decline in physical activity in the last few decades, coupled with easier access to a number of cheap, high-calorie products, in addition to HFCS-sweetened products --- fast foods, fried foods, etc.

If HFCS is only one culprit among many, as Keith believes, there are plenty of things people can do to avoid weight gain besides steering clear of HFCS-sweetened food and beverage products. One of the biggest considerations is avoiding high-fat foods, especially those rich in saturated fats, he says.
Opt instead for foods high in dietary fiber, which give a sense of fullness without the added calories, Keith says. These can also play an important role in preventing several chronic diseases.

In addition to increasing physical activity, nutrition and health experts also recommend getting more sleep, drinking more milk, deriving as much sugar as possible from whole fruits, and reducing serving sizes, even when healthier foods are consumed.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at July 6, 2006 05:04 PM | TrackBack