Fructose is not the same as high fructose corn syrup

A supplement in the December 2008 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that reviews the history and development of high fructose corn syrup finds no scientific support for the hypothesis that high fructose corn syrup is causally linked to obesity any more or less than other caloric sweeteners.

Following a symposium that brought together scientific leaders on this topic from varying backgrounds, including former high fructose corn syrup critics who had earlier expressed concern that high fructose corn syrup might pose unique problems, a consensus is emerging that this sweetener is in fact indistinguishable from sucrose in its metabolic effects. According to Victor Fulgoni, symposium chair, in his summary of the presented papers, “Thus, we now have a clearer picture about HFCS; namely, metabolic responses are similar to sucrose as would be expected from the composition of these two sweeteners.”

“This symposium exposes the crux of confusion about high fructose corn syrup: it is a case of mistaken identity between two sweeteners,” said Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Association.

“Many confuse pure ‘fructose’ with ‘high fructose corn syrup’, a sweetener that never contains fructose alone, but always in combination with a roughly equivalent amount of a second sugar (glucose). Recent studies that have examined pure fructose — often at abnormally high levels — have been inappropriately applied to high fructose corn syrup and have caused significant consumer confusion.”

Experts from academia and industry — including: James M Rippe, MD, a cardiologist and founder of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute; John S White, PhD, founder of White Technical Research; as well as former high fructose corn syrup critics Peter J Havel, DVM, PhD, a nutrition researcher at UC Davis; and Barry M Popkin, PhD, professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill — convened to analyse detailed high fructose corn syrup data. They reviewed the following:

• Why high fructose corn syrup is used as a food ingredient.
• The contribution high fructose corn syrup makes to consumers’ diets.
• The latest research on the metabolic effects of high fructose corn syrup.

Highlights from the review of available data (authored by John S White, PhD) on all sweeteners from the 1970s to the present show:

• High fructose corn syrup contains the same sugars compositionally as other fructose/glucose-based sweeteners like sucrose (or table sugar), honey or fruit juice concentrates.
• Fructose-glucose sweeteners are metabolised through the same pathways regardless of their dietary source.
• There are no known substantial metabolic or nutritional differences between high fructose corn syrup and sucrose. Both have a composition of approximately equal parts fructose and glucose.
• High fructose corn syrup and sucrose offer equivalent sweetness.
• From 1970–2005, energy intake in the US increased by 24%. This was not due to a disproportionate increase in added sugars (including high fructose corn syrup), but rather an overall increase in calories from all food sources including fats and all other nutrient groups.
• Per capita consumption of high fructose corn syrup has declined in the US in recent years, but obesity rates continue to rise.
• High fructose corn syrup accounts for about one-half of sweetener use in the US but only 8% worldwide, yet obesity rates are climbing in countries that use little or no high fructose corn syrup. Sugar remains the predominant global sweetener.

For years, widespread confusion about the sweetener has existed within the scientific community and general public, fuelled by erroneous links to research utilising pure fructose, as well as by misinformation about the differences between pure fructose and high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup never contains fructose alone. Like sucrose, high fructose corn syrup is always in combination with a roughly equivalent amount of a second sugar, glucose.

However, Dr White said, “Studies which use pure fructose and generalise their findings to high fructose corn syrup are misleading. High fructose corn syrup is most similar to sucrose, not fructose.” Therefore, using fructose to approximate how high fructose corn syrup behaves metabolically is not sound science.

“The real takeaway here is that excess consumption of any type of calories will contribute to weight gain. Therefore, we can’t pin obesity in the US or elsewhere to any particular type of sweetener use, including high fructose corn syrup,” said Dr White.

High fructose corn syrup is made from the natural grain product of corn. It contains no synthetic ingredients or colour additives and it meets the US Food and Drug Administration’s definition of ‘natural’.