Ingredient Information

Function

High-fructose corn syrup is modified corn syrup. Carbohydrates consist of long chains of simple sugar molecules. There are many simple sugars; glucose and fructose are two of them. Corn syrup consists only of glucose. In high-fructose corn syrup, a portion of the glucose molecules have been converted into fructose molecules by enzymes. High-fructose corn syrup may have different percentages of fructose, varying from about 40% to 90%. High-fructose corn syrup is everywhere. It is used as a sweetener in carbonated soft drinks and in a myriad of processed foods.

Food manufacturers use high-fructose corn syrup in place of sugar because it is less expensive and easier to handle. High-fructose corn syrup can be listed as “corn syrup," although it is not the same thing and has very different effects on health. It can also be listed as "corn sugar." Manufacturers can call high-fructose corn syrup a “natural sweetener," although it is synthesized and not found in nature.

Other Use and Industries

NONE KNOWN

Health Effects

Although high-fructose corn syrup consists of simple sugars and should metabolize like any other sugar, there is a difference. In nature, fructose is usually bonded to a glucose molecule, and there is a metabolic step required before the fructose can be absorbed. High-fructose corn syrup floods the body with free fructose, which does not occur naturally and metabolizes differently. Free fructose is absorbed instantly and causes disruptions in the system.

When lab animals consumed high-fructose corn syrup at normal levels, it caused obesity, high triglyceride levels, and an accumulation of abdominal fat. This trio of symptoms in people indicates risk factors for atherosclerosis, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer. Free fructose has been shown to cause insulin resistance, which means that cells fail to respond to insulin in its role of lowering the amount of glucose in the blood. Free fructose also causes leptin resistance. Leptin is the hormone that signals the body to stop eating when full. Free fructose in the blood disrupts this process and prevents leptin from getting to the brain, so no "stop-eating" signal is sent. A person consuming food or beverages containing high-fructose corn syrup will not feel full and is likely to continue eating those foods.

Since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup in the 1970s, the rate of obesity in the United States has doubled to the current level of 33% of adults. As far back as 2004, high-fructose corn syrup was statistically linked with this increase in obesity. Carbonated soft drinks were identified in 2006 as the number one cause of obesity in the United States, and have been identified as the leading cause of obesity in children. Soft drinks are made with high-fructose corn syrup which contains 55% fructose. A can of soda contains up to 40 grams of high-fructose corn syrup.

Origins

High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn syrup using the fructose-producing enzyme xylose isomerase. This enzyme is obtained through microbial fermentation using bacteria, such as a species of Bacillus.