A high-profile debate is taking place over the adverse effect of fructose sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. On one side, the commercial sweetener industry employs fructose on a massive – and massively profitable – scale, the best example being the HFCS that’s in just about every supermarket food. The industry maintains that fructose is, essentially, no worse for you than other sugars, and they’ve enlisted the help of slick high-profile TV ads to advocate for the safety of high fructose corn syrup in a non-technical, feelgood sort of way (it’s ‘natural’, it’s ‘made from corn’, ‘real men’ don’t care, etc). On the other side are researchers and health professionals. These scientists have been searching for a way to explain the explosion in obesity and obesity harbingers like insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. This explosion more-or-less coincides with the introduction and rapid, widespread adoption of high fructose corn syrup. At this time in 2009, HFCS has already been the subject of many damaging studies, and while these researchers aren’t taking to the airwaves with their findings, the tide seems to be steadily turning against the industry as more consumers and health experts just put two-and-two together and finally steer clear of fructose sweeteners altogether.
