Public opinion is beginning to turn on high fructose corn syrup, the ubiquitous corn-based sweetener that is partly blamed for the nation’s obesity epidemic. Because of mounting consumer pressure, some manufacturers are starting to offer products with traditional sucrose sugar in place of corn syrup. Even Pepsi is going to sell a version of their soft drink with sucrose. But consumers shouldn’t assume that soft drinks and other sugary snacks are suddenly healthful when corn syrup is replaced with an equal amount of sugar.
Sucrose is a disaccharide consisting of both fructose and glucose, while corn syrup is a mixture of free glucose and fructose molecules. Fructose has been singled out in some research as the compound responsible for many of the health effects related to corn syrup consumption. If that is the case, then consuming sucrose, which has as much fructose per unit as corn syrup, will not offer any additional health benefits. On top of that, drinking large quantities of sugary drinks and all the calories that go with them is a bad idea anyway. So don’t be duped by products boasting about their switch from corn syrup to other sweeteners, they will still likely remain junk food.
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