I’m Really Glad Pepsi And Snapple Are Now Using Cane Sugar

But does it really make any difference?  Is high fructose corn syrup really worse for you than sugar? And is there any taste difference?

The major argument for designating HFCS as an artificial product relies on the long list of chemicals used to convert corn starch into fructose and glucose. (Two of those chemicals can transfer trace quantities of mercury into the finished product.)  At least one part of the process makes incidental use of a toxic, synthetic fixing agent called glutaraldehyde.

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HFCS isn’t healthy, but there’s no reason to believe it’s any worse for you than cane or beet sugar; HFCS is just as “natural” as any other sweetener,  at least according to the U.S. government; and while HFCS seems to have a slightly different taste from pure sucrose, many people prefer it. So why are we abandoning high-fructose corn syrup? It doesn’t matter how weak each claim is on its own terms; together, they seem irrefutable. You can win over hypochondriacs with one argument, environmentalists with another, and gourmands with a third. That’s the beauty of the three-pronged critique: It’s customizable. The foodies haven’t just killed HFCS-they’ve stuck a fork in it.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.