Editorial: Sweet gets shady with corn sugar

Reading ingredient lists is a good step in the right direction toward eating healthy. That is,… Reading ingredient lists is a good step in the right direction toward eating healthy. That is, until groups try to change the names of their unhealthy ingredients to appeal to consumers.

The Corn Refiners Association applied to the Food and Drug Administration this month to change the name of high-fructose corn syrup to “corn sugar.”

Audrae Erickson, president of the CRA, said the purpose of the new name is to help people understand the sweetener, according to the Associated Press.

More likely, the CRA is responding to a drop in high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) consumption, which is down 21 percent from 10 years ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A study conducted at Princeton in March of this year showed that “rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.”

While the HFCS’s name change has not yet been approved and could take up to two years, the industry is already using the phrase “corn sugar” in its new marketing campaign. Perhaps you’ve seen the new commercials that say “whether it’s corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can’t tell the difference. Sugar is sugar.”

Not according to the Princeton study. While sucrose is composed of 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose, the typical HFCS contains 55 percent fructose, 42 percent glucose and 3 percent higher saccharides. In addition, the fructose molecules in regular sugar are bound and require an extra metabolic step before they can be used, while those in HFCS are unbound and ready for instant absorption, says Princeton.

The Associated Press reports that “Americans are increasingly blaming high-fructose corn syrup and avoiding it.” In addition, many companies such as Sara Lee, Gatorade and Snapple have switched from HFCS to sugar in their products.

It is very clear that the Corn Refiners Association is attempting to throw away a name with a negative association in favor for a new, more innocent-sounding label. And unfortunately, we think consumers will fall for it.

Renaming products has been successful in the past. “‘Low-erucic acid rapeseed oil’ became much more popular after becoming ‘canola oil’ in 1988. Prunes tried to shed a stodgy image by becoming ‘dried plums’ in 2000,” according to the Associated Press.

College students are already in an unhealthy environment without the CRA attempting to deceive them with ingredient labeling. Students are also vulnerable because they often have to buy what is readily available to them. Because of this, we would like Pitt students to be wise of the potential name change, just in case the FDA permits this sort of deceptive marketing.

Students should also keep in mind that sugar is no saint either. Keeping your sweet tooth in control will definitely help in keeping college weight off. While we hope that your future husband or wife will like you for things like your personality and your super sexy Pitt education and not just your rockin’ hard bod, it definitely doesn’t hurt to look good naked, nor does it hurt, in the long run, to preserve your health.