Fructose Availability

Has the use of high fructose corn syrup
in the food supply increased the amount
of fructose in the diet?

No. Many press reports note the dramatic increase of high fructose corn syrup in the food supply since it’s introduction in the 1970s. However, it is important to note that as high fructose corn syrup consumption increased, sugar consumption decreased. USDA data show that the per capita use of high fructose corn syrup in the U.S. food supply was matched with an almost equal decline, on a one-to-one basis, in the per capita use of sugar. In fact, consumption of high fructose corn syrup has declined since its peak in 1999. The USDA estimates per capita sugar consumption in 2008 was 47.2 lbs per year18 and 37.8 lbs per year for high fructose corn syrup.19

As high fructose corn syrup use increased in the United States, it replaced sugar in various foods and beverages on a nearly one-for-one basis, as the chart (below) illustrates. Yet because sugar and high fructose corn syrup share a common composition, the ratio of fructose-to-glucose in the diet has remained relatively unchanged over time. This confirms that the approximate overall sugars mixture in the foods and beverages we consume - principally glucose and fructose - is nearly the same today as it was 30 years ago, before high fructose corn syrup was introduced.