USDA Scientific Conference

Experts Lay to Rest Long-Held Misconceptions about High Fructose Corn Syrup

A supplement to the June issue of the Journal of Nutrition encourages the scientific community and the general public to stop demonizing high fructose corn syrup as the culprit of obesity and to rethink the myths about high fructose corn syrup’s impact on the American diet.

“The State of the Science on Dietary Sweeteners Containing Fructose” is the scientific summary of a joint conference held in March 2008 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service and the International Life Sciences Institute of North America.

The conference brought together several scientific leaders from varying backgrounds, including former critics of high fructose corn syrup, who found there is little evidence that high fructose corn syrup and sugar (or sucrose) have differing effects on satiety, overall energy balance, metabolic hormones or biochemical metabolites such as triglycerides and uric acid – all suggesting no unique causal role for high fructose corn syrup in obesity.

Suzanne P. Murphy, Ph.D., R.D., research professor at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii, summarized the papers presented at the conference. Considering the evidence presented by 22 researchers, Dr. Murphy concluded, “…[high fructose corn syrup] and sucrose are similar and one is not ‘better or worse’ than the other.”

Dr. Murphy noted that “it does not appear to be practical to base dietary guidance on selecting or avoiding these specific types of sweeteners.”

Read the abstract. The state of the science on dietary sweeteners containing fructose: summary and issues to be resolved. Journal of Nutrition 139(6): 1269S-1270S, June 2009. Suzanne P. Murphy, Ph.D., R.D.

Sweetener expert John S. White, Ph.D. provided a scientific review addressing the misconceptions about high fructose corn syrup that have driven the myth that this safe sweetener is uniquely responsible for obesity. In the first part of the review, Dr. White addressed several misconceptions about high fructose corn syrup including its composition relative to other sweeteners and foods, taste and sweetness profile, functionality and uses, domestic and global consumption patterns, and refining methods. Dr. White stated, “It must be clearly understood that the fructose-containing sweeteners—sucrose, invert sugar, honey, fruit juice concentrates, and HFCS—are essentially interchangeable from a compositional/nutritional/metabolic standpoint. They are all equal in energy content and, once hydrolyzed to monosaccharides and absorbed, present the same sugars at the same ratios to the same tissues within the same timeframe to the same metabolic pathways.”

In the second part of the review, Dr. White addressed the myth that high fructose corn syrup contributes to reactive dicarbonyl compounds (RDC) and advanced glycation endproducts (AGE) differently or more substantially than other sweeteners. Dr. White noted, “HFCS is not a unique and important contributor of RDC and AGE to foods and beverages. RDC and AGE have been measured in a limited number of foods, and amounts appear to vary widely... Considerably higher levels are found in fermented or thermally processed foods such as toast, brewed coffee, soybean paste and sauce, and cheeses… It is important to note that HFCS-55 has lower RDC levels than honey, a sweetener with a similar fructose:glucose ratio.”

Read the full review. Misconceptions about High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Is It Uniquely Responsible for Obesity, Reactive Dicarbonyl Compounds, and Advanced Glycation Endproducts? Journal of Nutrition 139(6): 1219S-1227S, June 2009. John S. White, Ph.D.

Timothy H. Moran, Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, reviewed research on fructose-containing sweeteners and their impact on feelings of fullness (satiety). He noted that results were dependent on a variety of factors ranging from how the sweeteners were administered to the timing of hunger measurements. Dr. Moran concluded, “On balance, the case for fructose being less satiating than glucose or HFCS being less satiating than sucrose is not compelling.”

Read the abstract. Fructose and Satiety. Journal of Nutrition 139(6): 1253S-1256S, June 2009. Timothy H. Moran, Ph.D.