Reprieve For High Fructose Corn Syrup

(WebMD)  High fructose corn syrup, a sweetener used in many products, including soft drinks, is getting some guarded support from an unlikely source - the American Medical Association (AMA).

At a meeting in Chicago, AMA delegates backed a resolution that argues that there's no scientific proof that high fructose corn syrup deserves the blame for obesity more than sugar or other caloric sweeteners. The resolution also nixes putting warning labels on products containing high fructose corn syrup.

"At this time, there is insufficient evidence to restrict the use of high fructose corn syrup or label products that contain it with a warning," AMA board member William Dolan, MD, says in an AMA news release.

That's not a green light to guzzle foods or drinks containing high fructose corn syrup.

"We do recommend consumers limit the amount of all added caloric sweeteners to no more than 32 grams of sugar daily based on a 2,000 calorie diet in accordance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans," Dolan says.

The AMA acknowledges that obesity rates have soared in recent decades, in sync with the growing use of high fructose corn syrup.

But the AMA also points out that people also consumed more calories and became less active during that time and that the body processes high fructose corn syrup much like sugar.

The AMA says it isn't thrilled with the level of research on high fructose corn syrup, partly because there isn't a lot of research on the health effects of high fructose corn syrup and also because of industry funding for much of that work.

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved

[midland666]

well i feel much better after reading all of this.
I for one honestly believe that a Government agency
who gets paid to go on trips by the same companies
they are supposed to oversee, gives me piece of mind, and i wholeheartedly believe it.......

(yeah Right)

Corn Syrup is evil,
its tyhe cause of Obeisity and the high number of
Insulin related ilnesses..

[tae9800]

There are should be more concerns about ALL artificial additives. I am allergic to BENZOATE (anaphylactic - epipen carrying!) that is a preservative used in all sorts of foods, lotions, shampoos, salad dressings, pickles, etc... %u2013 Also, I am hypersensitive to sulfites like corn syrup which occur in natural foods. The bottom line is our food is over processed with chemicals to give it "shelve life" and make it cheaper to manufacture. I have to read every single label or suffer the consequences. I don''t eat out very often and when I do I know exactly which items on the menu that I can order. (The very simple, plain Jane ones.) I take my on salad dressings to restaurants and request my meats grilled with only salt as a seasoning. Fresh veggies or frozen ones - no cans. It sounds impossible to do and it was a little overwhelming at first, but it can be done. It took 18 months to find a doctor to diagnosis me. A renowned allergist at Vanderbilt University. Five visits to the ER - one by ambulance near death. What is being done to our food supply is criminal. We have to be willing to say no to convenience and want to live healthier. It is a combination of MANY things that is causing the obesity, heart disease, diabetes and host of other health concerns that we are not even linking to our food supply as of yet. Freighting!

[aggiekat2004]

Yeah, and don''t even get me started on the artificial sweeteners...

I get severe headaches and dizziness from colas and drinks with nutrasweet (aspartame) and splenda (sucralose). And now companies are sneaking them into products with no warning on the front of the package.

Even Tropicana Twister, a fruit drink, has artificial sweetener in it. For God''s sake...it''s FRUIT JUICE! Why on this earth do we have to sweeten fruit juice with artificial sweetener?

Here''s an interesting exercise. Do a Google search on "aspartame poisoning" and see what comes back. Thousands of pages on these harmful sweeteners. From everything posted, it looks like Monsanto did their own research on the safety of Nutrasweet and submitted it to the FDA, who rubber-stamped it.

Try this test...take a packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid and get some Equal Measure (nutrasweet). The equivalent of one cup of sugar, according to the Equal package, is 9 teaspoons. It''s sweet enough after only four.

My bet is that in ten years we''re going to find links to artificial sweeteners and ADHD, Alzheimers, and autism. It just can''t be good that we put this cr*ap in our bodies.

[ndg1979]

I do hold some agreeance, but not a whole lot, on the report from the AMA. In regards to obesity, which many fight over the causes of, I have one thing to say - If you don''t put it in, you can''t put it on. Plain and simple. People don''t necessarily eat 3 squares a day anymore. With our lives being much more on the go, we snack constantly throughout the day, but actually exercise less.

Now as far as High Fructose Corn Syrup is concerned, I am with LoneStartNow on this one. It is in more than you realize. I know because I read labels - do you? It may not contribute to obesity very much, but it sure contributes to diabetes. My dad has been a diabetic for over 12 years and corn syrup was the first thing he was told to nix from his diet. Sometimes, just one serving of certain products with corn syrup gives you the amount equal to or greater than the AMA''s recommended daily allowance of sugar.

Why do my potato chips, or pre-packaged deli meats need corn syrup? Why can''t they be natural? And what about grape jelly, not to mention peanut butter to go with it? Why can''t it just be that? Look at pancake syrup - not much else besides corn syrup. There used to be a brand called DAILY''s pancake syrup - didn''t have corn syrup. How about sweetened breakfast cereals? The list goes on and on - I dare anyone to find a more used ingredient in our foods that can be so dangerous to our health.

You food would be more natural and healthy if manufacturers cut corn syrup.

[lonestartnow]

I am co-founder of the LoneStart Wellness Initiative, and we point out that while there are always exceptions and circumstances that must be considered, for the most part, the obesity epidemic ties closely to the introduction of high fructose corn syrup roughly 30 years ago. So does the 1000 percent increase in Type 2 diabetes over the last 30 years. Consider that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is produced from genetically modified corn. Instead of going through the normal digestive process, it goes directly to your liver. It%u2019s cheaper to produce, is sweeter than sugar, and higher in calories. It tricks your body into metabolizing food more slowly, leading to weight gain because it doesn%u2019t send the %u201Cfullness signal%u201D to the brain that natural foods and real sugars do. And it%u2019s in more foods than one would expect: baby food, soda, fruit juice, sport drinks, yogurt, bread, cereal, syrup, honey blends, some chips, ketchup, salad dressing, steak sauce, tomato sauce, soup, cottage cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise%u2014and that%u2019s just for starters. Not to take issue with the AMA, but this is a different kind of sugar, and sends different signals to the brain with respect to the hormones that send the fullness signal to the brain.

[barbaram99]

sure they will say that as more doc visits. We never had soda growing up. Had kool aid sugar free. Foster mothers were had disbetes. They died in their 50s.

[Razzl]

"That so many would be afraid of frutose, the main ingredient in honey, is silly"

I''m not sure why others would be afraid of the sugar, but I''ve found that some processed honey gives me odd allergy-type symptoms, when I''m not allergic to anything else. Honey has a lot of complicated proteins floating around in it and it may turn out not be ideal as a commercial sweetener...

[davewrite1]

Fructose has a similar molecular makeup to the core molecules in all living organisms: C6H12O6. Although it''s intelligent to be skeptical, it''s unwise to discount the wisdom of the scientific community for that of cults, superstitions, homeopathy, or natureopathy (though not all the rememdies are bad, just usually expensive and unnecessary).

We owe all the technical wonders of modernity to the hard sciences.

That so many would be afraid of frutose, the main ingredient in honey, is silly.

[spadeisspade]

So, what the ADA is saying is that they are reluctantly agreeing with studies that were paid for by companies that use high fructose corn syrup. Huh.

[baileyccc]

What the surprise here. The AMA(which is a front for Big Pharma)just like physicians are train by Big Pharma, simply "Follow the Money". Never will they give sound nutritional information. This report is laughable.