If High-Fructose Corn Syrup Kills Honeybees, What Does It Do To You?

Most candy isn't made with HFCS. They use straight corn syrup - it's cheaper and chemically works better (they need the higher glucose levels - not the equal mix of glucose & fructose). Doesn't make it "healthy" but it shouldn't be painted with the same brush as HFCS products.

There was no mention of human toxiicty of these HMF compounds, plenty of things kill bugs but not humans. And the problem is with the fructose portion of HFCS. The study pointed out the same compounds are generated in honey and sucrose (invert) syrups. It would follow that 100% fruit juices that are high in fructose would be worse unless there's some relationship to oxidation/antioxidants. I don't see anyone gnashing their teeth over these sweeteners/products. Ill-informed ysteria plain and simple and an affront to science.
Read the journal article and don't trust "journalists" to translate science: http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/jf9014526

Consumers should know that high fructose corn syrup is a safe ingredient. Our members have numerous safety measures in place and follow best practices for producing quality ingredients. High fructose corn syrup has been used safely in the food supply for humans and honeybees for decades.

There are several relevant points concerning colony collapse disorder (CCD) and Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) that should be taken into account:

•HMF has been found in all sweetener syrups, including honey and invert sugar.

•The case for HMF (from any syrup source) as an explanation for widespread CCD in honeybees is dubious, given the highly unusual conditions — extreme storage temperatures, prolonged storage times or non-standard storage containers — required to generate potentially harmful levels of HMF.

•In a recent paper published by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on CCD, the authors list compromised immune response, specific pathogens, and pesticide exposure, but not high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners in the food supply, as the leading explanations for CCD. This research suggests rather that virus-induced ribosomal RNA degradation is the most likely cause of CCD.

High fructose corn syrup has a strong history as a safe ingredient recognized by food manufacturers and the U.S. government. In 1983, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally listed high fructose corn syrup as safe for use in food and reaffirmed that decision in 1996.

The American Medical Association stated that, “Because the composition of high fructose corn syrup and sucrose are so similar, particularly on absorption by the body, it appears unlikely that high fructose corn syrup contributes more to obesity or other conditions than sucrose.”

According to the American Dietetic Association, “high fructose corn syrup…is nutritionally equivalent to sucrose. Once absorbed into the blood stream, the two sweeteners are indistinguishable.”

Consumers can read the latest research and learn more about high fructose corn syrup at www.SweetSurprise.com.

Audrae Erickson
President
Corn Refiners Association

Groups like that one always remind me of tobacco lobbyists. "Corn Syrup" isn't even financially viable without the beyond stupid subsidies on corn in the first place. The brain treats and responds to CS differently than regular sugars, and this is the primary reason a person can continually consume much more CS than they would be able to in natural sugar sources. Those same subsidies cause the end-price to seem lower to consumers and manufacturers (never mind that they're just paying for it in taxes), causing the sugar substitute to be in damn near every product you can buy on a supermarket shelf, or restaurant counter. It's out of hand, and the more we learn about the negative and cumulative affects on our bodies, our ecology, and our government interaction, the better. CS has become a burden on the well-being of our society in more ways than one, but just as tobacco lobbies will always say "smoking is no big deal, those studies are just hooey", corn syrup lobbies will always follow suit.

Let's not be totally judgmental against industry hacks. It isn't like HFCS can be counted as one of the factors in why America is having such an epidemic with obesity, or that the only reason HFCS even survives on the free market is because of huge government pay-offs and big-time lobbying groups...

...oh w8...