HFCSfacts.com - the facts about high fructose corn syrup

Many factors contribute to the development of obesity, yet nutritionists, health experts and researchers generally agree that the chief cause is an imbalance between calories consumed and calories burned. Excessive calories can be consumed as fats, proteins, alcohol or carbohydrates. The American Dietetic Association notes, “Excess body fat [obesity] arises from the energy imbalance caused by taking in too much energy and expending too little energy. ... Obesity is a complex problem and its cause cannot be simply attributed to any one component of the food supply such as sweeteners.”(11)

Further, the prevalence of obesity is increasing around the world, according to the International Obesity Task Force— even though use of HFCS outside of the United States is limited or nonexistent. (12) In fact, sugar accounts for about 92 percent of caloric sweeteners consumed worldwide.(13)

Scientific studies continue to find that HFCS does not contribute to obesity any differently than sugar.

An expert panel, led by Richard Forshee, Ph.D. of the University of Maryland Center for Food, Nutrition and Agriculture Policy, concluded that “the currently available evidence is insufficient to implicate HFCS per se as a causal factor in the overweight and obesity problem in the United States.” The panel’s report was published in the August 2007 issue of Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.(14)

The report found that there are many other “plausible explanations for rising overweight and obesity rates” in the United States, listing such factors as “a decrease in smoking; an increase in sedentary occupations; an increase in two-income households and single-parent households; transportation and infrastructure changes that discourage physical activity; a decrease in PE classes and extracurricular sports programs in schools; an increase in sedentary forms of entertainment (i.e. TV/movie viewing, video games, etc.); demographic changes (i.e. aging population, immigration, etc.); a decrease in food costs with increase in food availability; and changes in food consumption patterns.”

Another peer-reviewed study summized that those who frequently consume sweetened soft drinks do not have a higher obesity rate than those who rarely drink them. The study found higher obesity rates correlated with several other factors, such as the amount of time in front of the computer or TV, or the consumption of high amounts of dietary fat. (15)

Further, the November/December 2005 issue of Nutrition Today includes a report from the Center for Food, Nutrition and Agriculture Policy and its Ceres Workshop, which was compiled by scientists who reviewed a number of critical commentaries about HFCS. Their analysis found that HFCS is not a unique contributor to obesity, concluding “there is currently no convincing evidence to support a link between HFCS consumption and overweight/obesity.”(16)