High fructose corn syrup

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) (also called glucose-fructose,isoglucose and glucose-fructose syrup) is a sweetener made from corn starch that has been processed by glucose isomerase to convert some of its glucose into fructose. HFCS was first marketed in the early 1970s by the Clinton Corn Processing Company, together with the Japanese research institute where the enzyme was discovered.

As a sweetener, HFCS is often compared to granulated sugar. Advantages of HFCS over granulated sugar include being easier to handle, and being less expensive in some countries. However, there is also debate concerning whether HFCS presents greater health risks than other sweeteners. Use of HFCS peaked in the late 1990s.

Apart from comparisons between HFCS and table sugar, there is some evidence that the over-consumption of added sugar in any form, including HFCS, is a major health problem. Consuming added sugars, especially in the form of soft drinks, is strongly linked to obesity. The World Health Organization has recommended that people limit their consumption of added sugars to 10% of calories, but experts say that typical consumption of empty calories in the United States is nearly twice that level.

In the U.S., HFCS is among the sweeteners that mostly replaced sucrose (table sugar) in the food industry. Factors include production quotas of domestic sugar, import tariff on foreign sugar, and subsidies of U.S. corn, raising the price of sucrose and lowering that of HFCS, making it cheapest for many sweetener applications. The relative sweetness of HFCS 55, used most commonly in soft drinks, is comparable to sucrose. HFCS (and/or standard corn syrup) is the primary ingredient in most brands of commercial "pancake syrup", as a less expensive substitute for maple syrup.