US denies name change for disputed sweetener
US regulators Wednesday denied a request to change the name of high-fructose corn syrup to merely "corn sugar," in a high-profile dispute between two industries.
The effort to change the name comes amid controversy over the sweetener, which is at the epicenter of a dispute over a possible link to obesity.
The Food and Drug Administration said in a ruling that the corn industry failed to back up its request for the name change.
FDA food safety chief Michael Landa said the change would imply "a solid, dried, and crystallized sweetener obtained from corn."
Landa said there is already a solid corn sweetener, called dextrose, and that the liquid corn sweetener contains some ingredients that might adversely affect people "with hereditary fructose intolerance or fructose malabsorption."
The regulatory battle between Big Sugar and Big Corn coincides with a public relations battle.
The FDA affects food labeling but does not prevent advertisements describing "corn sugar," at least according to the corn industry.
"The FDA's ruling represents a victory for American consumers," said Dan Callister, an attorney for the sugar industry.
"It reaffirms what most consumer advocates, health experts and policy officials have been saying all along: only sugar is sugar. HFCS is not sugar. The next step is for the federal court to end the (the corn industry's) misleading propaganda campaign."
But the Corn Refiners Association said the FDA made its decision on "technical grounds" and did not rule on the issue of whether high fructose corn syrup is nutritionally the same as other sugars.
"The fact remains -- which FDA did not challenge -- that the vast majority of American consumers are confused about HFCS," said corn association president Audrae Erickson.
"Consumers have the right to know what is in their foods and beverages in simple, clear language that enables them to make well-informed dietary decisions."
The two sides have offered contradictory scientific studies. A 2008 report by the American Medical Association which concludes that it is "unlikely" that high-fructose corn syrup contributes more to obesity or other conditions than sucrose.
But a 2011 study cited by the sugar industry from the journal Metabolism concludes the fructose corn syrup leads to "significantly different acute metabolic effects" than plain sugar.
Some have linked the obesity epidemic to consumption of processed foods and soft drinks which use corn syrup in place of costlier cane or beet sugar.
The corn industry petitioned the FDA for permission to use the term "corn sugar" instead of high fructose corn syrup. But in the meantime it has launched television and print ads hoping to gain public support, on free speech grounds.
The campaign cites experts saying there is no difference between various sugars in terms of metabolism, calories or other nutritional values.
"Whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference. Sugar is sugar," one ad says.
(c) 2012 AFP
-
Big Corn, Big Sugar in bitter US row on sweetener
Dec 17, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Pure fructose frequently confused with high fructose corn syrup
Mar 04, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Scientists say consumers confused about sugars
Jun 08, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Sugar and corn syrup makers in bitter clash
Sep 14, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
High-fructose corn syrup in soda has much more fructose than advertised, study finds
Oct 28, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
Bed sharing with parents increases risk of cot death fivefold
Bed sharing with parents is linked to a fivefold increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), even when the parents are non-smokers and the mother has not been drinking alcohol and does not use illegal drugs, according ...
Health
4 hours ago |
1.5 / 5 (2) |
0
Sports seem OK for many with heart-zapping device
Doctors tell people with a heart-zapping device in their chests to give up intense sports like basketball and soccer in favor of golf or bowling. But lots of patients ignore that advice—and now new research is challenging ...
Health
5 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Gym class reduces probability of obesity, study finds for first time
Little is known about the effect of physical education (PE) on child weight, but a new study from Cornell University finds that increasing the amount of time that elementary schoolchildren spent in gym class reduces the probability ...
Health
7 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Prenatal exposure to traffic is associated with respiratory infection in young children
Living near a major roadway during the prenatal period is associated with an increased risk of respiratory infection developing in children by the age of 3, according to a new study from researchers in Boston.
Health
9 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Combined wood and tobacco smoke exposure increases risk and symptoms of COPD
People who are consistently exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease, ...
Health
9 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
The compound in the Mediterranean diet that makes cancer cells 'mortal'
New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells' "superpower" to escape death. By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer ...
Do salamanders hold the solution to regeneration?
Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even parts of their hearts, scientists have ...
Scientists identify molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease
Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons ...
Practice makes perfect? Not so much
Turns out, that old "practice makes perfect" adage may be overblown. New research led by Michigan State University's Zach Hambrick finds that a copious amount of practice is not enough to explain why people ...
Older prostate cancer patients should think twice before undergoing treatment
Older prostate cancer patients with other underlying health conditions should think twice before committing to surgery or radiation therapy for their cancer, according to a multicenter study led by researchers in the UCLA ...
New test better detects elephantiasis worm infection
A new diagnostic test for a worm infection that can lead to severe enlargement and deformities of the legs and genitals is far more sensitive than the currently used test, according to results of a field ...