Super Eco

High fructose corn syrup is a commercial sweetener made through enzymatic processing to increase its fructose content, rendering it sweeter-tasting and more comparable to table sugar. Pure corn syrup is 100% glucose; most high-fructose corn syrup used to sweeten foods and beverages is about half fructose and half glucose. HCFS 55 (55% fructose) is typically used for sodas and other beverages, while HCFS 42 (42% fructose) is used for baked goods and other foods. High fructose corn syrup is cheaper for manufacturers than cane sugar due to corn subsidies and cane tarriffs, and lower transportation costs. Sustainable agriculture activists blame high fructose corn syrup, in part, for encouraging destructive monoculture cultivation of corn in the United States' most productive farmland; GMO opponents decry high fructose corn syrup for the genetically-modified enzyme that is required to produce it, and raise alarms over the huge percentage of U.S. corn that is genetically modified; and health advocates claim that high fructose corn syrup is a major cause of obesity and other diet-related diseases, such as diabetes.

Production

Corn is milled to produce corn starch, which is in turn processed into corn syrup. This corn syrup is treated with enzymes including alpha-amylase, glucoamylase, and glucose isomerase and processed through liquid chromatography, ion exchange, carbon filtration and evaporation steps before it is complete.

Environmental impact

Corn for high fructose corn syrup is grown as a monoculture, a process that requires the heavy use of chemical fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides, and depletes the soil. Michael Pollan points to the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico because of chemical runoff down the Mississippi from the Midwest, where most corn is grown. In addition to the genetically-modified enzymes used to produce HCFS, most corn grown in the United States for corn syrup is genetically modified. Also, the manufacturing processes to create high fructose corn syrup are energy-intensive.

Health debate

Consumer advocates and industry groups continue to disagree on whether research indicates that high fructose corn syrup is more difficult to digest and more damaging to one's health than cane sugar. Many factors and insufficient data complicate the argument. One factor is the sugar content; cane sugar is made up of sucrose (50% fructose and 50% glucose) and is a single molecule called a disaccharaide, whereas HCFS 55 is two separate molecules of fructose and glucose. Some studies suggest that a diet higher in fructose leads to obesity and diabetes. Another study claims that high fructose corn syrup disrupts leptin in the body, keeping the brain from knowing when to stop eating or start digesting. Studies funded in part by the corn industry claim that there is no health difference between high fructose corn syrup and cane sugar. Many unaffiliated scientists point out that, while obesity increased at the same time high fructose corn syrup came into popularity, there is no proof of causation and, in fact, many major changes to food manufacturing and the diet of Americans occurred at the same time, any of which could be blamed for obesity.