More Research

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a liquid sweetener that can be found in many of the products that we consume today. There has been a dramatic increase in the use of HFCS over the years because it’s cheap and can be easily manufactured. As the use of HFCS increased, so has obesity rates in the United States. Could high fructose corn syrup be a leading cause in the obesity epidemic in the United States?

The continuously growing obesity epidemic in the United States is a significant problem. The authors of the article, A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain, state that,

“According to the body mass index (BMI) categories defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 65% of the U.S. adult population aged 20-74 years is currently overweight. In 1976-80, only 47% and 15% of adults in the United States were considered overweight and obese, respectively (CDC, 2004). About 16% of American children and adolescents aged 6-19 years are also currently overweight. Two decades ago, about 6% of individuals in this age group were classified as overweight (CDC, 2004). Prior to 1976-80, such dramatic overweight and obesity rates were not observed in the United States."

Because the obesity rates are increasing significantly, other health problems that are caused by obesity are on the rise, as well. For example, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancer rates are all increasing. Because of this, as you can imagine, “overweight and obesity increase health care costs and mortality rates.”  

If you look at the ingredients of  your chocolate milk, Fruit Roll-Up, favorite soda, you’ll notice a similar ingredient; High fructose corn syrup. Not just those few products contain HFCS, things like bread, Heinz Ketchup, Miracle Whip, Kraft Cheese Nips, Yoplait Yogurt, Campbell’s Vegetable Soup, and Smucker’s Grape Jelly just to name a very small few. HFCS is a common ingredient that we come in contact on a daily basis. “In the United States, HFCS has increasingly replaced refined sugar (sucrose) in many foods and most sweetened beverages. Outside the United States, HFCS is not used extensively, and sucrose continues to be the primary caloric sweetener,” the authors of the article, A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain, state.

Princeton University seems to agree with the idea that there is a significant link between obesity and the consumption of HFCS. Princeton University researchers, after they conducted an experiment with rats, concluded  “…that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.” Does this mean that there really is an evident link to obesity? The Princeton University research was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service.