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High-fructose corn syrup

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High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a newer and sweeter form of corn syrup.

Introduction

Like ordinary corn syrup, the high fructose variety is made from corn starch using enzymes. The production process of HFCS was developed by Japanese researchers in the 1970s. HFCS was rapidly introduced in many processed foods and soda drinks in the US over the period of about 1975–1985, and usage continues to increase as sugar use decreases at a nearly one to one level (Bray, 2004 & U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Sugar and Sweetener Yearbook series, Tables 50–52.).

By increasing fructose content of corn syrup (glucose), the syrup is more comparable to table sugar (sucrose). This makes it useful to manufacturers as a possible substitute for sugar in soft drinks and other processed foods. Unlike sucrose, HFCS consists of a mixture of glucose and fructose, which doesn't require an enzymatic step to break it down before absorption in the intestine.

Through enzymatic processing, the fructose content of corn syrup can be increased to yield a product with similar properties to table sugar. Common commercial grades of high fructose corn syrup include fructose contents of 42%, 55%, or 90%. The 55% grade is most commonly used in soft drinks and equivalent to caster sugar.

Comparison to other sugars

Sucrose (table sugar) is a disaccharide composed of one unit each of fructose and glucose linked together. Sucrose is 50% fructose, so HFCS may have a higher or lower fructose content than sucrose, with a corresponding change in sweetness. Sucrose is broken down during digestion into fructose and glucose through hydrolysis by the enzyme sucrase.

Honey is another product that is a mixture of different types of sugars, water, and small amounts of other compounds. Honey typically has a fructose/glucose ratio similar to HFCS, as well as containing some sucrose and other sugars.

Sweetener consumption patterns

In the United States

File:Usda sweeteners.jpg
US sweetener consumption, 1966-2004 (cane and beet sugar are both pure sucrose)

The accompanying graph shows the consumption of sweeteners per capita in the United States since 1966. Since HFCS and sucrose (cane and beet sugars) provide almost identical proportions of fructose and glucose, no metabolic changes would be expected from substituting one for the other. However, it is apparent from this graph that overall sweetener consumption, and in particular glucose-fructose mixtures, has increased since the introduction of HFCS. Thus, the proportion of fructose as a component of overall sweetener intake in the United States has increased since the early 1980s. This would be true whether the added sweetener was HFCS, table sugar, or any other glucose-fructose mixture.

International markets

Currently, HFCS remains an almost uniquely American phenomenon.

In Europe, whilst HFCS is not specifically banned, the European Union's moratorium on the production and sale of all genetically modified products (coupled with the greater availability of cane sugar over maize) would make it extremely difficuly as well as uneconomical to make it there.

Health effect controversy of High Fructose Corn Syrup

Overview

The average American consumed approximately 42.3 lb of HFCS versus 44.0 lb of sugar in 2004. By contrast, where HFCS is not used or rarely used (EU, Brazil, Australia), the sugar consumption per person is nearly double or more than the USA.

One study concluded that Fructose "produced significantly higher fasting plasma triacylglycerol values than did the glucose diet in men". The research, led by J.P Bantle, concluded that "if plasma triacylglycerols are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, then diets high in fructose may be undesirable" (Bantle, 2000). However, this study looked at the effects of fructose independently. As noted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1996, “the saccharide composition (glucose to fructose ratio) of HFCS is approximately the same as that of honey, invert sugar and the disaccharide sucrose (or table sugar).

A more recent study by Dr. George Bray (2004) found a link exists between obesity and high HFCS consumption (Bray, 2004), especially from soft drinks. On the other hand, University of California, Davis nutrition researcher Peter Havel, PhD, point out that while there are likely differences between sweeteners, "the increased consumption of fat, the increased consumption of all sugars, and inactivity are all to blame for the obesity epidemic." (See External link on HFCS and Obesity)

Labelling restrictions

In May 2006, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) threatened to file a lawsuit against Cadbury Schweppes for labelling 7UP as “All Natural” despite containing high fructose corn syrup. While the FDA has no definition of “Natural”, CSPI claims that HFCS is not a “natural” ingredient due to the high level of processing required to produce it.

Production

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is produced by processing corn starch to yield glucose, and then processing the glucose to produce a syrup with a higher percentage of fructose.

First, cornstarch is treated with alpha-amylase to produce shorter chains of sugars called polysaccharides.

Next, an enzyme called glucoamylase breaks the sugar chains down even further to yield the simple sugar glucose.

The third enzyme, glucose-isomerase, converts glucose to a mixture of about 42% fructose and 50–52% glucose with some other sugars mixed in. While alpha-amylase and glucoamylase are added directly to the slurry, glucose-isomerase is packed into columns and the sugar mixture is then passed over it. This 42–43% fructose glucose mixture is then subjected to a liquid chromatography step where the fructose is enriched to approximately 90%. The 90% fructose is then back-blended with 42% fructose to achieve a 55% fructose final product. Numerous ion-exchange and evaporation steps are also part of the overall process.

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