A New Name for High Fructose Corn Syrup?

Share this

Philip Morris [6] tried to escape its tarnished reputation by re-branding itself "Altria [7]" and the private military contractor Blackwater [8] tried to ditch its bad image by re-naming itself "Xe [9]." Now the Corn Refiners Association [10] is taking a tip from these companies and trying to re-brand its much-maligned product, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), as "corn sugar." Consumption of HFCS is at a 20-year low. [11] This might make doctors and nutritionists happy, but it's bad news for manufacturers of HFCS, who hope to turn the trend around. No longer should we refer to chemical-sounding "high fructose corn syrup," but instead we should use the fresher, gentler and more natural-sounding term "corn sugar." HFCS has gotten a reputation as obesity's public enemy number one, and over-consumption of HFCS and other sweeteners has been linked to a list of chronic health problems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration [12] has not yet approved the name change for food labels, but the corn producers are already working to change public perception of their product. They are running TV ads [13] featuring a down-home family farmer and sweeping shots of nature, and their Web site extolls the virtues [14] of HFCS. The re-naming could work. In the 1980s, there was an ingredient called "low erucic acid rapeseed oil" which was re-named "canola oil," and more recently, the FDA permitted prunes to be marketed under the name "dried plums." In both cases, after the name change, sales of the products increased.