Experts

Health and nutrition experts, including doctors, dietitians, researchers and professional organizations, are in agreement that whether it’s corn sugar — by which we mean HFCS, a sugar made from corn — or cane sugar, your body can’t tell the difference. Sugar is sugar.

“Well, the body digests table sugar very rapidly. And both HFCS and table sugar (sucrose) enter the bloodstream as glucose and fructose—the metabolism of which is identical. There is no significant difference in the overall rate of absorption between table sugar and HFCS, which explains why these two sweeteners have the same effects on the body.”
- Becky Hand, R.D, L.D, M.Ed, lead advising dietitian for SparkPeople.com and BabyFit.com
SparkPeople.com, September 1, 2009

“Because the composition of HFCS and sucrose are so similar, particularly on absorption by the body, it appears unlikely that HFCS contributes more to obesity or other conditions than sucrose.”
- American Medical Association, Report 3 of the Council on Science and Public Health (A-08), June 2008

“High fructose corn syrup … is nutritionally equivalent to sucrose. Both sweeteners contain the same number of calories (4 per gram) and consist of about equal parts of fructose and glucose. Once absorbed into the blood stream, the two sweeteners are indistinguishable.”
- American Dietetic Association, Hot Topics paper on High Fructose Corn Syrup, December 2008

“There’s not a shred of evidence that these products are different biologically. The decision to switch from HFCS to cane sugar is 100% marketing and 0% science.”
- David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Crain’s Chicago Business, September 7, 2009

“For example, health professionals could help consumers understand that metabolically, HFCS and sucrose are similar and one is not ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than the other.”
- Suzanne P. Murphy, Ph.D., R.D., Professor, Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii, The Journal of Nutrition, June 2009

“Rather than ban it [high fructose corn syrup] from your diet, you’re better off cutting back on sugar from all sources. That includes honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, agave syrup, and fruit-juice concentrate, which are found in many so-called healthy treats.”
- Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N., Nutrition and Health Expert for The TODAY Show, Parade, March 31, 2010