(NaturalNews) Consumers have largely ignored every marketing effort by the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) to "health-wash" high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as being the same as all other forms of sugar. But the group refuses to give up. According to the Associated Press, CRA is now petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
to allow it to change the name of the highly-processed, controversial sweetener to "corn sugar" in yet another attempt to convince the public to accept it.
No matter how you look at it, HFCS is a highly-processed, unnatural form of refined sugar that inflicts a heavy burden on the liver. Besides being derived from corn, of which the vast majority is genetically-modified (GM), HFCS is linked to metabolic syndrome, heart disease and type-2 diabetes.
Last year, studies also found that at least half of commercial HFCS contains high levels of toxic mercury due to the extensive chemical refining process necessary to produce the sweetener. Nearly a third of the HFCS-containing breads, cereals, sodas and other consumer foods tested as part of the study showed up positive for mercury.
Despite the overwhelming evidence showing that HFCS is harmful to health, CRA is determined to convince the public otherwise. Its new marketing slogan claims that "whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference. Sugar is sugar."
Consumption of HFCS has reached a 20-year low, and will likely continue to fall. Several large food producers, including Hunt's ketchup and Snapple, have already removed the sweetener from their products, and many others will likely follow suit to meet consumer demand.
But most producers are replacing HFCS with refined cane or beet sugar, which is not much better. In fact, the majority of beet sugar grown in the U.S. is GM as well, but a recent court ruling may change that.
The best forms of sugar are those in their natural, whole form. The refining process removes many necessary co-factors that help the body to process the sugar properly, which leads to disease. So stick to things like raw sugars, raw honey and whole stevia leaf extract when enjoying a sweet treat.
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