"But sugar ain't much better."

Maybe not, but it sure tastes like it is.

I will always prefer natural sugar. I grew up in Poland, where corn syrup was not used (in fact, everything we ate was organic) and I have never really gotten used to products sweetened with corn syrup while in the States.

I am will not discount the findings of studies which suggest no health benefits over the HFCS, but for me it's always been an issue of taste and consistency. Sugar just tastes better and does not produce the weird syrupy consistency in juices and sodas which I dislike so much!

If you eliminate foods containing HFCS, you eliminate a lot of processed and refined foods. If you simple replace them with processed foods containing sugar instead, you're not doing anything for your health. You have to replace those processed foods with whole foods instead to see the health benefits you expect to get. Guzzling Pepsi with real sugar is still going to widen your ass.

@VA_White: simply, not simple. Sorry.

As a huge fan of kosher coke (aka mexican coke, aka costco coke,) I can say with certainty that although it may not BE better for you, it sure as hell tastes delicious.

It's hard to put my finger on what the difference is, but it seems to taste 'crisper' and have more of a sweet bite. I think I just drooled a little.

Brain Dunning, over on Skeptoid.com did a episode on HFCS, and I must admit it was enlightening to me. I never realized that the main reason for the use of HFCS was tariffs, and even that there are different "blends" of HFCS.
[skeptoid.com]

I don't know anyone who thinks HFCS is actually bad healthwise. I don't like it because it's kind of muddy tasting and things that contain it are usually disgustingly sweet and just generally nasty tasting.

I also know people who don't like it because of its environmental footprint.

Like those dumb commercials, this study just looks like an attempt to create a stupid strawman of HFCS critics.

@wdgasu: The thing I have noticed with both Passover Coke and Pepsi Throwback is that it has less "fizz" when poured, which makes me wonder if due to the HFCS being pre-broken down, unlike cane sugar, provides more nucleation points when pouring. I did not mention Mountain Dew Throwback, b/c it is not that good.

@Clobberella: Exactly. I don't care about the health effects of switching HFCS for Sugar, but I sure care about the taste effects.

@wdgasu:

I definitely agree. There is less of a bite from the carbonation with sugar instead of corn syrup

Corn syrup has been demonized because it's highly processed and environmentally unfriendly

AND because it's used as a universal flavor enhancement in places sugar never was. Its overuse relies on convoluted and manipulated government subsidies which turn the business of big food into an unhealthy farce.

HFCS itself is just another sweetener. The bad things appear when you consider the entire HFCS cycle, from subsidy and production to dietary effects.

If I am going to eat or drink something that is awful for me, I want it to taste as good as possible. It tastes a LOT better with real sugar.

No one ever said that sugar was better. The problem is that HFCS is injected into EVERYTHING.

I demonize corn syrup because I don't want it in my loaf of whole-wheat bread, or in my box of couscous, or any of the hundreds of other places I've found it. And after having Coke bottled in St. Lucia and Pepsi Throwback, if I want a soda I want one with sugar in it, damn it.

@VA_White: Thanks Dr. Science

@wdgasu: @OMG!ToOMG!,ByMyPonies!_GitEmSteveDave: You guys are making me crave an ice cold Coke out of a glass bottle. So cold that I can feel ice crystals pass my lips.

As someone who simply prefers more natural, less processed food, I'd rather have sugar than corn syrup. That's my choice as a consumer. It means I read labels, don't buy certain products, and pay more for others.

I think the food I choose tastes better and is probably healthier in the long run.

@Clobberella: I disagree.

The Corn Refiner's Association, (quote from the Chicago Tribune article) "frustrated with continuing attacks on high-fructose corn syrup, launched a media and consumer campaign last summer to "change the conversation" about the product".

So now the conversation is back to how sugar isn't that good for you either. We already know that. Can we get back to the processing that goes into producing HFCS, the effects it may have on people's bodies, and the impact it has on the environment?

I'm thrilled by this trend since HFCS makes me bloat like I'm carrying around a full-term pregnancy. The stuff makes me physically ill and it's in EVERYTHING, as youbastid says.

I still try to avoid processed food as much as possible, but I'm swigging from an "All Natural" Snapple iced tea as I write this. It's nice to have more options at the grocery store.

@youbastid: Actually, lots of people say that sugar is better. Well, specifically, they say HFCS is worse.

Yeah. Really? Whatever. I don't like the stuff (it makes me feel bloated and fatigued) so I'm not drinking it or eating it, and I'm not feeding it to my family.

Whoa, whoa, whoa... Sugar is bad for you?!?! Thanks for letting us know, corn lobby!

@Clobberella: ah, the amazing power of the human mind to convince themselves of something that is completely false (see: religion, global warming etal)

@VA_White: we never said it wouldn't make us fat...but at least it would taste better.

Great article.

@wdgasu: I guarantee you, sit down with four unlabeled cups of coke, 1 sugar, 3 hfcs, you will NOT be able to pick the sugar one out of the bunch. I defy you to try it.

@OMG!ToOMG!,ByMyPonies!_GitEmSteveDave: i have not been able to find pepsi throwback. makes me think the grocery stores aren't putting them out until they sell out of regular pepsi...

Sugar tastes better. Also, HFCS is more processed, which means it requires more energy to process, so creating it causes more pollution, and i like to breathe, therefore sugar is getter for my health than HFCS.

@legwork: This is the real problem--HFCS is bad for economic reasons, not dietary ones. It's so damn cheap that they can put it in everything. When your grandma made tomato sauce, she probably put 1/4 tsp of sugar in it to cut the bitterness of the tomatoes. When ConAgra makes tomato sauce, they put a few tablespoons of HFCS in it because it's cheap and tasty! Same with bread--I bake my own bread, and I usually use up to a tablespoon of sugar/honey in two loaves. It helps feed the yeast. Much commercial bread is chock full o' sugar or HFCS, because it's cheap and tasty (I will admit that I have a delicious bread recipe that has 1/4 cup of brown sugar in two loaves, but I am trying to stop making it so often). HFCS might not be any worse for you than table sugar, but it's hidden more places.

Additionally, people on this board aside, they have done studies, and people can taste the difference between HFCS and table sugar as sweeteners, but they cannot tell which is which; i.e. they pick the HFCS one and says that it's sugar and tastes "more natural."

@Etoiles: it costs me more money but I buy local craft sodas from the cafe down the street. makes the soda a special treat instead of a dietary staple

@Clobberella: I agree - especially when it comes to things like soda. HFCS leaves a filmy taste in my mouth that I don't get from sugar.

I don't like that.

@inadequatewife:

Let me be clear. I have nothing against corn.

There's nothing better than an fresh ear of corn slathered in real butter with a dash of kosher salt.

Oh, and popcorn with real butter and salt. No fake butter in this house.

I just don't need corn in my chocolate bar, my soda, or anything else where it isn't actually in the shape of a corn kernel.

The proliferation of HFCS-filled products has been a great excuse for me to switch to a healthier diet. (Do I really want my tomato sauce to taste like dessert? Not really.)

Even if companies switch from HFCS to sugar to appease consumer there will still be a ton of sweetness in most processed foods. Foods won't have the cloying flavor of HFCS, but they will still taste way sweeter than necessary.

@Clobberella: HFCS not only changes the flavor of a food or beverage, it changes the texture as well.

In something like a cookie or cake, I probably can't tell (I don't really eat these foods ever anyway), but in packaged foods with very high sugar contents, such as frozen desserts and sodas, its pretty easy to notice.

@Radi0logy: I hardly see how expressing one's opinions on HFCS opens the door for you to claim all religion as false.

even if there is no direct health benefit from switching HFCS to Sugar, there's an indirect link. If foods are flavored with sugar, their cost will increase, a gallon of orange juice costs 4X as much as a gallon of soda. cut the corn subsidies, and subsidize fruit and veggies.

@Radi0logy: i did a blind taste test with HFCS vs sugar coke and over several trials none of us (out of 4) could reliably pick them apart, including 2 people who previously swore they only liked the kind with real sugar. i think most of it is mental although it is possible more refined palates than mine can tell the difference

@Radi0logy: I have and run a blind taste test for others. Well cleaned glasses with distilled water ice. There is a repeatable difference. Although I think there may be some effect of regional variation in the flavorings and carbonation level.

@DePaulBlueDemon: Sugar isn't natural either, though. That's kind of the point--that whether you prefer it or not is one thing, but it's a manufactured product too. Unless you're sucking on cut cane, which I suspect is not the case.

Why I avoid it:

Unlike glucose, which is metabolized a number of ways by your body, fructose is only metabolized by your liver. When the liver receives more fructose than it can handle, the excess sugars are turned into fats in the form of triglycerides, which are harmful to your arteries and your heart.

There's much to be learned about how our bodies react to fructose, but researchers do know that fructose doesn't stimulate production of insulin, leptin or ghrelin, all of which play a part in telling the body how much it needs to eat [source: Havel]. Without receiving these internal signals to stop eating, it becomes that much easier for us to continue chowing down on that pint of double-chocolate fudge ice cream.

The biggest problem is that HFCS is being added to food items that don't normally have sugar and that you wouldn't even describe as sweet -- crackers, for instance. So, not only are we chugging down lots of sugars with our sodas, but your PBJ sandwich could have HFCS in each of its three ingredients. Meal after meal, day after day, all of this extra sugar adds up, and that, and not necessarily the qualities of HFCS itself, is likely one reason why rates for obesity and diabetes have climbed since the introduction of HFCS. (Other factors are in play as well, such as decreased activity and exercise levels and increased fat consumption.)

****
From the HowStuffWorks website [recipes.howstuffworks.com]

@Radi0logy: There's a difference with the foaming and head, as I have found repeatably, between both versions. It is actually noticeable by sight, as I thought my first bottle of Passover Coke had gone flat, but realized it wasn't as I drank.

@Radi0logy: Actually if you are unable to a.) taste the difference between corn syrup coke and sugar coke, b.) look at the evidence to see that man has accelerated global warming (which, yes, does occur with or without us) or c.) actually I agree about the religion part; then maybe you should be worried about your mind not being powerful enough.

The fact is that if you taste sweeteners by themself; like agave, sugar, corn syrup, maple syrup, honey, aspartame, yacon, etc. they may all be sweet, but they definately don't taste the same.

@Mike8813: It is easy, all religion is false. So you could say "I like cheese burgers." and I could say "All religion is false" and we are both just stating very basic facts.

HFCS tastes like corn... very sweet corn but ever since switching off soda with corn syrup I can taste it. I have no idea about the health benefits as indeed no one does but the taste difference is clear if you switch off and then come back. I have very sensitive taste though for example I really taste and it tastes like medicine.

@windycity:

Thank you. Finally the REAL reason why HFCS should be avoided. It isn't processed by the human body correctly; I would call that a health risk.

@craptastico: I find Coke with HFCS (as well as other sodas) leaves a weird sticky aftertaste in my mouth. I don't get that with sugar-based sodas. Sugar-based sodas taste better not so much in the taste, but the texture. I drink a Coke and 20 minutes later I just taste a Coke-like backwash.

@Radi0logy: My friends and I also did our own blind taste test and kept trying to trick one another. 3 of the 4 people could consistently tell which soda had sugar and which had HFCS. (2 of the 4 prior to the test claimed they could tell the difference.)

Do you have prizes to award us?

@OMG!ToOMG!,ByMyPonies!_GitEmSteveDave:

Good lord man, you already have 40+ posts today. And we're only halfway through the day.

@legwork