Sugar and high fructose corn syrup — both have been associated with health problems like obesity and diabetes. But they sugar doesn’t want to belong to any kind of club with its rival, and in fact, the sugar industry has filed a lawsuit accusing the corn industry of false advertising.

See, sugar wants to make sure you know they’re not as nutritionally terrible as high fructose corn syrup, says the L.A. Times. Sugar producers say the Corn Refiners Association’s ad campaign is lying when they say the liquid sweetener is “nutritionally the same as table sugar” and claims “your body can’t tell the difference.”

An attorney for the sugar industry says the corn industry ads “characterize high fructose corn syrup as a natural product. It is not — it is man-made. Yet they are advertising it as identical to sugar cane and sugar beets.”

In response to the suit, the corn defendants’ attorney says: “It is wrong for the refined sugar industry to try to stifle this truthful speech.”

The corn group is inching even closer to ticking off sugar, as they’ve officially applied to the Food and Drug Administration to change high fructose corn syrup to “corn sugar” on labels. That application is still pending.

Sugar says high fructose corn syrup is worse for humans according to scientific research. One researcher who studies the metabolic effects of eating sugar versus high fructose corn syrup says the corn product is worse, because it has higher levels of fructose. Hence, the name.

Previously: Study: Sugar & HFCS Not As Identical As Some Would Have You Believe ; Big Sugar Accuses Big Corn Of Conspiracy To Deceive Public With ‘Corn Sugar’ Ads ; FDA Scolds Big Corn For “Corn Sugar” Ads & Websites

Sugar seeks sweet revenge against competition from corn [L.A. Times]

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