--- title: High Fructose Corn Syrup Wants A New Name description: High fructose corn syrup — an ingredient in everything from soda to ketchup to pickles — has such a bad reputation that the Corn Refiners... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7144300/high-fructose-corn-syrup-might-get-a-makeover/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-09-14T18:10:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T11:34:33.661Z article:section: Health og:title: High Fructose Corn Syrup Wants A New Name og:description: High fructose corn syrup — an ingredient in everything from soda to ketchup to pickles — has such a bad reputation that the Corn Refiners... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7144300/high-fructose-corn-syrup-might-get-a-makeover/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte383ded9addbb4e9/698a9563b3fce3101d0d3642/corncropped.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 307 og:image:height: 173 og:image:alt: Wheat Rallies On Russia's Export Ban og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: High Fructose Corn Syrup Wants A New Name twitter:description: High fructose corn syrup — an ingredient in everything from soda to ketchup to pickles — has such a bad reputation that the Corn Refiners... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte383ded9addbb4e9/698a9563b3fce3101d0d3642/corncropped.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # High Fructose Corn Syrup Wants A New Name > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Sep 14, 2010 6:10 PM UTC  Russian farmers show fresh corn, half the size of corn from previous years, in a field in the Tulsky region, about 220 kilometers from Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010\. Wheat prices have doubled in less than two months as drought slashed the harvest in Russia, the third-largest grower. Photographer: Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Bloomberg via Getty Images Russian farmers show fresh corn, half the size of corn from previous years, in a field in the Tulsky region, about 220 kilometers from Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010\. Wheat prices have doubled in less than two months as drought slashed the harvest in Russia, the third-largest grower. Photographer: Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg via Getty Images—2010 Bloomberg by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Sep 14, 2010 6:10 PM UTC High fructose corn syrup — an ingredient in everything from soda to ketchup to [pickles](http://www.goodguide.com/products/221310-claussen-bread-n-butter-sandwich-slices) — has such a bad reputation that the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) wants to change the name of the popular sweetener to “corn sugar.”more The CRA argues that high fructose corn syrup is simply sugar and is no more harmful than any other popular full-calorie sweetener, like sugars derived from beets or sugar cane. While some data links high fructose corn syrup to higher rates of [obesity](http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/79/4/537), [some cancers](http://www.reuters.com/article/idAFN0210830520100802) and [diabetes](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070823094819.htm), compared with sugar, the evidence is inconclusive — though that doesn’t ease the public’s fears. The [AP reports](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100914/ap%5Fon%5Fbi%5Fge/us%5Fcorn%5Fsyrup%5Fimage) that “Americans’ consumption of corn syrup has fallen to a 20-year low on consumer concerns that it is more harmful or more likely to cause obesity than ordinary sugar, perceptions for which there is little scientific evidence.” But some nutritionists and endocrinologists who specialize in diabetes argue that high fructose corn syrup tricks people into eating more food. When glucose (contained in sugar) enters the bloodstream, it stimulates production of insulin and of a hormone called leptin, which signals to the brain that the body has eaten enough. By contrast, the fructose contained in high fructose corn syrup doesn’t stimulate the production of leptin. Studies also show that [fructose is processed into fat](http://www.jci.org/articles/view/37385) more quickly than is glucose. Due to manufacturing, high fructose corn syrup contains 45% glucose, which is found naturally in corn, and 55% fructose. The body processes these sugars differently. The American Medical Association says there is not enough evidence to suggest that high fructose corn syrup is linked to poor health. And other experts argue that other full-calorie sweeteners are no better. “Soda pop sweetened with sugar is every bit as conducive to obesity as soda pop sweetened with high fructose corn syrup,” Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told the AP. The real problem is getting sugar — of all kinds — out of our diet. Because high fructose corn syrup has a long shelf life and is cheaper to produce than cane sugar, it’s a popular ingredient in wide variety of processed and packaged foods. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calculated that the average American consumes 35.7 pounds of high fructose corn syrup per year. For more, [see the Mayo Clinic’s advice](http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588) on high fructose corn syrup consumption. **More from Time:** [Better-Nourished Babies Grow Up to Be Haler, Heartier Don Juans](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/14/better-nourished-babies-grow-up-to-be-haler-heartier-don-juans/) [Why Can’t Americans Eat Their Veggies?](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/10/why-we-cant-eat-our-veggies/) [Leafy Greens May Cut Diabetes Risk](http://healthland.time.com/2010/08/20/leafy-greens-cut-diabetes-risk/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7144300/high-fructose-corn-syrup-might-get-a-makeover/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7144300/high-fructose-corn-syrup-might-get-a-makeover/"},"headline":"High Fructose Corn Syrup Wants A New Name","datePublished":"2010-09-14T18:10:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T11:34:33.661Z","description":"High fructose corn syrup — an ingredient in everything from soda to ketchup to pickles — has such a bad reputation that the Corn Refiners...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7144300/high-fructose-corn-syrup-might-get-a-makeover/","keywords":["diet","Nutrition","FDA","Obesity","diabetes","Corn"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte383ded9addbb4e9/698a9563b3fce3101d0d3642/corncropped.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte383ded9addbb4e9/698a9563b3fce3101d0d3642/corncropped.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Wheat Rallies On Russia's Export Ban","caption":"Wheat Rallies On Russia's Export Ban","creditText":"Bloomberg via Getty Images—2010 Bloomberg","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7144300/high-fructose-corn-syrup-might-get-a-makeover/","name":"High Fructose Corn Syrup Wants A New Name"}}]}] ```