Sunday, November 14, 2010

High Fructose Corn Syrup

I have been detecting a bit of concern about high fructose corn syrup in my local atmosphere (gas chromatography, of course), and there is a simple solution: avoid regular indulgence, as you would for popcorn balls, frosting and jolly ranchers.  However, small amounts are extremely unlikely to cause any harm (Please note that as a scientist I have been trained not to make absolute statements.  There is always the possibility that new information will come along, even for very well-established theories like "gravity").  Be rational.  Read widely.  You should neither let those who enjoy fanning flames keep you from enjoying your life, nor let those intent on obscuring truth keep you from making good decisions. 

For a recent review of the current state of the debate about high fructose corn syrup take a look at this publication: Fructose and Cardiometabolic Disorders: the controversy will, and must, continue by Wiernsperger, Geoloen and Rapin from October 2010. Nice work gentlemen, and very much appreciated.  Another review has been published this month by Dekker et al., but I don't yet have access.  Thanks to all for their work in this area.

For a well-crafted response from the Corn Syrup interests click this link.  Wiernsperger et al., Dekker et al. . . . it will be hard to compete.

2 comments:

  1. Don't know why this struck me like this, but could you play popcorn ball on a warm, humid day, and have the things stick to your opponents? Special gear would be a mandatory hairy sweater.

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  2. i clicked on this article to see if anyone was willing to stand up for america and tell the absolute truth about hfcs- guess that i will not find the truth on line,i guess everybody is afraid, if so why publish an article that omits half of the truth ?

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