High fructose corn syrup also known has HFCS is an alternative sugar that we have been using since the 1970's. It is corn that has undergone enzymatic processing to change its glucose and fructose ratio from 50-50 to 55-45 to produce a desired sweetness. Because the U.S. government has heavily subsidized the corn industry it has made HFCS extremely cheap to produce, therefore is commonly used in most processed foods. Critics have claimed that HFCS is linked to health problems, such as obesity, and fatty liver.
One of the main topics that critics bring up is that our bodies does not process HFCS and table sugar the same way. One of these critics is Dr. Mark Hyman he states "that corn syrup is an industrial food product and far from natural or a naturally occurring substance" (drhyman.com). HFCS consists of glucose and fructose, not in a 50-50 ratio, but a 55-45 fructose to glucose ratio in an unbound form. The unbound form is key, since there is no bond between them, the sugar doesn't need to be broken down by your stomach and goes straight into your blood stream. Hyman states that "fructose goes right to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol) this is why it is the major cause of liver damage in this country and causes a condition called "fatty liver" which affects 70 million people" (Hyman). .
Many critics claim that HFCS has a direct link to obesity because since the 1970's we have introduced HFCS into all of our products. All the producers have incentives to use lots of HFCS because it's so cheap with the farm subsidies. The consumer votes for sugar by purchasing products that are high in sugar and in turn companies continue to make more and more products that are sugar based such as our cereal, cookies, snack bars, canned foods and even milk. HFCS is also easy for manufactures to use because it is in a nice and easy to use liquid form.