Shoppers No Longer Sweet on Corn Syrup

Makers hope name change will ease consumers' minds

(NEWSER) - The backlash against high-fructose corn syrup has finally led its makers to try out a new name: corn sugar. The Corn Refiners Association wants people to know that—according to its marketing campaign—"whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference. Sugar is sugar." The association applied for permission to use the new name on food labels yesterday, and though a decision could take two years, the marketing campaign is already in full swing over at CornSugar.com , the AP reports. More»

(NEWSER) - The soda tax is a great idea, and its probable death at the hands of lobbyists serves to highlight all the problems with our tax system, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times. The current system doesn’t raise enough money, and it’s “complex in all the wrong ways,” a vast labyrinth of deductions, subsidies, and extra taxes devoid of logic. More»

Nutritionists slam food makers' efforts to sell sugar as the healthy choice

(NEWSER) - Sugar, once a nutritional outcast, is back in fashion as American consumers start to turn away from high-fructose corn syrup, the New York Times reports. Manufacturers are rushing to replace the syrup—used in everything from soft drinks to spaghetti sauces—with sugar, and selling the switch as a move to a more natural, healthier, "retro" sweetener. More»

State laws making a difference, says study

(NEWSER) - Why do teens in California consume fewer calories a day than young people in other states? It's because they snack less when at school, a new study finds, and they snack less because state laws have curbed the sale of junk food and banned the sale of soda and sugary drinks in schools, reports NPR . California teens ingest 158 fewer calories daily than teens in other states, an amount that can have a big cumulative effect for the better. More»

Sugar producers cite false advertising

(NEWSER) - It's a battle of the sweeteners. The sugar industry is taking the makers of corn syrup to court in a much-anticipated case that starts tomorrow. Sugar producers say corn syrup makers are guilty of false advertising in their assertion that the two products are "nutritionally the same" and "your body can't tell the difference," the Los Angeles Times reports. The people behind corn syrup should stop the ads and pay damages, sugar backers say, arguing that the syrup is in fact much worse for you. More»