Why do people get fat? Part III: HFCS

Last month the US Food and Drug Administration denied a petition by the Corn Refiners' Association to have the name of corn syrup changed to 'corn sugar'. This was heralded by most as a huge victory for health, for labelling and for the fight against obesity. Why? What is this product and what effects can it have on the human body?

Well, since the mid-1960s we have, on average, gained three stone per person (UK statistics), which is seen in changing clothes sizes, bigger car seats, wider slides in playgrounds, etc. Despite popular belief, according to a twelve-year study we are NOT lazier or greedier than we were fifty years ago. So, why are we fatter? What is different? The increase of sugar in our foods has!

History

In 1971 Richard Nixon was facing re-election. He was unpopular due to the Vietnam War and because of the increased price of food. Because of the latter, he employed Earl Butz, an academic with an agricultural background, to look into reducing the price of foods. Butz pushed farmers into a new, industrial scale of farming and the magic crop was - corn. Production increased dramatically, which lead to an increase in portion sizes. American corn farmers went from small-time businesses to mutli-millionaires. By the mid-1970s there was already a surplus of corn, so Butz travelled to Japan to look into the production of refining corn. This lead to a product that would change forever the way food was made and how we eat - it was High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), known as glucose-fructose in the UK and Ireland. This is a sweet, gloopy syrup that ended up going into everything you can imagine - meat, coleslaw, baked goods, etc. It made products look more appetising, sweeter and gave them a much longer shelf-life. Corn syrup was only two-thirds the price of sugar and so was seen to have no flaws.

Heart Disease

In the 1970s obesity wasn't on the radar, but heart disease was. A huge debate on its causes took place. An American nutritionist called Ancel Keys blamed fat while a British researcher, Prof. John Yudkin, blamed sugar. The American's theory won out, though Prof. Yudkin later disclosed that he felt his findings had been subverted. He may have been right as there were huge amounts of money to be made from pointing the finger at fat - low-fat foods. These would prove very popular with the public who believed they were making healthier choices without any major alterations to life or lifestyle. BUT, if you take the fat out of food, what happens to the taste? It disappears! What do you add to increase the taste? Sugar!

1980s

By the Eighties it became apparent that people who were exercising and eating low-fat foods were still gaining weight. Prof. Philip James, one of the first to identify obesity as an issue noticed this. There were quite startling facts, especially considering people weren't eating more food, just different foods. 

In the UK Body Mass Index (BMI) had increased substantially. In 1966, 1.2% of men and 1.8% of women had a BMI of over 30 (obese) but by 1989 that had increased to 10.6% and 14% respectively. Still nobody made the connection between fat and HFCS or the fact that the more sugar we ate the more we wanted. We had been given an insatiable appetite for sugar and things only got worse.

Science

In fact it is only recently that these connections are being researched and beginning to be understood by scientists. One such scientist, Prof. Jean-Marc Schwarz of San Fransisco Hospital, is studying the way our major organs metabolise sugar. It is now known that it groups and sticks around the liver as fat and leads to diseases such as Type-2 Diabetes. Some studies have shown that it may coat semen making obese men less fertile

"One researcher told me that, ultimately, perhaps nothing had to be done about obesity, as obese people will wipe themselves out.", Jacques Peretti in a piece on this topic in the Guardian.

The organ of most interest to researchers, however, is the intestine, which is often referred to as the body's "second brain" and can become conditioned to wanting more sugar and sending messages to the brain for sugar that are very hard to fight. Whilst the American Sugar Association claims sugar consumption alone doesn't cause damage, increasing scientific research tells us that fructose can lead to processes of liver toxicity and many other chronic diseases. Some believe it is having the same impact on people as cigarettes and alcohol can. It has also been said that the consumption of FCS increases body fat, especially around the abdomen, which we know is the worst type, when compared with regular table sugar consumption.

Local use

HFCS is widely used in the US, but as corn production isn't a common European activity, it was never as widely-used in this part of the world. Whilst it isn't used in everything, I did some research and have found that it is used in, at least, the following products in Ireland:

• Most McVities biscuits (Jaffa Cakes, Chocolate Digestives, Classic Rich Tea, HobNobs, etc.);
• Carte d'Or ice-cream;
• Lucozade Energy - apple and orange flavours;
• Yop yoghurts;
• Most sweet and savoury McDonalds products (and I would imagine most fast-food, especially from multi-nationals);
• Some Kellogg's Special-K bars; and
• Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Soft and Fruity.

Whilst it is easy to dismiss obesity as a problem with people simply eating too much, this research may shine a different light on it. I have to admit that I always would have blamed the 'calories-in, calories-out' theory and laziness of people for their being overweight, but maybe it is a real addiction; one created by food companies to increase our consumption of their products. 

To learn more about this subject tune into BBC 2 Thursday at 9pm or read this piece from the Telegraph or this one about the corn refiners. There is also interesting reading on the Obesity Epidemic website.

Something tells me that this is only the beginning of this issue on this side of the water. I have already started ever-so-frantically checking ingredients on random products in the shop. (I admit to being very pleased that it isn't used in Ben and Jerry's ice-cream!!) Do you know of any other products it is in here? Or have you heard anything else about this product to add to the information here? Do you believe people are addicted to sugar and can no longer feel full? Let me know in comments box below!