Corn Syrup No Worse Than Sugar, Some Say

Critics have worried that the sweetener known as high fructose corn syrup -- which is found in many foods not considered sweet, along with soft drinks -- tricked the body into thinking it wasn't full, adding to the nation's obesity problems.

A new study said, however, that HFCS is no different from any other sweeteners and that it does not cause obesity more than other sweeteners.

Researchers and members of industry came together to study the issue. The president of the Corn Refiners Association said that studies that have found problems with HFCS have actually looked at pure fructose, rather than the combination of fructose and sucrose -- also know as table sugar.

At a symposium, the experts concluded that HFCS and sucrose have similar sweetness and are treated the same by the body. They said they found that calorie intake in the U.S. increased 24 percent per person from 1970 to 2005, but that the extra calories were not from sweeteners, but came across all food groups.

They also said that per capita consumption of HFCS has dropped in recent years, even as obesity rates continued to climb.

The researchers offer more information at HFCSfacts.com.