High-fructose corn syrup vs. cane sugar
in foods: The cost of switching ingredients
Fox Business,
by
Daniella Genovese
Original Article
Posted By: Harlowe,
7/18/2025 1:30:43 PM
Replacing high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar could come at a cost, according to industry experts. (Snip) Bulk high-fructose corn syrup cost about $0.35 per pound for 2025, only rising from $0.27 in 2015, and remaining fairly close to this price in the past few years, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In comparison, the price of refined white sugar is $1.01, which is up substantially from $0.61 in 2015. (Snip) Meanwhile, the Corn Refiners Association (CRA), argued that there would be severe economic implications if the industry eliminated high-fructose corn syrup,
Post Reply
Reminder: “WE ARE A SALON AND NOT A SALOON”
Your thoughts, comments, and ideas are always welcome here. But we ask you to please be mindful and respectful. Threatening or crude language doesn't persuade anybody and makes the conversation less enjoyable for fellow L.Dotters.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Heil Liberals 7/18/2025 1:58:40 PM (No. 1979318)
HFCS is sugar. Sugar is sugar. Both are terrible for our health. Both contribute to metabolic disorders and inflammation. Both are THE diet of cancer, regardless of type. Of the two, sugar has a lower glycemic index. Either way, 90% of Americans consume hundreds of times more than necessary.
A Keto diet, or better yet a Proper Human Diet, (Dr. Ken Barry, MD - YouTube) can reduce or eliminate these problems. And yes, that means no sugars.
8 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Californian 7/18/2025 4:04:47 PM (No. 1979383)
Not exactly.
The tldr version: in normal amounts sugar is just useless extra calories while HFCS is a long term health hazard.
They are not just sugars.
Putting HFCS in everything is a sop to the corn farmers. It's much worse for you than plain old sugar. Sugar which mostly comes from the US anyway.
As far as "the farmers" goes, most farming is now done by huge agribusiness not small family farms. I'm not worried about giant corporations having to adjust their business to a healthier and better tasting ingredient.
I see no problem here.
23 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
DVC 7/18/2025 4:09:52 PM (No. 1979386)
Well, yeah, the corn syrup industry is going to squeal.....their ox is getting gored. Oh, well. It was going the other way when they switched from sugar to corn syrup, then the sugar refiners were unhappy.
12 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
JimBob 7/18/2025 4:12:25 PM (No. 1979389)
Gripe, Gripe, Gripe!
The article talks about all the negatives of making the switch.... is it because President Trump encouraged it, so therefore it is BAD?
I recall, years ago, articles stating that low-income people in Mexico were being put in a bind because the price of corn -a staple of their diet- was going way up..... because so much corn was being used to make ethanol to use as a gasoline additive. I recall driving from south Mississippi up to eastern Wisconsin in the summer a few years ago. In the farming areas, it seemed that every square foot that could be planted in corn was.... planted in corn! There must be a big market for it!
So IF Coca-Cola makes the switch from Fructose sugar from corn, to Sucrose sugar from sugar cane, what percentage is that going to decrease the Corn market? What percentage will that increase the Sugar Cane market?
From another angle, my understanding is that the human body has more mechanisms to digest Sucrose than it does to digest Fructose.
Is there a health benefit?
If there is, what would be the estimated savings in health care costs?
Any L-Dotter with knowledge on this subject, please chip in!
10 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Rather Read 7/18/2025 4:21:18 PM (No. 1979397)
I believe humans are hard wired to like sugar. Breast milk is quite sweet. When I was nursing my son, I tried a bit of my own milk and it was very, very sweet. Sugar isn't the villain. It's the amount of sugar and producers putting it in EVERYTHING that's the problem.
7 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
pc504 7/18/2025 4:23:18 PM (No. 1979399)
It seems to me the whole country got fat around the time we switched from cane sugar to HFCS and when we switched from beef tallow to hydrogenated oils for frying.
13 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 7/18/2025 4:44:55 PM (No. 1979406)
So, 35 cents a pound for HFCS, $1.01 for cane sugar. Maybe a tablespoon of either in a Coke, so
5 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
DVC 7/18/2025 4:53:04 PM (No. 1979412)
Somehow the reply was sent while I was still typing.....
So, 35 cents a pound for HFCS, $1.01 for cane sugar. Maybe a tablespoon of either in a Coke, so my refrigerator conversion chart says that 1 tablespoon is 0.5 oz, or 1/32 of a lb. So, in HFCS that's about a penny per can, and in cane sugar, about 3 cents per can. In a 12 pack of Coke the cost increase is 36 cents. While I understand the economics that drove this, if you assume (I'm sure that they did) that the HFCS is a straight equal for cane sugar, saving a few cents per can when you sell a few billion cans per year is a lot of saving.
But, increase the cost of a 12 pack by 50 cents and profits are up for the company, since costs increased only 36 cents.
Excessive sugar use is bad for you. This is true in multiple ways.
This has been known for a hundred years. Choose your foods, it's still a tiny bit of a free country. And IMO, 'vegan' and vegetarians are nuts, but they are free to eat or not eat whatever they want I have no interest in convincing them of anything. But.....keep your superstitions off of my diet, whatever they may be. You eat and drink what you want, and I will do the same. I expect to be able to choose my foods, and you can choose yours.
13 people like this.
Use the corn for gasoline and we'll consume the sugar instead.
I'm down to about one coke per week, so it would take a long time to depopulate me via soda.
7 people like this.
In Texas we can buy "Mexican Coke", imported from Mexico. which is made with cane sugar. It comes in glass bottles and commands a premium price. Many people buy it. It seems to me that POTUS Trump is getting a two-fer; a healthier version of Coke corporation soft drinks which are many and taking a bite out of imports from Mexico.
Just thinkin'. . .
9 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
NotaBene 7/19/2025 3:51:47 AM (No. 1979449)
Drink more Diet Coke, American product.
Be like Trump.
2 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Red Jeep 7/19/2025 7:11:48 AM (No. 1979477)
According to a health teacher that I was a student of, the fattening of America began with the switch from sugar cane sweeteners to corn syrup as a sweetener.
5 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Strike3 7/19/2025 7:16:43 AM (No. 1979481)
The poor and those with government-issued food tickets most affected.
1 person likes this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Muguy 7/19/2025 8:41:07 AM (No. 1979505)
"... high cost of sugar.."
That is why Coca-Cola created "NEW Coke" back in the early 1980's and replaced sugar with high fructose corn 'sugar'. This decision was an EPIC financial failure because it did not TASTE like Coke, and there was no "Coke burn" on the first swig.
THEN, they started losing 'taste tests' with Pepsi Cola..... SO, they then dropped the "new coke" and claimed that they had returned to the "orignal taste", but LEFT the HFCS in the 'original taste' reformulation. They got away with it for a while. Then they tried to create what they claimed tasted just like Coke with Coke Zero, and now Coke Zero Sugar which is marketed as tasting like Original Coca Cola.
So, low and behold, people started buying imported Mexican Coke WITH sugar for a premium price that is REAL COKE without HFCS that people actually prefer!
What's "old" is going to be "new" again! Coke lovers REJOICE!
5 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
crashnburn 7/19/2025 9:13:24 AM (No. 1979523)
Sugar of any kind tastes sweet to us because it contains a lot of calories, and before modern agriculture it was hard to get enough calories
I went cold turkey on HFCS sweetened products years ago because I was pre-diabetic. My A1C levels came down and now I only drink it when I'm traveling and need caffeine and sugar to stay awake. (I don't drink coffee and iced tea just doesn't do it for me.)
I expect the bottlers will pass the cost of the conversion onto the consumer (as they always do). I doubt the price increase will affect sales all that much, but if it does, the country's overall health will improve.
4 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Harlowe 7/19/2025 9:31:32 AM (No. 1979534)
A family member has violent reactions if ingesting artificial sweeteners so reads labels very carefully to avoid being incapacitated for hours, including being bedridden, due to all at once reactions of a migraine, nausea, vomiting, body tremors, diarrhea, sensitivity to light and sound so, regrettably, is quite limited in food purchases due to the high volume of products containing HFCS.
Aside from negative reactions to HFCS, “Ecological studies have linked the rise in fructose availability with the increases in obesity and diabetes worldwide.” Some studies have linked “many other serious health issues” such as heart disease to HFCS and added sugar.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Redbone 7/19/2025 10:26:47 AM (No. 1979553)
"Sucrose, commonly known as table sugar, is composed of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. When you consume sucrose, it is broken down into these two simpler sugars during digestion. "
""HFCS 42" and "HFCS 55" refer to dry weight fructose compositions of 42% and 55% respectively, the rest being glucose."
The difference between sucrose and HFCS is really quite small. As others have said, limiting the total amount of sugar intake is the proper thing to do.
1 person likes this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
mc squared 7/19/2025 10:41:51 AM (No. 1979559)
If they put cocaine back in it would fly off the shelves. It was removed in the 20's.
'When the popular drink was invented, it was first marketed as a “patent medicine”; cocaine was legal at the time and was a common ingredient in medicines, according to the institute.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/07/25/fact-check-coke-once-contained-cocaine-but-likely-less-than-claimed/8008325002/
1 person likes this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
cor-vet 7/19/2025 10:49:47 AM (No. 1979561)
I'm too 'white' to drink coke or coke products, and had to give up my Barqs Root Beer, a product of the Coke conglomerate. I have a local root beer made with cane syrup that's fantastic and it's worth every extra penny. Of course, I probably only drink about two per month.
1 person likes this.
If Coke was healthier by not using HFCS, people might buy it more frequently, and if that makes only more expensive, people might drink less of it! Sugar is deadly… stored as fat almost immediately by all but the most active people.
0 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
paral04 7/19/2025 12:52:03 PM (No. 1979644)
The solution is use sugar and eat less sweets. You can tell by the size of too many Americans that they are stuffing themselves with the wrong food. They will be healthier and spend less on heath care.
0 people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "Harlowe"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Comments:
Empathy and compassion are at play with this issue for corn farmers as well as the health and well-being of consumers. Farming has high risks due to uncertain weather conditions and growth of crops; consumers are at risk with potentially serious health problems due to a variety of food additives such as high fructose corn syrup. Studies have indicated “HFCS can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease and dyslipidemia, an abnormal level of cholesterol and other fats in the blood; ... a universal threat ...accumulating as visceral fat around organs.” Hopefully, RFKJr via HHS will intervene.