Corn syrup 'not guilty'

High fructose corn syrup should be acquitted. It's not to blame for America's obesity any more than sugar or honey, proclaims the latest campaign launched recently on behalf of the often-maligned sweetener.

"A sugar is a sugar," the TV and print ads state. Pictured are a "lineup" that includes people costumed as an ear of corn, a sugar cube and a bear-shaped honey bottle.

The message: They're all the same, including number of calories.

The million-dollar ad blitz is designed to put an end to "blatant inaccuracies" surrounding high fructose corn syrup, said Justin Wilson, senior research analyst for the Center for Consumer Freedom.

"The bottom line is consumers will be the ones who ultimately get scammed. They will pay more and give themselves this illegitimate distraction from what causes obesity. Most Americans get the point that eating too much sweet food will make them fat," he said.

Honey does differ, according to Bruce Wolk, marketing director at the National Honey Board in Firestone, Colo. "It's a combination of glucose, fructose, maltose, a little bit of sucrose and a whole array of trace ingredients," he said.

"My curiosity is why big powerful high fructose corn syrup is going after a sweetener that accounts for only 1.5 percent of consumption," Mr. Wolk added. "If it helps our market share, we are all for it."

"While it is true that high fructose corn syrup is not nutritionally different from other sugars, most Americans are still consuming way too much of them," said Jeff Cronin of the Center

for the Science in the Public Interest. ¦