Today, the Center for Consumer Freedom expressed concern that ConAgra Foods is taking advantage of the urban myth about high fructose corn syrup to rebrand its ketchup. The food company announced this week that they would be switching from high fructose corn syrup to sugar in their Hunt’s ketchup, despite all scientific evidence supporting the fact that the two sweeteners are handled the same by the body.
J. Justin Wilson, Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Consumer Freedom made the following statement in response:
By swapping out high fructose corn syrup for table sugar, Hunt’s apparently hopes consumers will see its “new” ketchup as an improvement, yet the two sweeteners are identical in taste and composition. The American Dietetic Association wrote in 2008 that "Both sweeteners contain the same number of calories (4 per gram) and consist of about equal parts of fructose and glucose. Once absorbed into the blood stream, the two sweeteners are indistinguishable."
A sugar is a sugar and a calorie is a calorie. Switching from high fructose corn syrup to processed sugar encourages further consumer misunderstanding of the science on sweeteners.
