High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is made from corn starch that has been processed into corn syrup, which is mainly glucose. This corn syrup is further processed to convert some of the glucose to fructose and because of this processing, it is also sweeter than regular granulated sugar. In the US, it is the primary sweetener used in a multitude of processed foods and beverages. HFCS is two to three times cheaper than sugar in the US because of the government subsidies it attracts.

There is much debate about whether HFCS is worse for you than regular sugar. I have listed some points to be aware of as well as a few links to different articles that may give you a better understanding of HFCS.

Sugar in any form causes obesity and disease when consumed in pharmacologic doses, in other words, massive doses. When you consider that the average 600ml cold drink contains the equivalent of about 15 teaspoons of sugar and many people consume about 2 a day, that is a very large dose indeed.

HFCS and cane sugar are NOT biochemically identical or processed the same way by the body.
Very simply put, sugar (sucrose) contains glucose and fructose in equal quantities, bonded together.
HFCS on the other hand has had the glucose / fructose relationship altered through processing so that there is no longer any bond between then and there is now approximately 45% glucose and 55% fructose, making it much sweeter. This also means that instead of going through the digestive process, it is absorbed straight into the bloodstream.

Rapidly absorbed fructose goes directly to the liver and starts a process called lipogenesis, which causes the production of triglycerides and cholesterol. This can result in liver damage and cause “fatty liver” disease, which is more commonly associated with alcohol abuse. It is a disease affecting more than 70 million Americans.
Rapidly absorbed glucose causes large insulin spikes, which is the body’s major fat-storage hormone and these spikes are associated with weight gain, an increase in appetite, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

HFCS contains traces of contaminants such as mercury. Mercury is a heavy metal and toxic to the body. Over a period of time the levels may build up in the body, thereby causing health problems.

Please also have a look at my post, Are food manufacturers making us fat? where I quote from an article that was published on RT and that points to high fructose corn syrup being one of the biggest culprits ~

“What these food scientists have done is that they’ve gone to a lab and they’ve created these chemical concoctions that are very sweet, very fatty and very salty. And they call that the bliss point. Meaning they’ve created addictive foods that are going to get consumers hooked and they’re going to keep wanting to come back for more and more foods,” says Elizabeth Kucinich, of Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine.

Whether or not HFCS is as bad or worse for you than sugar, I would suggest that any food subjected to so much processing should be kept to an absolute minimum or not consumed at all. Our health is our most precious possession because without it, we cannot enjoy life to the full and it wise to minimise as many threats to having a healthy life as possible.

Other names that indicate the presence of sugar, processed or otherwise ~

Agave Nectar
Barley Malt Syrup
Beet Sugar
Brown Rice Syrup
Brown Sugar
Cane Crystals (or, even better, “cane juice crystals”)
Cane Sugar
Coconut Sugar, or Coconut Palm Sugar
Corn sweetener
Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids
Dehydrated Cane Juice
Dextrin
Dextrose
Evaporated Cane Juice
Fructose
Fruit juice concentrate
Glucose
High-fructose corn syrup
Honey
Invert sugar
Lactose
Maltodextrin
Malt syrup
Maltose
Maple syrup
Molasses
Palm Sugar
Raw sugar
Rice Syrup
Saccharose
Sorghum or sorghum syrup
Sucrose
Syrup
Treacle
Turbinado Sugar
Xylose

Links ~

Why you should never eat high fructose corn syrup
High Fructose Corn Syrup will kill you
Search on Google and Wikepedia for more information on the subject