Sugar Will Duke It Out With Corn Syrup in Court

It's a battle of the sweeteners. The sugar industry is taking the makers of corn syrup to court in a much-anticipated case that starts tomorrow. Sugar producers say corn syrup makers are guilty of false advertising in their assertion that the two products are "nutritionally the same" and "your body can't tell the difference," the Los Angeles Times reports. The people behind corn syrup should stop the ads and pay damages, sugar backers say, arguing that the syrup is in fact much worse for you.

The ads suggest high fructose corn syrup is a "natural product. It is not—it is man-made," says a lawyer for Team Sugar. "Yet they are advertising it as identical to sugar cane and sugar beets." Sugar producers hold that obesity and diabetes have soared as corn syrup has grown more popular. But "good science proves that obesity is caused by the overconsumption of calories from any source, not from one ingredient," argues the corn refiners' top lawyer. The Times checks in with a researcher, who cites more "negative effects" from higher fructose—and high fructose corn syrup has more of the stuff. Click for more, including the corn industry's plan to rebrand corn syrup as "corn sugar." (More corn syrup stories.)