Also known as high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose.

	The average American consumes 152 pounds of sugar per year - 30 pouds more than in 1980. (USDA)
	Our consumption of added sugar is twice what the USDA recommends. (“Added sugar” is beyond what occurs naturally in foods.)
	Diets high in added sugars have lower intakes of key nutrients.

Adding sugar is a cheap way to make foods taste good. Food product ingredients are listed in order of their prominence (i.e., the item contains more of the first ingredient listed than any other, etc.). Sugar is often the first or second ingredient.

	Nabisco Honey Maid graham crackers: Sugar is the second ingredient.
	Skippy peanut butter lists sugar as the second ingredient.
	High-fructose corn syrup is the:

- First ingredient listed in Kellogg’s Strawberry Nutri-Grain yogurt bars.

- Third ingredient listed in Heinz Ketchup.

Also known as HFC, first studied by obesity research poineer George Bray.

	Is made from corn starch, introduced widely into the food supply in the 1970s
	Its use parallels declining intake of milk and rising prevalence of obesity
	Is three times sweeter than either sucrose (table sugar) or glucose, and 66% cheaper
	Has different physical effects: Doesn’t stimulate insulin secretion (which makes us feel full) but DOES stimulate production of fat cells
	Scientists say “humans aren’t well-equipped” to digest fructose in large amounts” (i.e., it often causes gastrointestinal distress)
	Between 1970 and 1997, America’s average annual per capita consumption of high-fructose corn syrup grew from one-half pound to 62.4 pounds. Most is contained in soft drinks, but is also in many processed and baked foods. (Source: USDA Report)

Dr. Staish Rao, gastroenterologist at the University of Iowa Medical School, found 30% of patients with positive fructose tests suffer gastrointestinal distress. Conclusion: Most people can’t adequately digest more than about 25 grams of fructose within a couple of hours. A can of regular Coke contains 16 grams; a glass of orange juice has 15.