Autumn is setting in — time for crisp nights and tales of ghosts and goblins. Most everyone loves a good ghost story in the fall for the shivers it sends down your spine and the pause it gives you before walking into a dark room.

Unfortunately, though, most ghost stories are tame compared to the tales of terror being told about our food system. Biotechnology, mega-farms, salmonella, e. coli, and other ag-related terms sound as if they came from a ghost story. Movies like “Food, Inc.” are drawing more viewers than the most popular horror films.

Even as Halloween approaches, you will probably be just as likely to hear about foodborne illness, frankenfoods and corporate agriculture as Dracula, Casper and the Wolf Man. It seems that conjuring up new food fears has proven to be big business for opponents of U.S. agriculture.

High fructose corn syrup has been one of those subjects of unwarranted fear in recent years, as the corn sweetener has been blamed for everything from the obesity in the U.S. to diabetes. The truth, however, is not so scary, according to the Corn Refiners Association.

“A sugar is a sugar and your body can’t tell the difference,” said Audrae Erickson of the Corn Refiners Association. “High fructose corn syrup is a homegrown sweetener that creates jobs for Americans and offers an affordable option for consumers.”

Here are some facts about high fructose corn syrup from www.sweetsurprise.com, a Web site on the topic from the Corn Refiners Association.

· The American Medical Association concluded that, "high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners."

· The American Dietetic Association concluded that, "No persuasive evidence supports the claim that high fructose corn syrup is a unique contributor to obesity."

· Research confirms that high fructose corn syrup is safe and nutritionally the same as table sugar and honey.

· In 1983, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) formally listed high fructose corn syrup as safe for use in food and reaffirmed that decision in 1996.

· High fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as table sugar and is equal in sweetness. It contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients and meets the FDA requirements for use of the term “natural.”

· High fructose corn syrup offers numerous benefits. It keeps food fresh, enhances fruit and spice flavors, retains moisture in bran cereals, helps keep breakfast and energy bars moist, maintains consistent flavors in beverages and keeps ingredients evenly dispersed in condiments.

· Many confuse pure fructose with high fructose corn syrup. Recent studies that have examined pure fructose have been inappropriately applied to high fructose corn syrup and have caused significant consumer confusion. High fructose corn syrup never contains fructose alone, but always in combination with a roughly equivalent amount of a second sugar (glucose). 


Despite these facts, consumers that have heard the manufactured horror stories about high fructose corn syrup are demanding products that do not contain the corn based sweetener. As a result, more costly imported sweeteners (such as cane sugar) are being used to create inferior products that cost more and offer no caloric, health, or nutritional benefits over the same products containing high fructose corn syrup.

“Most people do not realize the cost of what they are asking the food industry to do,” Erickson said. “Consumers are doing nothing but hurting their pocketbooks by demanding no high fructose corn syrup. And once they learn the facts about this corn sugar, they are very favorable to it.”

The facts about food and agriculture make them much less scary. If you want scary, try telling all those little ghosts and goblins trick or treating next month that they cannot have any high fructose corn syrup. With no such treats, the trick will be on you.

Matt Reese writes for Ohio’s Country Journal and resides in Baltimore, Ohio. This column is brought to you by Ohio agriculture. Contact him at mkcreese@yahoo.com.