High Fructose Corn Syrup: What's the Hype?

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1841910,00.html

High-fructose corn syrup has become one of those noted ingredients that has raised many people's awareness to it in foods. Many people know that's it's "bad for you," but when asked no one can ever point out specifically why. New commercials have come out saying that high-fructose corn syrup isn't so bad for you, but rather alright in moderation. So what exactly can we believe as a brain-washed society?
The new 18-month campaign for high-fructose corn syrup is paid for by the Corn Refiners Association. Since it is portrayed in such a negative manner, sales in the corn industry have become severely hurt. So is informing the public about the "truth" about high-fructose corn syrup really the motivation, or does money and sales play an even bigger factor? In both the commercials already on air, "Both are confronted about the health effects of high-fructose corn syrup, but each has this ready response: High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn, has no artificial ingredients, has the same calories as sugar and is okay to eat in moderation." Is this really true? In Time's post–"Fast Food Nation world, high-fructose corn syrup is reviled for contributing to everything from the obesity epidemic to rising rates of childhood diabetes. So, which side is correct: Is it the devil's candy or a perfectly natural wonder?"
There really is no definate side to be on. The American Medical Association states that high-fructose corn syrup doesn't contribute more to obesity than sugar or caloric sweetners. However, it isn't "all-natural" like the CRA would want you to believe. "High-fructose corn syrup starts out as cornstarch, which is chemically or enzymatically degraded to glucose and some short polymers of glucose. Another enzyme is then used to convert varying fractions of glucose into fructose. High-fructose corn syrup just doesn't exist in nature." High-fructose corn syrup is biochemically the same as regular table sugar. However, high-fructose corn syrup is a key ingredient in many things, and the average American consumes about 60 pounds of it every year. Yikes! It's even an ingredient in vitamins. Because it's such a common ingredient, it makes it very hard keep tabs on "moderation" It doesn't seem so bad, but because it's the equivlent to sugar, it scares me. Imagine sugar replacing high-fructose corn syrup on all food labels. That definately wants me to check the labels twice!