You can spot Dawn Wynne at the grocery store. She's one of those conscientious label readers busy studying cans, bottles and jars in aisle after aisle.
But it's not calories, sodium or preservatives she is looking for. She is on patrol for high fructose corn syrup; it's an unadvertised part of sauces, cereal, candy and especially soda, and she wants none of it.
The Redondo Beach resident looks for foods sweetened with "pure cane sugar, honey or fruit juice." Wynne believes "they are healthier and break down in the body more easily."
Consumers -- at the grocery store and restaurants -- are increasingly demanding sodas and other products sweetened with sugar, not corn syrup.
The trend is so strong that the Corn Refiners Assn. has launched a major marketing campaign and Internet site, www.sweetsurprise.com, to defend the sweetener. They are battling signs like the one saying, "Get Real! . . . No High Fructose Corn Syrup" that faced the parking lot at the Jamba Juice shop in Seal Beach on Thursday.
High fructose corn syrup has become a favorite target of the health-conscious as an alleged cause of America's obesity boom. A typical 2-liter bottle of soda contains 15 ounces of corn syrup, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Whether it's really at fault is open to debate.
The Corn Refiners Assn. contends that high fructose corn syrup is just as natural as table sugar and honey. Others say it's not natural at all, because it is manufactured through a chemical process and does not occur in nature by itself. The Center for Science in the Public Interest called the corn refiners' campaign "deceptive."
Most medical research says it is the calories, rather than the sweetener, that make a difference to a person's health. And sugar and high fructose corn syrup have identical calorie counts.
"Our message is that people should cut down on both," said CSPI Director Michael Jacobson. Likewise, the American Dental Assn. says sugar is equally bad for teeth regardless of whether it comes from corn or cane.
The Corn Refiners Assn. is reacting to a steady slide in sales of high fructose corn sweetener.
"We have been very concerned about the misunderstanding of our product in the marketplace and want to provide the facts so that consumers can make their choices based on science rather than urban myth. HFCS and sugar are treated by the body the same, they contain the same calories, and nutritionally are no different," said Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Assn.
