Sugar, corn syrup face off over 'natural' claims in U.S. trial

[Little Tich]

Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Corn refiners cannot "make stuff up" and claim that high fructose corn syrup is the same as sugar, an attorney for big sugar processors said in court on Wednesday.

Lawyers delivered opening statements in a trial pitting sugar processors against major corn refiners including Archer Daniels Midland Co and Cargill Inc [CARG.UL]. The billion-dollar lawsuit could shape how consumers view two bitter foes in a deteriorating U.S. sweetener market.

Several sugar refiners including global leader ASR Group sued in 2011, alleging that a corn trade group's ad campaign describing high fructose corn syrup as "corn sugar" and "natural" was false. The corn refiners countersued, saying the Sugar Association falsely claimed in its newsletter that corn syrup causes obesity and cancer.

The case comes amid a decline in sweetener demand. The U.S. slowdown is due in part to concerns about high rates of obesity and diabetes.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/sugar-corn-syrup-face-off-over-natural-claims-011547365--finance.html

[jmowreader]

1. The most important reason to be against this: "corn sugar" already exists

It is used almost exclusively by commercial food and liquor producers. It looks just like any other granulated sugar, but it's made out of corn. Calling HFCS "corn sugar" would lead to confusion in the marketplace.