• The Wall Street Journal , Monday, June 23, 2008 10:30 AM

The Corn Refiners Association is trying to rehabilitate the reputation of high-fructose corn syrup with a big ad and public-relations campaign to convince consumers that HFCS isn't the evil it has been made out to be. The group is running full-page ads in more than a dozen major newspapers around the country today saying its product is no worse for you than sugar.

The ad, which features a stalk of corn, carries the headline: "And Now a Little Food for Thought." It goes on to tell readers that lots of foods and beverages are sweetened with "sugars made from corn, such as high-fructose corn syrup" and that it has the "same natural sweeteners as table sugar and honey."

The use of HFCS began to spread during the 1980s as food manufacturers sought a less-expensive alternative to sugar, and it's used in a long list of products. Some medical and health experts now say that HFCS is similar to sugar, adding that it isn't metabolized by the body any differently than table sugar. Still, most agree that too much of either is not healthy.

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