The Crackdown on Unhealthy Food Ingredients

Pepsi, Reese’s Take 5, Canned Fruit, and Hot Dogs, what do all of these foods and drinks have in common? They all actually have corn in them—well, technically, corn syrup is an extraction of corn starch made from the material inside corn kernels to promote the production of various types of sugars, such as glucose or maltose. This is usually done through milling to separate and break down the starch. This allows for the sugar to last longer in liquid and solid form, allowing for easy use and transportation. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is an ultra-processed version of regular corn syrup. It takes the process a step further. After corn syrup is produced, food scientists use acids to convert some of the glucose into fructose, which makes it much sweeter.

HFCS became popular in the 1970s, after a tariff was imposed on imported sugar, and subsidies (government/tax benefits) were put in place for corn. This made corn syrup a much cheaper alternative to regular sugar. Major food producers began to switch regular sugar out for HFCS, and they were putting more of it in food. Why wouldn’t they? It was so cheap to include, and they found that American consumers had a real sweet tooth. Fructose is mainly metabolized (processed) by the liver, which turns it into fat or glucose. With overconsumption, this can result in Fatty Liver Disease, which occurs when the liver has too much fat in it. 

In recent decades, there has been mounting concern over the impact of HFCS. In 2010, researchers at Princeton University found that people who consumed HFCS gained more weight than those who consumed table sugar, even when they consumed the same amount of calories. In 2024, researchers at Washington University found that fructose can help cancer cells grow. All of these concerns have resulted in the government trying to get involved. In late 2024, Robert F. Kennedy—the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services—denounced the usage of HFCS in foods,  saying that, “They shouldn’t feed it to the rest of us” during an FDA press conference. This has prompted a shift towards natural sugar for companies that have used corn syrup as a crutch for decades. On July 22nd, 2025, The Coca-Cola Company announced that it intended to launch a cane sugar version of its products later in the year. Both Trump and Kennedy have pushed for this, citing that other countries (such as Mexico) have Coca-Cola with cane sugar. Tyson Foods followed in September, announcing that it planned to stop using HFCS in its branded products, including its breakfast bowls and frozen foods. And there’s been pressure on other food companies to follow suit. 

There are so many ingredients and additives in our foods that it can be overwhelming to keep track of all of them, but there are a few ways to keep an eye on them. First, pay attention to the ingredients list. Food products with fewer ingredients are simpler to both read and understand what’s actually in them. Secondly, look closer at “all-natural” products. Many unhealthy foods use the “natural” moniker to try to trick people into thinking that they are good for you. Finally, prioritize whole, unprocessed, or unmodified foods.