Manufacturers petition regulator to change name to 'corn sugar' as consumer backlash grows against the food and drink sweetener in the US

It has been dubbed "the devil's candy" by critics. A ubiquitous sweetening ingredient known in the US as high fructose corn syrup could get a branding makeover under a plan by food companies to make it sound more appetising.

Mixed into thousands of drinks and snacks to appeal to sweet toothed customers, the syrup has been the butt of attacks by anti-obesity campaigners including the first lady, Michelle Obama, who avoids giving products containing the ingredient to her daughters.

Alarmed about a growing stigma surrounding the substance, the US Corn Refiners Association (CRA) is attempting a rebranding. The organisation has asked the Food and Drug Administration for permission to change the name of the ingredient to the simpler sounding "corn sugar".

"Customers need to know what is in their foods and where their foods come from and we want to be clear with them," said Audrae Erickson, president of the CRA. "The term 'corn sugar' succinctly and accurately describes what this natural ingredient is and where it comes from: corn."

High fructose corn syrup, essentially a liquid alternative to sugar that is derived from corn kernels, is known in Europe as glucose-fructose syrup or isoglucose. Thousands of popular foods, ranging from crisps to bread products, sweets and prepared meals, contain the ingredient. But sales have fallen sharply in the US amid attacks on the substance by campaigners who link it to America's twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes.

Responding to the public mood, Starbucks last year removed the syrup from its bakery products, and several other brands including Gatorade sports drinks have cut back on its use.

Food companies including Tate & Lyle, Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill insist that the syrup is misunderstood and argue that, nutritionally, it is little different from ordinary sugar. But the American Medical Association has called for more research into its use.

Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University, told the New York Times that the corn refiners' move was hardly surprising: "You have to feel sorry for them. High fructose corn syrup is the new trans fat. Everyone thinks it's poison, and food companies are getting rid of it as fast as they can."

A spokesman for Tate & Lyle, the European market leader for glucose-fructose syrup, said there were no plans to petition regulators for a name change in Europe.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Washington-based Centre for Science in the Public Interest, said that the fundamental issue was that people needed to consume less sugar: "Soda pop sweetened with sugar is every bit as conducive to obesity as soda pop sweetened with high fructose corn syrup."