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I've been saying for ages that the sugar composition of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is no different from that of table sugar (sucrose).

Oops. A new study in the journal Obesity actually measured the amounts and kinds of sugars in 23 kinds of HFCS-sweetened drinks (click here for the PDF).

The findings are summarized in a fact sheet (PDF):

• The sugar content varied widely from amounts stated on labels. Some drinks had 15 percent less sugar than labeled, but others had as much as 30 percent more.

• On average, the drinks had 18 percent more fructose than expected.

• Several brands of sodas seemed to be made with HFCS that is 65 percent fructose, not 55 percent.

• The average amount of fructose in the drinks was 59 percent.

The press release (full PDF here) points out one other finding. You know how everyone thinks Mexican Coca-Cola is so much more delicious than American Coke because it is made with table sugar (sucrose), not HFCS? Oops again. The investigators could not find any sucrose in the Coke, but did find plenty of glucose and fructose. This suggests that Mexican Coke is also made with HFCS (or it could also mean that the sucrose had been split into its constituent glucose and fructose).