Trade associations have gone to court, arguing that the Corn Refiners Association is behind a conspiracy designed to deceive the public

The fight between the Sugar Association and the Corn Refiners Association over what to call High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) seems never to end.

Trade associations representing growers of sugar cane and sugar beets (sucrose -- the white stuff on the table) have gone to court to charge that corporate members of the Corn Refiners Association (HFCS) are behind a "conspiracy" deliberately designed to "deceive the public." Why? Because -- in an equally absurd move -- they want to change the name of HFCS to corn sugar.

The sucrose-growers lawsuit argues Corn Refiners conspired to engage in false advertising as part of a $50 million campaign to promote HFCS by changing its name to "corn sugar," thereby implying that HFCS is equivalent to "real" sugar from cane and beet plants.

Oh please. Sucrose is glucose and fructose linked together. HFCS is glucose and fructose separated. Both are sugars (note: plural). Sucrose is extracted from sugar beets and cane in a series of boiling, extracting, and cleaning steps. HFCS does the same from corn, but uses one more enzyme so is somewhat less "natural," but so what?