Prompt Cast
The Rise and Popularity of High Fructose Corn Syrup
TLDR High fructose corn syrup, a cheaper and sweeter alternative to sugar, was developed in 1957 and became popular in the 1980s due to its affordability and the surplus of corn in the United States. It is now found in a wide range of food products and is the preferred sweetener option due to its low cost and consumer preference for sweet foods.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
High-fructose corn syrup was developed in 1957 and is now found in many food products worldwide, but early humans consumed very little sugar and it was a luxury product until the 19th century.
01:42
Chemists developed a process to turn glucose found in corn starch into fructose, which led to the creation of high fructose corn syrup in 1967.
03:23
High fructose corn syrup is cheaper, easier to handle, and sweeter than sugar, making it a popular alternative in the food industry, and its production was encouraged by the surplus of corn in the United States.
04:52
High fructose corn syrup became popular in the 1980s when sugar became more expensive than high fructose corn syrup in American markets due to quotas on sugar imports, leading to its widespread use in food products.
06:24
High fructose corn syrup is found in a wide range of food products, including condiments, breakfast cereals, meats, baked goods, salad dressings, soups, and many others, and the United States exports the majority of high fructose corn syrup in the world.
07:56
The causal reason why high fructose corn syrup causes obesity could be due to something unique about fructose metabolism and the high consumption rates of it.
09:30
High fructose corn syrup is in so many food products because it is the cheapest sweetener option and people like sweet foods, and it will likely remain the preferred sweetener in the future.
