Milling & Baking News - May 19, 2009 - 35

Corn Wet Milling

C.R.A. annual report seeks to debunk
HFCS link to health concerns
Both 42 HFCS and 55 HFCS showed
declines from 2006 to 2007 of 2.7%
and 3.5%, respectively. Interestingly,
the report showed that total per capita sweetener deliveries fell to 136.6
lbs in 2007 from 139.2 lbs in 2006, a
decline of 1.9%. Two elements of
those shipments - refined sugar and
HFCS - also fell. Refined sugar fell
0.6% to 62.1 lbs per capita from 62.5
lbs. HFCS deliveries fell 3.4% to 56.3
lbs per capita in 2007 from 58.3 lbs per
capita in 2006.
The 731 million lbs commercial
weight reduction in year-over-year
shipments may have played a role in
galvanizing the industry to action.
The recession with which we are
all too familiar was beginning to bite
in 2007. There
is
generally
Corn wet milling shipments
a reaction to
bad economic
(million pounds commercial weight)
times in reduced
con2007
2006
2005
Starch Products
6,473
6,541
6,699
sumption of
Refinery Products
32,465
33,061
32,566
almost everyHFCS 42
10,017
10,290
10,284
thing. But the
HFCS 55
12,678
13,135
13,219
impact
was
Total HFCS
22,695
23,426
23,503
felt particularly strongly
Total domestic basic products
38,938
39,603
39,265
in carbonated
soft
drinks
Total export basic products
2,937
2,540
2,063
- the strongSource: Corn Refiners Association
hold of HFCS.
Although the
C.R.A.
has
nutritionally the same. The 2008 not published 2008 shipment data,
Corn Annual focuses on our efforts there are reports of continued slight
to change the conversation about declines in HFCS shipments through
high-fructose corn syrup and serves 2008. The economy certainly did not
as a commemorative review of this improve in 2008.
The continued decline in starch
extraordinary campaign."
The campaign is truly extraordinary shipments in 2007 of 1% accelerated
in that it is a multimillion dollar effort in 2008 as paper mills took extended
by the C.R.A., financed by its mem- shutdowns. One of the "canary in a
bers, to debunk the "urban legend" coal mine" indicators of a recession is
that connects HFCS consumption to coated paper demand. As magazine
health concerns, including obesity. ad pages decline, sales of coated paIt is unheard of in the history of the per decline at the same pace. Another
corn wet milling industry. Not even factor, less important than magazine
during the introduction of HFCS in print pages, is the reduction in the
the 1970s was such a massive adver- dissemination of printed annual retising and public relations campaign ports. The Internet option has allowed
mounted in support of a food ingredi- many companies to ship printed reent, particularly one that has been so ports only if they are requested by
widely accepted by the food process- shareholders. Several other compaing industry. But a look at the ship- nies have inserted uncoated copies of
ments of products of the corn refining 10-K between a coated paper glossy
industry may hold a clue as to why cover. All of these factors drove down
the members of the C.R.A. pledged starch demand.
The bright spot for the industry in
their support for this initiative.
BY PETER A. MEYER

The Corn Refiners Association
(C.R.A.) has produced its 2008 Corn
Annual. The thrust of the report, captured in the title, is "Changing the
Conversation about High Fructose
Corn Syrup."
Audrae Erickson, president of the
C.R.A., comments, "Our industry
launched a nationwide multimedia
campaign to correct the record on
high-fructose corn syrup by addressing mischaracterizations and misinformation in the public domain.
The campaign, grounded in sciencebased facts and buttressed by credible outside experts, puts forward
an irrefutable message: that highfructose corn syrup and sugar are

36 / May 19, 2009

Milling & Baking News

2007 was exports, which jumped 397
million lbs, or 16%, during the period. A majority of that increase was
in HFCS shipment to Mexico. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture has
indicated that in 2008 the strong dollar and weak Mexican peso as well as
low sugar prices in Mexico for much
of 2008 conspired to reduce HFCS exports from the United States to Mexico for last year. These pressures of lost
sales make the rebuilding of the consumer's enthusiasm for HFCS critical
to the industry as it moves forward.
In the report, former Secretary of
Agriculture Ed Schafer restated the
U.S.D.A.'s support for HFCS:
"In March, U.S.D.A.'s Agricultural
Research Service and the non-profit
International Life Sciences Institute
co-sponsored a workshop to address
the state of the science on dietary
sweeteners containing fructose. A related issue is that the name high-fructose corn syrup implies this sweetener
is unusually high in fructose, but this
is not the case since it is about half
fructose, just like table sugar.
"During the U.S.D.A. workshop,
university and private industry scientists who have studied the effects of
fructose and other sugars on health,
concluded that high-fructose corn
syrup is no different metabolically
than table sugar. Details will be published soon in the Journal of Nutrition.
"High-fructose corn syrup is a familiar ingredient in our foods because it works well in food and beverage production and lends texture
and browning ability to baked goods.
U.S.D.A. scientists were the first to report a technique adopted by industry
for the production of high-fructose
corn syrup....
"Without development of corn
sweeteners, new technologies in corn
starch, processes for wet milling - to
name but a few - our modern day
lives might not seem so modern these
days. Now, that's perspective."
The acceptance and growth of
HFCS in the U.S. food industry was
one of the truly dramatic innovations
and changes of the last century. The
resurrection and continuation of this
ubiquitous product in the 21st century is the C.R.A.'s goal. MBN

Peter A. Meyer is president of
PMI Consultants, a Chicagobased consultant to the food
and agribusiness industry.

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Milling & Baking News - May 19, 2009

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