Corn Refiners Association

When you need to give yourself a whole new image, there's nothing like changing your name. Which may be why high fructose corn syrup, the scourge of dieticians and dieters everywhere, wants to rebrand itself "corn sugar." But there's one big obstacle: the sugar industry, which is going to court to protect its good name.

High-fructose corn syrup has gotten such a bad name that the Corn Refiners Association, in a bid to repair its image, has asked the federal government to allow it to drop the label and replace it with "corn sugar." In a petition to the FDA, the lobbying arm of the syrup-making industry argues that...

Soda and processed-food makers insist that all sugars are the same. Yet with studies linking fructose to obesity, diabetes and, most recently, pancreatic cancer, big brands are quietly backing away from using corn-based high-fructose sweetener. Could it eventually become another tobacco-like liability?