Because Corn is subsidised by the Fed it's currently cheaper to produce HFCS than white sugar(sucrose). HFCS has a longer shelf life and combines more effectivle with other ingrediants while having the same sweetness factor as white sugar(sucrose). In the 1970's the U.S. switched to HFCS from sugar as the primary sweetner in most processed foods and drinks. By the 1990's almost everyone around you had a few too many pounds on and it had nothing to do with not working out. It had everything to do with how your body processes HFCS vs. white sugar.
We are not going back to white sugar soon because of the corn lobby and all of the money to be made on subsidies. In the 1950's and 60's U.S. companies put white sugar(sucrose), fat and salt in everything to sell it to us. As a society we did not get fat(obese) like we do now. We did not have the occurances of diabetis, heart disease and obesity that we have now in the 3 year old to 30 year old age groups.
By the way, since the 1970's childhood diabetis in the U.S. has almost become an epidemic. Hmmmm,,,HFCS became the primary sweetner in all processed foods and drinks...hhhmmmm
Here is the short version on the Princeton research on rats HFCS and obesity.
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http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/index.xml?section=scienceThe Princeton researchers had been studying not only side effects of high fructose corn syrup, but how your body reacts when it's ingested. They discovered that rats which had access to high fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to basic table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.
They did two studies and here are a few excerpts from their findings:
The first experiment — male rats given water sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup in addition to a standard diet of rat chow gained much more weight than male rats that received water sweetened with table sugar, or sucrose, in conjunction with the standard diet. The concentration of sugar in the sucrose solution was the same as is found in some commercial soft drinks, while the high-fructose corn syrup solution was half as concentrated as most sodas.
The second experiment — the first long-term study of the effects of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on obesity in lab animals — monitored weight gain, body fat and triglyceride levels in rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup over a period of six months. Compared to animals eating only rat chow, rats on a diet rich in high-fructose corn syrup showed characteristic signs of a dangerous condition known in humans as the metabolic syndrome, including abnormal weight gain, significant increases in circulating triglycerides and augmented fat deposition, especially visceral fat around the belly. Male rats in particular ballooned in size: Animals with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained 48 percent more weight than those eating a normal diet. In humans, this would be equivalent to a 200-pound man gaining 96 pounds.
