No. 9 - High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Kid tested, mother dis-approved.

Remember when your mothers taught you that high-fructose corn syrup was the devil and that it brought evil upon any child to consume it? Well, maybe that was just our moms. But hey, television argues it too! You see, in the old days (and by the old days, we mean the 1980s), admitting something had "sugar" in it was one of the seven deadly sins (the beginnings of gluttony, perhaps). It wasn't until high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) hit the shelves that people got really confused, and therefore threw money at the problem! Today, however, we're giving you the not-so-skinny on this substance, right here, right now.

In case you hadn't heard, HFCS is essentially sugar—more specifically a corn syrup that has undergone enzymatic processes to increase the level of fructose (how they came up with the name for it we will NEVER know!). However, along with the high fructose came high levels of obesity; around the same time as HFCS was introduced to the U.S., obesity levels rose steadily. Subsequent tests have found that "fructose" tends to cause this weight gain, meaning the sugar substitute sent to save the day might have made things worse. Oops.

Aw, shucks. Now we have to admit our moms were right.