FDA: Corn Syrup Can't Be Renamed 'Corn Sugar'

The Food and Drug Administration has nixed corn-refining giants' attempt to give high-fructose corn syrup a sweet-sounding new name on nutrition labels. The agency told the Corn Refiners Association that its product—which has been linked to weight gain and intelligence loss—cannot be renamed "corn sugar" because it defines sugar as "a solid, dried and crystallized food" while syrup is a "liquid food," reports the Wall Street Journal.

The request for a name change was denied on "narrow, technical" grounds, complained the Corn Refiners Association. The Sugar Association—which is suing its corny counterpart for calling its product sugar—applauded the ruling, saying it confirms the group's position that sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are different products. "What's going on here is basically a con game to suggest otherwise," a lawyer for the association tells the AP. "What do con men do? They normally try to change their name. The FDA has thankfully stopped that." (More high-fructose corn syrup stories.)