Bitter Sugar vs. Corn Syrup Lawsuit Ends in Settlement

The lawsuit pitted corn syrup makers Archer-Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill Inc. against sugar producers including American Sugar Refining Inc., which calls itself the world’s largest vertically integrated cane-sugar refiner and whose nostalgia-inducing labels include C&H and Domino.

A “decade of attacks” by the sugar companies and their trade group followed, the attorney said, including such anti-corn syrup zingers as calling HFCS “the crack cocaine of all sweeteners” and alleging that the stuff “can make you fat and stupid”.

Allegations in the media about HFCS’ so-called hazards “started to have an effect on the market”, the attorney said, and refiners began a “sugar is sugar” campaign to convince consumers that “your body can’t tell the difference”. The corn refiners countersued, saying the Sugar Association falsely said in its newsletter that corn syrup caused obesity and cancer.

Both sides announced the deal that puts an end to a trial that began almost three weeks ago in Los Angeles federal court pitting sugar against high fructose corn syrup.

They blamed the sugar industry for being behind the “junk science” that associated the product with diabetes and obesity.

Major sugar companies and corn refiners including Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) have settled litigation over an ad campaign about high fructose corn syrup, the parties said Friday in a joint statement.

Corn refiners launched the ad campaign to support its bid before the Food and Drug Administration to change the name to “corn sugar”. They claimed, among other things, that sugar processors were spreading misinformation about HFCS.

Sugar is sucrose, which is half fructose, half glucose.

The bitter dispute recently came to a head at trial.

A big win by one side over the other could have had a broader impact on the food industry, the law and advertising.

Terms of the settlement, which was reached in the middle of trial, weren’t disclosed.