The only effective filter to what we termed US ‘junk science’ was the eventual peer review of all research outcomes, by recognised researchers prepared to operate under internationally accepted protocols.

The US ‘junk science’ research community added, I estimate, five years and around US$50 million in additional costs, to the project’s successful completion.

High-fructose corn syrup is a sweetener which is made up of corn syrup, which is a sweet, liquid by-product of the corn/grain industry, and fructose, a fruit sugar which is extracted and then processed into a powder form. It is also very cheap — much cheaper than natural cane sugar, of which Australia is the world’s second largest producer. Fructose is twice as sweet as cane sugar and about fifty times as sweet as corn syrup. It is readily disolved into corn syrup and makes a liquid sweetener a tenth of the price of natural cane sugar. By being allowed to use high-fructose corn syrup as “sugar” in its products, Coca-Cola can increase its profit margins by using cheaper ingredients.

There is, however, a drawback to all of this. Where corn syrup and cane sugar are both easily digested in the intestine, fructose must be broken down by the liver. When the body encounters high-fructose corn syrup its first response is to burn the glucose in the corn syrup — because it is easier than converting it and storing it as fat. The opposite is true about the fructose. It is easier to store fructose as fat than it is for the liver to digest it. This is why in the study of those taking only fructose compared to those taking glucose, the fructose group had increased body fat storage. Used in combination with corn syrup, the body gets a hit of glucose (corn syrup) and then a massive dose of fructose, which is not immediately needed and is quickly shuttled off to be stored as fat.

One can wonder if the current diabetes epidemic would exist if cane sugar were not replaced