High fructose corn syrup
High fructose corn syrupHigh fructose corn syrup is corn syrup in which some glucose has been converted to the sweeter fructose, giving a liquid sweetener roughly as sweet as sugar and cheaper in the United States. Its composition is close to that of sucrose, which is the point: it was designed to replace it.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Permitted | 21 CFR 184.1866retrieved 2026-09-07 | |
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
What it is made from
Made by treating corn syrup with glucose isomerase, an immobilised enzyme, to convert part of the glucose to fructose. HFCS-55, used in soft drinks, is 55 per cent fructose against sucrose's 50.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Every name it appears under
1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.
As it appears in regulation
- High fructose corn syrup
Hazard reference values
No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Sources for this page
- ecfr retrieved 2026-09-07
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/high-fructose-corn-syrup.json