Adarq.org

Fructose is a monosaccharide that is the principal sugar present in fruits and honey. Table sugar (sucrose) derived from sugar cane and sugar beets is another source of fructose, as this disaccharide is degraded by sucrase in the intestine to equal parts glucose and fructose. The other major source of dietary fructose is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is generated enyzmatically by converting corn starch to a mixture of fructose and glucose, often in a 55:45 mixture. HFCS is a common sweetener because it is liquid and mixes well, does not crystallize with freezing, is relatively inexpensive, and has a long shelf life. Natural fructose also is present in some vegetables (such as the sweet pea and sweet potato), but most fructose ingested today comes from products containing sugar and HFCS. It should be noted that HFCS comes in two commercially used variants: HFCS-55, as described above, and HFCS-42, in which only 42% of the total carbohydrate is fructose. In other words, HFCS-55 delivers slightly more fructose than table sugar (sucrose is composed of 50% glucose and 50% fructose), whereas HFCS-42 delivers slightly less fructose. HFCS-55 is used more often as a sweetener because its higher fructose content confers greater perceived sweetness. Most importantly, from a metabolic perspective, the three sugar sources are indistinguishable.