FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    CONTACT:   Phillip Hayes
Wednesday, August 5, 2009                                                          435-604-3113

PARK CITY, Utah—As consumers look for natural food choices, sugar sales have climbed at the expense of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), Ron Sterk, associate editor of Milling & Baking News and Food Business News, today told attendees of the 26th International Sweetener Symposium.

New food and drink products with HFCS as an ingredient that were introduced in 2008 were down 18 percent from 2007 and down 22 percent from 2006, Sterk pointed out in his presentation.  And the trend appears to be continuing in 2009, with only about 300 new products containing HFCS launched in the first half of the year—this is compared to 926 products in 2008.

Some companies have even, “added ‘HFCS is not an ingredient’ to labels, as with trans fats, adding to negative perception,” Sterk told the group.  Among the companies he listed as “dumping HFCS from all or some items” are: Snapple, Starbucks, Kraft Foods, Del Monte, Dannon, and “more almost weekly.”

Cultural preferences have also played a role in sugar supplanting HFCS as a sweetener of choice in many products. Hispanics, who have accounted for 51.4 percent of the U.S. population increase since 2000, tend to prefer sugar to HFCS in beverages, says Sterk.

And the soft drink industry, long dominated by corn sweetener, has taken notice.  Symposium participants had an assortment of sugar-sweetened soft drinks to choose from during breaks.

Brian O’Malley, president and CEO of Domino Sugar, told the group that the shift in sweeteners has been a welcomed surprise that’s helped offset a flood of imported sugar from Mexico.  Imports from Mexico this year have hit 1.18 million metric tons—more than double the amount the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was expecting.

“Had consumption been weak this year, sizable sugar surpluses would be overhanging the market,” he cautioned. “Even with consumption growth, I am unaware of a single sugar buyer in his country having trouble finding sugar.  Like other sugar companies, Domino has plenty to sell.”

O’Malley said the stability of the current market and unpredictable nature of Mexican shipments should cause the USDA to exercise caution as it considers additional sugar imports this year and next.  Unneeded foreign sugar has the potential to oversupply the market, harm farmers with freefalling prices, and even incur taxpayer cost, according to O’Malley.

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