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Ingredient · Sweetener

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Concerning · 3/10, higher is cleaner

How we reached this

Corn syrup enzymatically converted so that part of its glucose becomes fructose — HFCS-55 (soft drinks) is about 55% fructose, HFCS-42 (baked goods, canned fruit) about 42%. Lowered from 5 to sit with the other refined corn-derived sweeteners rather than two points above them: plain corn syrup, glucose syrup, dextrose and fructose are all 3, and HFCS is not metabolically preferable to any of them. Added-sugar limits from AHA and WHO apply in full, and the feedstock is conventional commodity corn.

Sources · 3

Regulatory position

United StatesGRAS

Also listed as

HFCSHFCS 55High Fructose Corn Syrupcorn syrup high fructoseisoglucose

Products containing this · 11

About this rating

Ratings run 1–10, higher is cleaner, and are set editorially against the sources above — see the methodology page for how an ingredient rating becomes part of a product score. Last reviewed 2026-08-16.