Sweeteners

Among sweeteners, humans have consumed honey from hives and sucrose (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁) in sugarcane juice since prehistory and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) since the 1970s. The oldest of these three, honey depends on bees—notably the honeybee (Apis mellifera)—for its existence, whereas sucrose derives primarily from sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris), and HFCS, true to its name, comes from corn (Zea mays). Besides calories from sugars glucose and fructose—both (C₆H₁₂O₆)—honey has calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, copper, manganese, selenium, chromium, zinc, and vitamins B₁ (thiamine or thiamin), B₂ (riboflavin), B₃ (niacin or nicotinic acid), B₅ (pantothenic acid), B₆ (pyridoxine), B₉ (folate, folic acid, or pteroylmonoglutamic acid), C, and K. Honey may have enhanced health among Paraguay’s Ache hunter-gatherers, ancient Mediterranean peoples, and western Asians, though the evidence is slender. Lacking nutrients beyond carbohydrates, sucrose and HFCS deserve their reputation as empty calories; yet evidence is equivocal that they cause obesity, though HFCS may be too new to scrutinize. Nonetheless, sucrose did not benefit and may have harmed Caribbean slaves, Canadians, Brits, and Americans. HFCS worsens unhealthy diets worldwide. Its shortcomings are especially evident in Micronesia.