High-Fructose Corn Syrup

In the 1950s scientists developed the process for making high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). They first refined corn into starch, then converted the starch into glucose, and finally converted the glucose into fructose by adding enzymes. The resulting sweetener could be purified to 90 percent fructose, a product that is much sweeter than glucose or sucrose (common table sugar).

Cane sugar was cheap in the 1950s, and refining HFCS was an expensive process, so the new sweetener did not get much attention. But in 1973 the Farm Bill introduced subsidies for growing certain crops—direct payments to farmers based on target prices set by the government. Under this system, the government gave farmers “deficiency payments” to ensure that target prices were met. In the case of corn, farmers could grow as much as they wanted, sell it at any price, and still make a profit, thanks to government subsidies. This encouraged a boom in corn production, lowering its price on the open market, which made HFCS financially viable.