Corn Syrup

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

corn syrup a heavy, watery-white syrup made from maize starch, is also known as ‘liquid glucose’ or ‘glucose syrup’. (This is not quite correct, since it does not consist entirely of glucose, otherwise known as dextrose, but includes a substantial amount of dextrin. However, it gives the right impression.)

Corn syrup is used in the food industry as a sweetening agent in place of sugar, especially for the manufacturing of soft confectionery, ice cream, and similar foods. It is useful because glucose, although less sweet than ordinary sugar (sucrose), crystallizes much less readily. Also, corn syrup has no flavour of its own, and in some parts of the world (particularly the USA) it is less expensive than ordinary sugar.