Sugar Makes Comeback on Corn Syrup's Bad Rep

Sugar, once a nutritional outcast, is back in fashion as American consumers start to turn away from high-fructose corn syrup, the New York Times reports. Manufacturers are rushing to replace the syrup—used in everything from soft drinks to spaghetti sauces—with sugar, and selling the switch as a move to a more natural, healthier, "retro" sweetener.

Consumers associate the rise in obesity with the spread of corn syrup as a sweetener but researchers have yet to establish a definite link. Doctors and nutritionists, exasperated by sugar's resurgence, point out that an empty calorie is still an empty calorie. "The argument about which is better for you, sucrose or HFCS, is garbage," one pediatrician said. "Both are equally bad for your health." (More sugar stories.)