How Corn Syrup Made America FAT (w/Infographic)Mike Barrett Presence of Corn and How There is So Much of It Not many individuals would be surprised to hear that corn is the most widely planted cereal crop, with nearly 163 million hectares of land area being used for cultivation. Think the state of New York doubled in size for dedication to corn. And what do these corn fields output? 316 million metric tons were produced between 2011 and 2012 nearly 6x that of wheat and 20x that of cotton. Frighteningly, much of this corn isnt even made to eat, as it actually isnt edible. The commodity is often produced with government backing for one primary reason to be processed. The corn is simply a raw material meant to be transformed into the harmful ingredients weve come to consume so often today. It requires 3.2 pounds of corn to create 1 pound of high-fructose corns syrup. So it isnt surprising that 25 million metric tons, about 8.2%, of corn was turned into HFCS between 2011-12, yielding 8 million metric tons of HFCS. As mentioned, 8.2% of corn was transformed into high-fructose corn syrup between 2011-2012, yielding 8 million metric tons of HFCS. While the food preservative is great for companies and manufacturers, consumers are suffering from the widespread consumption of the sugar alternative, Often containing mercury, HFCS has been shown to cause liver and kidney damage, decrease insulin resistance, increase blood pressure, decrease amount of blood and oxygen transferred to muscles, sabotage learning abilities, and make people fat. And the prevalence of high-fructose corn syrup in food seems tied to its production rate. In fact, the ingredient is so prevalent that the average American eats approximately 35 pounds of HFCS annually. While the American Heart Association recommends a maximum of 6 teaspoons of table sugar a day for a woman and 9 teaspoons for a man, the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar a day 10.4 teaspoons being comprised of HFCS. To put it in other words, 47 grams of HFCS are taken in each day on average. HFCS is commonly in: Lastly, corn is almost always genetically modified, causing concern for both human health and negative impact on the environment. More than 85% of American corn crops were genetically modified in 2009, but that number has likely increased since that time. How exactly is the genetic modification of corn causing harm? Insecticides modified in GM corn alsopollute U.S. waters. You can support this information by voting on Reddit HERE 