I was looking at this list of Ingredient Substitutions from the Land o Lakes people, and there is one for light (colored) corn syrup:

"Substitute 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water or liquid used in recipe for 1 cup light corn syrup."

If it was that simple, we wouldn't need to buy corn syrup, we'd just increase the sugar in our recipes. But corn syrup serves a specific function in certain foods, particularly in candy and ice cream because it helps prevent the formation of sugar crystals.

Curious, I looked at the Karo Syrup FAQ to see what they had to say.

Vanilla is added to Light Karo Syrup to give it a nice flavor. The "Light" refers to the color, as opposed to Dark Karo Syrup. Dark Karo has a more pronounced flavor of caramelized sugar because it has Refiner's Syrup in it, similar to molasses, and no vanilla.

You can use the two types interchangeably, but they do taste different.

There is a Karo Lite Syrup that is 33% lower in calories, but they say don't use it in candy or cereal bars.

Karo Pancake Syrup is maple flavored, and you can use it interchangeably with the other syrups if you don't mind the flavor. It's good in baked beans, as a ham glaze, and so on.

Real Karo Syrup (not some of the store brands) doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup, which is a cheap substitute for sugar. The high fructose syrup is made from further processing regular corn syrup to change the composition to both glucose and fructose.

The Karo people seem to be very proud that their products do not contain high fructose corn syrup. Back in the 1970's they added it to their Pancake Syrup and Karo Light Syrup, but in response to consumer requests (they don't say when), they stopped adding it and won't do it again.

But you can bet they manufacture it to sell wholesale to the people who put it in almost every processed food we can think of. "It is widely used today as a sweetener in beverages, bakery products, yogurts, and other products that traditionally had used sugar as a sweetener." It is a cheap substitute for sugar, which is one reason it is so prevalent, and for one thing extends the shelf life. So you can see why the food manufacturers like it.

Also, there are theories that the proliferation of high fructose corn syrup in our food supply has something to do with the government trying to support the corn growers by finding a way to use a lot of corn. That was before methanol was being manufactured from corn to add to gasoline, but that market has dried up some since oil development in the United States has increased.

As to the health detriment of high fructose corn syrup, the Karo people tell us: "Since the early 1980's, high fructose corn syrup consumption has tripled and was recently estimated at 30 pounds per person annually. During the same time period, the rate of obesity also increased dramatically. After consumption of high fructose corn syrup hit its highest level between the years of 2000 to 2005, it has more recently declined, yet obesity rates have not. While some researchers feel there is a link between the increase in obesity and high fructose corn syrup consumption, others do not."

What a smug statement. Even if we try, once pounds are on, they aren't going to melt off fast and the obesity epidemic is not going to be cured in a couple years of a few people avoiding processed foods with high fructose corn syrup.

Studies have shown that we subconsciously take in the same amount of calories every day - if we cut down on one thing, we make up for it with something else. The only way to really cut calories is to make an effort to cut portion sizes and keep track of our intake, and high fructose corn syrup is so endemic in our food supply, a person has to work really hard to eliminate or cut down from it in their diet. This is beyond the skills and desires of a lot of people who can barely decide which fast food place to take their kids to next.

However, by reading labels, we can find products that don't have high fructose corn syrup, and even though it's not by itself going to solve my weight problem, I buy them, if nothing else but to send a message to the food manufacturers that some of their customers care about these things.