The Corn Refiners Association has sought permission from the FDA to change the name of, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), the sweetener found in everything, to "corn sugar." HFCS already goes by several aliases, like Corn Syrup, Yeast Extract, Isoglucose (Europe), glucose-fructose (Canada), and fructose glucose syrup.

For the Atlantic, Anna Lappé points out:

Look at the history of corporate renaming efforts and you'll see that they are clearly deployed as strategies to confuse the public and inoculate industries in the wake of advocate attacks. Philip Morris wasn't just tired of the old name when it spent millions to retrofit the company and call it Altria (which always sounded like a clear attempt to associate the company with "altruism" to me). It did so because the company was increasingly under fire for its tobacco products and because public health advocates had tarred the name.

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Look, no matter what high-fructose corn syrup is called, it is added sugar, empty calories, and not good for us.  But I don't know if I agree with Marion on this one: The reason the trade association is pouring millions into its messaging is because advocates have been successful. We've gotten people to ask questions about their food. I worry that the rebranding will confuse the public, making them less concerned about the ingredient. On Friday, the Brian Lehrer Show got lots of other creative ideas  for what it could be called. Laura from New Canaan, Connecticut, suggested "C.R.A.P.—corn repurposed as poison." Estelle from Washington Heights offered, "Kid Killa." And Arnold from Rego Park recommended, "obesweet."

In related news, BP is pushing to rename their popular product petroleum as licorice water.