Researchers at Utah university fed mice both sugar (sucrose) and corn syrup.
Both were toxic but the fructose led to lower rates of reproduction and early death in female mice.
Sugar and fructose affected male mice in the same way.
High-fructose corn syrup is different molecularly from sucrose and can be digested only in the liver, in the same way that alcohol is.
Wayne Potts, biology professor at Utah University, said: "When the diabetes-obesity-metabolic syndrome epidemics started in the mid-1970s, they corresponded with both a general increase in consumption of added sugar and the switch over from sucrose being the main added sugar in the American diet to high-fructose corn syrup making up half our sugar intake."
James Ruff, the study's first author and a post-doctoral fellow in biology, said: "First, reduce added sugar across the board. Then worry about the type of sugar, and decrease consumption of products with high-fructose corn syrup."
Sugar is coming under increasing scrutiny in South Africa as the rates of obesity and diabetes soar.
Last year, academics called for a tax on soft drinks and fruit juices high in fructose.
Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge
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