"All of the candy on the market contains sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, a form of sugar that doesn't digest well in the body, " says Armand Hammer (no relation to the late industrialist), president and chief executive of privately held Innovative Candy Concepts .

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"I don't want to spend the night worrying about whether some frat boy has poured cough syrup in my drink, " she says.

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Mr. Williams didn't make any drinks but walked us through three cocktails, pausing to tell us how to make simple syrup, seal our shakers and avoid bruising our herbs.

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But that hasn't stopped a cottage industry of self-appointed consumer advocates, reporters and plaintiffs' attorneys from fingering corn syrup as the sinister source of the nation's widening waistline.

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