The present study was designed to determine if the more severe copper deficiency in rats fed sucrose and fructose, as compared to starch, is due to a specific effect of the fructose or to a nonspecific effect of any simple carbohydrate. Seventy weanling male rats were fed, for 9 wk, copper-deficient diets or copper-supplemented diets containing either 62% starch, fructose, or glucose. Decreased hematocrit, serum copper, and ceruloplasmin concentrations but increased heart and liver weights, total liver lipid, and hepatic iron concentrations were found in all copper-deficient rats regardless of the dietary carbohydrate. Feeding rats the high glucose diet decreased plasma albumin and liver glycogen but increased blood urea nitrogen when compared to rats fed starch. However, rats fed fructose generally exhibited a more severe copper deficiency as compared to rats fed either starch or glucose. The severity was characterized by lower (p less than 0.05) body weight, liver glycogen, hematocrit, serum copper, and albumin. Conversely, liver and heart weights, blood urea nitrogen, and plasma glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase were higher (p less than 0.05). Plasma cholesterol was increased by copper deficiency only in rats fed fructose or glucose. During the study, 17 of the 40 rats fed copper-deficient diets died; 66% of those fed fructose, 26% fed glucose, and 30% fed starch. These results suggest that the fructose moiety of sucrose is responsible for the increased severity of copper deficiency in rats fed sucrose as compared to starch.