"The industry points to meta-analyses of controlled isocaloric "fructose for glucose" exchange studies that demonstrate no effect from fructose on weight gain or other morbidities. Perhaps one reason for this is because crystalline fructose is incompletely absorbed."
It seems like the author is really set on rejecting the conclusions of these meta-analyses.
One thing that isocaloric studies do not show is how chronic consumption of one particular diet or another influences consumption patterns over time. This is by design and is a huge flaw IMO.
Any diet that keeps you just above the limits of starvation is going to show no change in weight gain.
A much more compelling study would be an overfeeding experiment between a high fructose diet, high glucose diet, high protein diet, high fat diet, etc.
It seems like the author is really set on rejecting the conclusions of these meta-analyses.