Mercury In High Fructose Corn Syrup

Yeah, I’d be thinking twice about drinking that Coke or Pepsi from now on, although I guess more people would be showing signs of mercury poisoning by now, after a lifetime of ingesting the stuff in processed foods, if it was a problem, right?

Yesterday a press release was put out by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy stating that in one test, approximately one-third of the fifty-five name-brand product samples that they tested that contained High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) contained mercury. It was reported that they included products by high-profile companies like Quaker’s, Hershey’s, Smucker’s, and Kraft. In a second test, nearly 50% of products containing High Fructose Corn Syrup that were tested contained mercury.

On average, Americans consume 12 teaspoons of HFCS per day. But consumption by teenagers can be 80 times that level.

The bad thing about this is that the FDA has known about this problem since 2005 – and didn’t tell the public. They also didn’t do any further testing or change industry practices.

“Mercury is toxic in all its forms”, says IATPs David Wallinga, M.D., and a co-author in both studies. “Given how much high fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the FDA to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply.”

How HFCS is made:

Caustic soda is used to separate the corn starch from the corn kernel. For years, the caustic soda used in this process has been mercury-grade caustic soda that is produced in industrial chlorine plants.

“The bad news is that nobody knows whether or not their soda or snack food contains HFCS made from ingredients like caustic soda contaminated with mercury.” said Dr. Wallinga. “The good news is that mercury-free HFCS ingredients exist. Food companies just need a good push to only use those ingredients.”

So go push them!

You can read the press release .