- Image via Wikipedia
The battle rages on about the presence of mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)…
According to an article published in the journal, Environmental Health Journal, mercury was found in nearly 50 per cent of tested samples of commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
A separate study by the US Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) claims mercury was detected in nearly one-third of 55 brand name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first or second highest labeled ingredient, including, it claims, products by Quaker, Hershey’s, Kraft and Smucker’s.
The Corn Refiners Association claim that:
“The study appears to be based on outdated information since the corn industry has used mercury-free versions of the two re-agents mentioned in the study, hydrochloric acid and caustic soda, for several years.” Source: Mercury tainted HFCS in produce, say researchers
In the meantime, I was struck by a post in Amie’s Notebook – Excuse me while I get on my soapbox for a moment…
Amie’s six year old daughter, Lucy, is a victim of mercury toxicity.
High fructose corn syrup is present in almost any prepared food you eat. It’s there because it:
- Is cheap, cheap, cheap
- Increases the shelf life of prepared foods
- Makes baked good brown more evenly
- Retains moisture and enhances other flavors
- Makes food taste sweet so you’ll eat and buy more, more, more
It is also completely avoidable. The pervasiveness of HFCS in prepared food products quite possibly means that exposure to mercury is greater for folks who eat those products on a daily basis. Pondering the acceptable level of mercury exposure is a little like taking my daughter into a horse barn for a wee bit. The last time she ended up in the hospital because she couldn’t breathe. The difference is that mercury exposure is not always so dramatic as it is for Lucy.
Even without the possibility of mercury contamination, I avoid it like the plague and have for years. Don’t kid yourself, food manufacturers do not produce food products for your health. They are in business to make money. Period.
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Welcome to Verda Vivo. My name is Daryl Warner Laux.
Alarmed by what you wrote, and since I didn’t know if my beloved – yet Kafkaesque, see my mail – France used this product I had a look at Wikipedia.
Well, to them, sugar from sugarcane and sugar beet is near market prices here, so we don’t use HFCS as it would totally uneconomical.
As a matter of fact, we are the world leader in sugar beet production ! Yes, France is still first in some stuff. Amazing…
Well, I hope you will be able to get rid of this stuff.
I think the difference is the subsidies that the corn farmers get in the USA. If not for that, HFCS wouldn’t be so cheap. Glad you hear France is using sugar instead! ~ Daryl
Thank you for getting this information out. I didn’t realize how prevalent this issue is until i saw the movie “King Corn”. Have you seen it? It is about two young men who raise an acre of corn and follow the corn through it’s life span all the way to the corn syrup laced foods we consume! Evidently we eat so much corn (corn syrup) that you can find it in our hair analysis! Everyone should see this documentary – plus it is fun to watch.
Kevyn, I’ve only seen bits of “King Corn” but your comment motivates me to see the whole movie. The prevalence of corn products in almost every food product is astounding! ~ Daryl
I’m really glad to see you talking about this! I work with Oceana, an ocean conservation group which is working to pass legislation that would phase our mercury-based chlorine production. If you would like more information on the mercury-based chlor-alkali facilities please visit oceana.org/mercury. Also you can send an e-mail to the factories themselves asking them to convert to a mercury-free process at http://takeaction.oceana.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=11215. Finally, one of the best things you can do is e-mail your members of Congress and ask them to support the bill to eliminate mercury use in chlor-alkali production.
It’s horrible the HFCS is in everything! Mmmm Sugar cane juice is sooooo delicious! Seriously, there is this one place I go now and then that makes lemonade sweetened with fresh sugar cane juice…it’s to die for. But I digress…
People need to realize that mercury has a cumulative effect! Even is there is an oh so small amount, when you consume it every day, it builds up. We need to get rid of HFCS and GMO foods while we’re at it. Thanks for putting together a great site. I hope ours turns out as great as yours some day!
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