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Photo by Michael Lorenzo
"Well, you know what they say about it..."
"What? That high-fructose corn syrup is made from corn, has the same calories as sugar and honey, and may be contaminated with mercury?"
The Environmental Health Journal recently published a study1 finding that 9 in 20 samples of high-fructose corn syrup they tested were contaminated with mercury.
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy then did a study on their own and found that 17 out of 55 brand-name products they tested (Coca-cola, Hunts Ketchup, Heinz and Kraft BBQ sauces, Quaker Oatmeal-to-Go, etc) contained measureable levels of mercury2.
So if you needed another reason to stay away from this poison, now you have one.
1Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: measured concentrations in food product sugar, Dufalt, R. et al, Environmental Health 2009, 8:2doi:10.1186/1476-069X-8-2
2Not So Sweet: Missing Mercury and High Fructose Corn Syrup; Wallinga, D, et al. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Great article on other effects of HFCS by Dr. Lonnie Lowery
Wikipedia entry for high fructose corn syrup
The other side: the Corn Refiners' Association's website on HFCS
Comments
I wanted to share some information about mercury and high fructose corn syrup. An expert on mercury from Duke University Medical Center, Dr. Stopford, recently posted a statement that reviews lab results from independent, third-party testing that was conducted on high fructose corn syrup. The testing was very rigorous: third-party labs tested product from all 22 of the production facilities in the United States and Canada. Dr. Stopford concluded that there were no quantifiable levels of mercury found in high fructose corn syrup and it does not appear to be a measureable contributor to mercury in foods.
You can read the full statement here: http: //duketox.mc.duke.edu/recenttoxissues.htm
Thank you for your consideration.
Liz- On behalf of the Corn Refiner’s Association
Thank you for your comment Liz. I will need to look at this more thoroughly. What jumps out at me immediately are statements such as:
"Chocolate contains 13 ppb mercury (Goldwater, 1972) and milk contains <0.13-0.25 ppb mercury which compares to <0.02-0.03 ppb in chocolate milk found by Wallinga, et al", which implies the reduction of mercury in milk by 85% by flavoring it.
I encourage readers to view this study as well. As in any issue, viewing both sides may provide valuable insights.
According to the Corn Refiner Association’s web page, Dr. Stopford was commissioned to
review the results of analytical testing of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) samples for mercury
submitted by CRA members to a third party laboratory. The “study” that was conducted on the
samples submitted by CRA members did not undergo a peer review process. The only reviewer
was Dr. Stopford and he was paid by the CRA to review the study.
just google Stopford HFCS, I cannot post the link
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