Care for a side of neurotoxins with your soda?

A new study published in Environmental Health confirms that mercury, a known neurotoxin, contaminates almost half of the high fructose corn syrup currently on the market.   Another study published by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found that almost one-third of popular, processed foods containing HFCS as the first or second ingredient under the nutritional label tested positive for mercury. According to the IATP, those foods testing positive for mercury contamination included Quaker, Hershey’s, Kraft and Smuckers.

This isn’t isolated.

The most disturbing aspect of the story is that several tests were done in 2005 when the contamination was brought to the attention of the FDA, and the FDA failed to do anything to protect consumers from continued exposure.   Yeah, and they try to tell us raw milk is dangerous, but drinking mercury-contaminated sodas is fine?

Mercury is dangerous to human health and it is known neurotoxin.   Symptoms of mercury toxicity include loss of feeling, paralysis, loss of vision, congenital malformations and other serious issues.   While exposure to large amounts of mercury may even cause death, what is uncertain is what effects minute, long-term exposure – such as that arising from regularly ingesting small quanitites in contaminated sweeteners – might do.

The greatest concern is for children and adolescents who are still developing as they tend to consume more high fructose corn syrup than the average adult – and therefore are at greater risk of ingesting mercury from contaminated sources.

The problem arises during the manufacture of high fructose corn syrup.   To extract the corn starch from the corn kernel, manufacturers often use caustic soda produced in chlorine plants.   The use of mercury cells in the manufacture of caustic soda contaminates the corn starch, and subsequently the high fructose corn syrup.   Incidentally, for this reason you should not use or eat corn starch.

Add this to all the other reasons you should not eat high fructose corn syrup.   Is anyone else wondering how the Corn Refiners Association is going to try to recover from this news?   Are we going to see a special new series of   sweet surprise commercials outlining how mercury is natural and fine in moderation?

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Post tags: contaminated foods, corn syrup, FDA, FDA follies, HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup, mercury, mercury and corn syrup, mercury toxicity