Studies find mercury in much U.S. corn syrup | Science & Health | Reuters — Although this report stems form this research here. It’s not being reported to any extreme (yet) in the American press. The extent to which this unnatural product has gotten into the food supply in the USA is a crime.
Many common foods made using commercial high fructose corn syrup contain mercury as well, researchers reported on Tuesday, while another study suggested the corn syrup itself is contaminated.
Food processors and the corn syrup industry group attacked the findings as flawed and outdated, but the researchers said it was important for people to know about any potential sources of the toxic metal in their food.
In one study, published in the journal Environmental Health, former Food and Drug Administration scientist Renee Dufault and colleagues tested 20 samples of high fructose corn syrup and found detectable mercury in nine of the 20 samples.
Dufault said in a statement that she told the FDA about her findings but the agency did not follow up.
Found by Aric Mackey who predicts that to combat this menace, the FDA will change the specification so it is OK to have more mercury in our food.
“found by Aric Mackey who predicts that to combat this menace, the FDA will change the specification so it is OK to have more mercury in our food.”
NOT. Obama is now President. Remember?
We’re safe. Go back to homes. Nothing to see here. Move along.
I’m so glad I broke my 12 cans a day of coke habit. Now when i have a coke I don’t usually want to finish it off.
Perspective is everything… Pardon me, but you got high fructose corn syrup in my mercury.
I wish it was a LAW that the FDA/and others were responsible for publishing ALL Important/problematic Information to ALL citizens..
Want a scary one..Look up MTBE
Ahhhhh…. that all makes sense … so the reason why Americans all seem is mad as hatters is because they actually are as mad as hatters …
😀 😀 😀
Have you had your soda pop and a neurological disorder today! To be fair they stopped using these processes a few years ago. So, if you just started drinking soda pops you’re in the clear but if you drank them before 2004 you’re SOL. When you start forgetting things you’ll know why. Have a nice day 🙂
“The extent to which this unnatural product has gotten into the food supply in the USA is a crime.”
Hate to tell you this, but mercury is a natural occurring element in soil. Any plant, or any thing made from plants, may contain minuscule traces of mercury.
Nothing you say here matters.
Go to Congress.org and find your Congressional representatives and send them your views and opinions (be polite).
If you don’t tell Congress what you want and how you feel they’ll just do like they always do and listen to their rich friends, lobbyist and the special interest groups.
When was the last time you saw a member of Congress at the local grocery store and was truly asked for your opinion?
otte-o: John was referring to high fructose corn syrup, not mercury.
#8. “When was the last time you saw a member of Congress at the local grocery store?”
Fixed that for you.
For me this underlines the damage that The Church of Rev’ Al’ and Global Warming have done. Everyone is obsessed with carbon, warming, climate,… while there is questionable evidence for it. At the same time localized pollution by poisons of all kinds (say, heavy metals) have been forgotten despite its immediate capability to poison and maim that have unfortunately been proven (say, Minamata…). Pollution is a LOCAL problem – Globalists may now go and huff some glue, no CO2 in it.
“The extent to which this unnatural product has gotten into the food supply in the USA is a crime.”
Almost as nasty is the appearance of Shortening and/hydrogenated oil in AMERICAN candies that used to be nothing but a mix of sugars and more or less something to hide the taste of corn syrup…
w00
spelling error
“Although this report stems ***form*** this research here. It’s not being reported to any extreme (yet) in the American press. The extent to which this unnatural product has gotten into the food supply in the USA is a crime.”
I used to be an inspector at work (laid off now), so looking for mistakes and finding them now makes me feel good.
This is the same FDA that says to claim Oranges, Limes, or Lemons can cure you of scurvy is illegal? LOL.
Don’t buy packaged or refined foods. Make your meals at home. Problem solved.
Of course some liberal will whine they don’t have the time to do this because they’re working 40-hour weeks and making their own food would cut into their TV watching time.
If this bothered a Libertarian / Conservative, they’d either suck it up, or boycott the products that bothered them. Liberals whine and ask government to hold their hands while legislating a solution.
Guyver,
Apprently widespread contamination and degredation of US food with crap/poisonous chemicals is somehow a partisan issue.
Wake up, moron.
That’s why I only drink soft drinks that contain pure, natural Aspartame. The brain tumors are a bonus!
The key word here is “detectable.”
Once we build detectors that can pick up a single molecules, then what? We’ll be detecting all kinds of irrelevant quantities of crap, in *everything*.
“The extent to which this unnatural product has gotten into the food supply in the USA is a crime.”
There are people engaged in the “sugar-versus-corn syrup-in-my-soda” debate, touting the superiority of cane sugar. I do not understand this. Consuming too much of either will turn you into Homer Simpson.
Rich (#18),
Too late. All your brain cells are belong to us.
Detectable quantities, with todays technology that can be a very small trace quantity indeed. Problem is there are many ways to ingest mercury, and no way to filter it. I guess it’s best to avoid altogether. Unless your homeopathic doctor prescribes MERCURIUS SOLUBILIS.
Pardon my ignorance but as a non-American I have to ask, why do USA foods have so much corn syrup in them? Even foods that don’t require extra sweetening are packed with the stuff e.g. bread
JCD, thanks for posting this. I completely missed it.
“The study concluded that the mercury came from food plants that use caustic soda laced with mercury to produce high fructose corn syrup for major food companies”
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/38430359.html?elr=KArks:DCiUMEaPc:UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
This confirms why I always look at the ingredients list at the grocery store. I find the the better tasting foods always have less ingredients (just the basics) and no corn syrup. When the list starts getting long and complicated (bread, ice cream … ) I know it’s junk.
It doesn’t cost any more to buy the good stuff. However; the choices of non corn syrup foods is less.
[Ed. We give up. No commenter will ever learn to delete the “www” from pasted links.
So go ahead, keep posting links that don’t work so no one will bother to click them]
15, I saw the conflict of interest between me, the food industry, and the government a looooooooooong time ago. I don’t eat the processed crap you probably eat. Odds are you can’t live without your cheesy poofs, so you’re hoping the government is going to do something about it so you can continue feeding your vast intellect mass quantities of crap. 🙂 There’s a lot of crap in the packaged foods you buy. If you’re acting all surprised that half the stuff you’re consuming may pose a risk, then you’re naive. Am I saying every chemical you stick down your pie hole going to cause you problems? Nope. But I wouldn’t assume that the stuff is completely inert or harmless. Mercury aside, high fructose corn syrup is being linked with cases of fatty liver and / or some cases of cirrhosis of the liver. Oh, and if you’re worried about poisons coming from China in our foods, the Chinese have a 70% or 80% of the ascorbic / citric acid GLOBALLY. That means, even that 100% American made food product you’re eating, has had China’s touch. Suck it up kid. You can either wait for the government to do something about it for you on your behalf, or you can take matters into your own hands. I did the latter. You choose to whine. That’s your prerogative. Best of luck to you.
21, The reason why Americans use so much corn syrup mainly started when the U.S. government began boycotting foreign sugars (late 70s / early 80s?). The reason behind this was to protect American sugar farmers from foreign competition. Foreign sugars are roughly about 50% cheaper than American sugar. Not a big deal for someone like you and I… but not so for the food industry.
Since sugar happens to be a main ingredient in many foods, food manufacturers were looking for ways to recoup on their losses caused by the U.S. government in forcing them to use domestic sugar.
In comes high fructose corn syrup. Why corn? Because corn is a major crop in the United States. It could have been sugar beets if we made as much in beets as we do corn.
Fast forward to the present and now you cannot buy Coca-Cola or Pepsi products using regular sugar (unless it’s imported). If you travel abroad, Coca-Cola and Pepsi pretty much use regular sugar because foreign sugars are now available to them.
The only way it seems one can avoid high fructose corn syrup is if you shop for gourmet foods or shop at places like Whole Foods, but even that is no guarantee…. you still have to read the labels.
22, Yup. Most of the garbage in the ingredients list which serve no nutritional purpose are added either for better texture or better shelf life.
There’s no conclusive evidence that HFCS is any worse for you than say, honey. It’s the quantity that causes problems, apparently.
25, Agreed. But fructose isn’t metabolized like other sugars… it goes straight to the liver from my understanding.
In regular amounts (from eating fruits, etc.) it’s okay…. but in highly concentrated amounts and frequently taken, you’re ingesting more than what could ever be accomplished without using high fructose corn syrup. That being said it’s being used in everything you eat. Even in bread.
The fatty liver problem and cirrhosis of the liver is only now getting looked into, so that too is up in the air.
Thanks Guyver. I suspected it might have something to do with trade protection. Best advice is to always read the label. If there is an ingredient your grandmother wouldn’t recognise then don’t eat it.
Expect a lot more of this fear mongering from the anti-business guys with ZERO push back from the idiot media.
Analytical instrumentation is getting better and better and the lower detectable limit of virtually everything is dropping dramatically.
So we are getting to the real truth. Almost everything is found in almost everything at exceedingly small levels. Always has been.
Mercury is detectable at just a few parts per trillion now.
As I recall, one part per trillion is equivalent to a football field covered with white sand 6 meters deep, and ONE of the sand grains is black. Or one grain of salt dumped into an Olympic swimming pool.
This “crisis” is sure keeping me up nights.
Besides, the REAL reason to oppose HFCS in soda is that it doesn’t taste as good. Try a Mexican (real sugar) Coke and see for yourself.
So should I short Coca-Cola ?
Should be a class action by Friday.
# 26 Guyver said, But fructose isn’t metabolized like other sugars… it goes straight to the liver from my understanding.”
Actually, it is better for your body than sucrose. Sucrose is a simpler carb than fructose.
I wouldn’t take either in much quantity though.