Another Reason to Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup: Mercury

Reader Contribution by Staff

The Ethicurean, a fantastic blog about sustainable eating (eth•i•cu•re•an n. Someone who seeks out tasty things that are also sustainable, organic, local and/or ethical), contained an eyebrow-raising post yesterday: A report from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found that many widely consumed food products containing high fructose corn syrup also contain mercury. The connection? HFCS is manufactured with an ingredient that is sometimes still produced in outdated industrial chlorine plants that rely on mercury-based technology. The ingredient (caustic soda) becomes contaminated and in turn contaminates the syrup. 

Researchers tested 55 products and found mercury in nearly one-third of them, including Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup, Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars, Jack Daniels Barbeque Sauce and more. 

The full list of tested products and results: http://www.healthobservatory.org/library.cfm?refID=105040

The report from Environmental Health: http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069x-8-2.pdf

Wondering how you’ll live without Hershey’s Syrup? Here’s some comic relief from the guys who brought you King Corn. It’s a hilarious spoof of those ridiculous HFCS ads that were sponsored by The Corn Refiners Association.

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