Washington Post | Jan 28, 2009
MONDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) — Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.
HFCS has replaced sugar as the sweetener in many beverages and foods such as breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but teens and other high consumers can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average.
“Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply,” the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.
In the first study, published in current issue of Environmental Health, researchers found detectable levels of mercury in nine of 20 samples of commercial HFCS.
And in the second study, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a non-profit watchdog group, found that nearly one in three of 55 brand-name foods contained mercury. The chemical was found most commonly in HFCS-containing dairy products, dressings and condiments.
But an organization representing the refiners is disputing the results published in Environmental Health.
“This study appears to be based on outdated information of dubious significance,” said Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Association, in a statement. “Our industry has used mercury-free versions of the two re-agents mentioned in the study, hydrochloric acid and caustic soda, for several years. These mercury-free re-agents perform important functions, including adjusting pH balances.”
However, the IATP told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that four plants in Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio and West Virginia still use “mercury-cell” technology that can lead to contamination.
IATP’s Ben Lilliston also told HealthDay that the Environmental Health findings were based on information gathered by the FDA in 2005.
And the group’s own study, while not peer-reviewed, was based on products “bought off the shelf in the autumn of 2008,” Lilliston added.
The use of mercury-contaminated caustic soda in the production of HFCS is common. The contamination occurs when mercury cells are used to produce caustic soda.
“The bad news is that nobody knows whether or not their soda or snack food contains HFCS made from ingredients like caustic soda contaminated with mercury. The good news is that mercury-free HFCS ingredients exist. Food companies just need a good push to only use those ingredients,” Wallinga said in his prepared statement.
8 responses so far ↓
george // February 4, 2009 at 5:16 am
thank god i rarely drink beverages with this stuff in it anymore… shit makes u tired.
pjwalker911 // February 4, 2009 at 8:49 am
That’s right, and now we find that, along with fluoridated water, sodas also make people stupid. Bertrand Russell explained that the elite would have to use an array of weapons like “diet and injections” to make it impossible for the public to fight against their own enslavement.
AL Vee // February 4, 2009 at 4:26 pm
So what is the remedy to all of this poisoning? They put HFCS in everything they can put in. i guess having your own garden and a natural spring somewhere is detrimental anymore.
wil // February 4, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I love (j/k) the industry ad where one bro is telling the other one to “get the facts” on high fructose corn syrup.
ie: it’s ok!
pjwalker911 // February 5, 2009 at 12:52 am
Yeah that is an amazing commercial. The guy just hems and haws flakes on his resistance and lets his domineering girlfriend tell him not to worry, corn syrup is good for you. There is a whole rash of nice ladies on PSAs telling us to get our injections too. Next they will have PSAs telling us to drink the fluoridated water for our safety. Eugenics is all this is.
pjwalker911 // February 5, 2009 at 1:03 am
Yes, as much as possible, we have to try to eat and drink organic and untainted products, stay away from junk food and fast food. There is plenty melamine also in this junk which leads to organ failure. Getting back to the land as much as possible should be our goal. The urban junkfood, soda-drinking paradigm is about weakening and dumbing us down so we can’t resist and can’t even discern true from false. If a person drinks enough sodas, takes enough injections and drugs, I am sure it helps them to believe the talking heads on the news all the more. They will gladly learn to love their servitude and view hell as heaven. That’s what the likes of Bertrand Russell and Aldous Huxley never tired of dreaming about.
george // February 5, 2009 at 7:02 am
this piece came just in time, i was just about to start my own little veggie garden in my back yard.
also look up foods that have high levels of vitamin B17, shit can help prevent cancer. theres like a whole research book on it.
pjwalker911 // February 5, 2009 at 7:22 am
Good for you George. A huge part of the problem physically and mentally with human beings is the damn toxic food and beverages we consume. That is of course by design of the eugenicist elite. Bertrand Russell said that through “diet and injections” people could be made into bleating sheep, a bunch of slobbering weaklings who would be rendered incapable of rebelling. Sickening in more ways than one.
I’m also a firm believer in food cures over using drugs and surgery. You can look up any ailment and the foods that are recommended for cures. There are plenty of resources on the net and many books on the subject. It makes sense and anyone who says different is either stupid or has an agenda.