Another reason to avoid High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Recently I saw on another blog something about mercury in high-fructose corn syrup. Now today I found a link to this article on Crooks And Liars. I have been trying to avoid HFCS since I learned that the body can't process HFCS and it winds up as fat in the body. It is damn near impossible to be HFCS free. It is in so many different products these days, that you either have to go organic or buy stuff from other countries like Mexico (Coca-Cola) or India (pickles).

"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."

A thought occurred to me when I started this post, is there a link between mercury in HFCS and autism?? There are some who blame mercury in vaccines for autism, although that has been disproven because for one thing, Europe didn't have mercury in vaccines and has had a similar rise in rates of autism. If there is a link between mercury and autism, could it be the HFCS in our food that caused it??

"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And the group's own study, while not peer-reviewed, was based on products "bought off the shelf in the autumn of 2008," Lilliston added.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."

I would say the bad news is that the food companies don't care about anything other than a quick profit. That was made abundantly clear by Peanut Corporation of America shipping contaminated peanut product even after they found salmonella in it.

Addendum: the other day while shopping, I noticed a good sign. Cruising up and down the aisles in a Publix grocery store, I noticed a new label on Log Cabin pancake syrup. In big letters across the top of the label it said, "No High Fructose Corn Syrup". April 15, '09