This is frightening.
Two new U.S. studies have found levels of mercury in about half of the samples of high-fructose corn syrup that they tested. And in 55 products where high-fructose corn syrup was the first or second ingredient on the nutritional label, nearly a third of them also contained mercury.
This is especially worrisome because high-fructose corn syrup is ubiquitous in foods now. It is in everything, even some things that would surprise you: breads, cereals, salad dressings, soups, lunch meats.
The Washington Post says that on average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons a day of corn syrup -- that's 4 tablespoons a day, and it's 1.75 cups a week. Nearly two cups a week! And teenagers or those who are above the average can consume as much as 80 percent more than that.
Here's the article about the studies:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012601831.html
And here's a link to a page about mercury exposure and our health:
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mercury/
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I would also like to thank you for posting this article. I'm with alison b above--this stuff is bad for us on its own and the mercury angle just gives it a more sinister twist. I have a good friend who is a mercury poisoning survivor and I sent him the link as well.
I've cut out probably about 95% of the HFCS from my diet since April and it has helped me so much in terms of weight loss. It does show up in some of the breads I buy but as often as possible I try to get loaves without any in it.
I stopped letting my 11-year-old son drink Snapple due to the HFCS but was heartened to see that they not only re-did their labels, they re-did their ingredients and now it contains good ol' sugar. It's not like I'll let him drink it everyday or anything, but I was happy to see they pulled that ingredient out.
thanks again!
January 27, 2009 - 5:30pmThis Comment
I am so happy you wrote about this! I wrote a blog about high-fructose corn syrup recently, as the ads ("You know what they say about HFCS...") were driving me crazy! They were selling this stuff like it was healthy!
I'm very surprised that there is mercury in this product; thanks for providing this information.
January 27, 2009 - 1:08pmThis Comment