Mercury Contamination in High-Fructose Corn Syrup

March 30, 2009

By: Jonathan Sabar

Well, you know what they say about it..."

"What? That high-fructose corn syrup is made from corn, has the same calories as sugar and honey, and may be contaminated with mercury?"

The Environmental Health Journal recently published a study (1) finding that 9 in 20 samples of high-fructose corn syrup they tested were contaminated with mercury.

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy then did a study on their own and found that 17 out of 55 brand-name products they tested (Coca-cola, Hunts Ketchup, Heinz and Kraft BBQ sauces, Quaker Oatmeal-to-Go, etc) contained measureable levels of mercury (2).

So if you needed another reason to stay away from this poison, now you have one.

1. Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: measured concentrations in food product sugar, Dufalt, R. et al, Environmental Health 2009, 8:2doi:10.1186/1476-069X-8-2

2. Not So Sweet: Missing Mercury and High Fructose Corn Syrup; Wallinga, D, et al. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy,

Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Source: Examiner.com