High Levels of Mercury Found in Corn Syrup

I receive e-mail updates from the OCA (Organic Consumers Association), and an interesting, if not frightening, article was recently posted regarding the mercury content found in high fructose corn syrup. According to the article, which is based from the original article written by the scientific journal Environmental Health, mercury was found in nearly 50% of tested commercial high fructose corn syrup samples. A separate study by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) detected mercury in one third of 55 of top name brand products that list high fructose corn syrup as the first or second ingredient. These brands included Quaker, Hershey's, Kraft, and Smukers.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is found in almost every processed or packaged food product. Soda, obviously, is by far the worst since it is purely HFCS with water. Other common foods containing HFCS include packaged lunch meats, canned soups, breakfast cereals, bottled salad dressings, and even yogurt. Many of these foods are popular among our children, and are overused in our school systems and institutions. According to the above report, most teenagers take in above 80% of average levels daily of HFCS. Average American daily intake is a whopping 12 teaspoons, which is equal to 1/4 cup. Please follow the link above to read the report which is full of information.