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Traces of mercury in high-fructose corn syrup

physorg.com — A swig of soda or bite of a candy bar might be sweet, but a new study suggests that food made with corn syrup also could be delivering tiny doses of toxic mercury.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jan 28, 2009

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  • JROXZ, on 01/28/2009, -3/+161HA! It "is" bad for you after all... Suck on it Corn Refiners Association... ***** you and your ad campaign.
  • nickespinosa, on 01/27/2009, -2/+139A friend of mine was working on this research, apparently around a third of the high fructose corn syrup they tested contained mercury.

    This is really scary stuff when you consider how much of our food contains the stuff, and how much mega-corporate power is behind corn syrup via the corn agribusiness.
  • YorkVS, on 01/28/2009, -0/+96Want a Coke made with real sugar, and not high fructose corn syrup? Go to Mexico. They don't have congressional corn subsidies mandated by The Agricultural Act of 1938 there. Can things be any more screwed up by politics than they are right now?
  • SwampAss, on 01/28/2009, -3/+75You know somethings up when they start with the high fructose corn syrup TV Commercials telling you there is nothing wrong with high fructose corn syrup.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVsgXPt564Q

    lol, get the facts your in for mercury poisoning
  • SkippyDoorknob, on 01/28/2009, -1/+72thermometers
  • meekrob, on 01/27/2009, -2/+71One more reason to avoid the szurup.
  • andarnold, on 01/27/2009, -3/+55Oh boy, secret mercury poisoning !
  • SkippyDoorknob, on 01/28/2009, -2/+47Your use of quotation marks essentially reverses the point you are trying to make. Quotation marks are not for emphasizing a word.
  • inactive, on 01/28/2009, -2/+41Ugh god damned farm policy. Tax sugar imports and subsidize corn so much it's cheaper to make a sweetening chemical out of it. There's absolutely no reason high fructose corn syrup should be in anything we eat.
  • iamafatguy, on 01/28/2009, -0/+38with all *NATURAL* mercury!
  • Tyrghast, on 01/28/2009, -2/+36Real sugar tastes about 10000 times better anyway, down here in Texas you can get Dr. Pepper straight from Dublin made with real cane sugar and it is incredible.
  • jcsoc, on 01/28/2009, -1/+34I guess I should stop making my tuna-coke smoothies
  • greenlight2001, on 01/28/2009, -1/+33<muffled> ..with a little bit of mercury. </muffled>
  • MrSparkle666, on 01/28/2009, -4/+33Why is this surprising? Processed food = crap. Mercury or not, you are slowly poisoning yourself America. Enjoy your diabetes.
  • 3gibberish4q57, on 01/28/2009, -1/+29What? That it's made from all natural corn?
  • winter360, on 01/28/2009, -1/+28they stated the safe consumption of mercury is 5.5 micro grams a day. They also said contaminated syrup has 5.7 micro grams per gram. If the average American consumes 12 teaspoons a day do the math
  • legoalert33, on 01/28/2009, -0/+26I hate those commercials.
  • Benno, on 01/28/2009, -1/+24http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEbRxTOyGf0
    I don't why it's bad... so it isn't, right?
    Besides having mercury, it's bad because monoculture in the food supply is a very bad idea. It might be for many nutritional reasons too, but the majority of processed food being made from a single common ingredient is something we should avoid. It's increasingly difficult to buy foods that don't have any HFCS or soy.
  • Gibletoid, on 01/28/2009, -2/+25I thought I was getting my daily intake of mercury through all the thermometers I eat.

    Who knew?
  • inactive, on 01/28/2009, -0/+22Heh... Yeah, seriously, I didn't give too much thought about the issue until I started seeing those commercials popping up. What bigger red flag is there when a company starts running commercials that say "Don't worry, our product is 100% completely safe and won't hurt you at all?"
  • ibeetle, on 01/28/2009, -1/+23Actually Coke-a-cola is made with sugar here in the U.S.
    Coke makes a Kosher version of their drink. Because of the restrictions of the Jewish faith that keeps Kosher high fructose corn syrup cannot be used in foods.
    If you do not have a Kosher grocery store in your area just call your local Coke-a-cola bottlers to find out who in your area carries Kosher Coke.


  • newman8r, on 01/28/2009, -1/+22this is disgusting.... it makes me even more upset about those commercials the corn refiners association puts out to say how great HFCS is... ***** that
  • mazdamx, on 01/28/2009, -1/+22Isnt there a study from the corn growers of America that says mercury is good for you?
  • kzoopSF, on 01/28/2009, -2/+22Seriously. Read "The Omnivore's Dilemma," it's scary how much corn is in everything!
  • Gemfinder, on 01/28/2009, -2/+20And children and teenagers consume up to 80% more, because foods containing HFCS is marketed to them aggressively. Keep in mind that the body is growing most aggressively during those years.

    Do the math and now we begin to understand why children are being diagnosed with nervous system disorders and otherwise "healthy" adults are dropping dead from heart disease.
    Nope. It's mercury poisoning.

    How often do you have a little chocolate syrup on your mocha or latte? Do you power up with a SoBe or a Power Bar before or after your workout? How about tha Sunny-D, loaded with vitamins (and HFCS...with a little mercury on the side)? Chocolate milk good, yes? Any ketchup with your order today? Yum, that Smucker's jam is sooo good on my bagel/English muffin!

    Those commercials are so much *****. You can't have HFCS in moderation because it's in everything, from ketchup to Pop-Tarts to Hi-C to Yoplait to Activia to hamburger buns to granola bars. Note that the guy who invented it wouldn't be caught dead touching the stuff.
  • supernovasky, on 01/28/2009, -2/+20Oh people, come on now. Didn't you watch the corn industry commercials? Mercury is COMPLETELY safe and ALL NATURAL! Never mind the caustic soda and mercury used in making it :D
  • cjwl, on 01/28/2009, -1/+19You get stupid before you die from it.
  • Taiyoryu, on 01/28/2009, -0/+17Stop subsidizing the crop. It's artificially cheap.
  • lelebelle, on 01/28/2009, -2/+18So, basically high fructose corn syrup = death.
  • brandita, on 01/28/2009, -3/+19As if HFCS wasn't already bad enough for you.
  • cjwl, on 01/28/2009, -0/+16Your tax dollars hard at work through subsidies.
  • greensky, on 01/28/2009, -1/+16"If that same woman regularly ate corn syrup contaminated at the highest level detected in the study _ 0.57 micrograms per gram - the researchers estimated that she could end up consuming an amount of mercury that is five times higher than the EPA's safe dose."

    That hardly seems like 1/1000th the concentration and HFCS isn't just in your Coke. It's in just about any processed food you buy unless you really pay attention to it. It's in SOOO many things. Take a look sometime.
  • DirtyVicar, on 01/28/2009, -0/+15Where do I even start with this.
  • Gibletoid, on 01/28/2009, -0/+14Only problem with your logic is that it is NOT used in moderation.
  • newman8r, on 01/28/2009, -0/+13but nice enthusiasm anyway... ***** HFCS
  • SkippyDoorknob, on 01/28/2009, -0/+13It's not hard to find imported in bottles (at least not in California). It's usually not found in your typical grocery stores, but I see it in sandwich shops and specialty drink stores (like BevMo, etc.)
  • MrSlumberjack, on 01/28/2009, -0/+12Although, it *MIGHT* be bad for you if it contains mercury.
  • corykiser, on 01/28/2009, -0/+12you know the tings they say about it
  • iamafatguy, on 01/28/2009, -2/+14Well, you know what they say...
  • AgeofMastery, on 01/28/2009, -1/+13How much fish do you eat in a day? How many products made with HFC do you consume in a day?

    See the difference?
  • doyadiggg, on 01/28/2009, -0/+12high fructose corn syrup isn't good for you to begin with.. now this...
  • mrgeekguy, on 01/28/2009, -1/+13http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/high-fructose-cor ...

    Reason why I quit drinking pop, and switched to beer.
  • LoganT, on 01/28/2009, -0/+11I'm going to venture to guess that "jwbales" is mocking the HFCS ads. I hope.
  • inactive, on 01/28/2009, -0/+11Coke/Pepsi/Anything made pretty much anywhere outside the US uses real sugar. Europe, Australia/New Zealand, South America, Asia...

  • GreenLynx, on 01/28/2009, -0/+11OH SNAP
  • MrSlumberjack, on 01/28/2009, -0/+10What I should have added to that is that most chicken feed contains fish meal. Almost all fish have a trace amount of mercury, and some have very highly elevated amounts. So you guessed it... you're probably building up your body's mercury supply by eating chicken.

    @ SkippyDoorknob- I LOLed
  • winter360, on 01/28/2009, -0/+10if you want to go blind
  • madeingermany, on 01/28/2009, -1/+11You haven't watched the propaganda clips apparently... yes, this was /s
  • twiztidsinz, on 01/28/2009, -1/+11Same here if coca-cola or any soft drink for that matter had trace amounts of mercury, but now I'd be d....
  • DirtyBinLV, on 01/28/2009, -1/+11Close, the Kosher *for Passover* coke is made with sugar. I believe they only produce it for a few weeks per year.

    They sell Mexican Coke at the taco place near my office. It's $1.70 for a small bottle.
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