Another Source of Mercury Contamination - Oh Joy!

I am not sure humans are ever going to quite "get" the mercury issue... it is insidious and on some level a contributing factor to many illnesses. While mercury-contaminated fish is already on the list of foods to eat in limited quantities (or not at all), some high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been found to be contaminated with mercury. While this was discovered over a year ago, and I wrote about it in a brief blog post last fall, a recent report from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy shows that of the brand-name products they tested containing high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), over thirty percent were contaminated with mercury. There are plenty of other reasons to not eat foods containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), but this addition of mercury contamination adds a whole other level to the issues of food quality and safety, as well as long term health implications of diet.

Please visit the Health Observatory site of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy to view their full information about HFCS and Mercury Contamination and download the reports. For more information about the health effects of Mercury see the Guide Blog post about Vaccine Preservatives.

And for a more humorous educational experience be sure and check out King Corn a somewhat goofy but accurate documentary film about two college-age kids who set out to learn about corn by “adopting” a one acre plot in corn-country and seeing the cycle through harvest and commodity. The revelations about high-fructose corn syrup, cattle feed, food, and health are devastating, but they manage to do it so you keep laughing.