Two new U.S. studies show that nearly half of commercial high-fructose corn syrup samples contained mercury, while one-third of popular brand-name food items made with HFCS also contained mercury.

HFCS is regulary used to sweeten products in place of sugar, with the average American consuming 12 teaspoons of it per day.  Teens and other high consumers consume up to 80% more than the average.  (You have Congress to thank for the prevalence of HFCS in your food, but more on that later.)

The first study, appearing in the current Environmental Health, found mercury in 9 out of 20 samples of commercial HFCS.  The second, done by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade policy, a non-profit watchdog, sampled 55 brand name foods which had HFCS listed as the first or second ingredient.  They found that nearly 1 in 3 contained mercury.

Dr. David Wallinga of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade policy , who co-authored both studies, said, “Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply.”

The President of the Corn Refiners Association (the ones behind those insulting “Sweet Surprise!” commercials ) shot back, “This study appears to be based on outdated information of dubious significance.  Our industry has used mercury-free versions of the two re-agents mentioned in the study, hydrochloric acid and caustic soda, for several years. These mercury-free re-agents perform important functions, including adjusting pH balances.”

However, the IATP found four plants in Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio and West Virginia that still use the “mercury-cell” technology.

So why don’t we just use sugar in more products?  Big government.   Ron Paul even used the issue in his book The Revolution.   Basically, Archer Daniels Midland and others lobbied Congress to enact limits on the amount of sugar that could be imported to the U.S., greatly raising its cost.

Archer Daniels Midland currently buys over 1/10th of the nation’s corn crop (which is highly subsidized by the federal government), turning most of it into HFCS, at a huge profit.

We don’t have more products made with real sugar because we pretty much can’t, thanks to Congress.

 Sources: Washington Post -Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury January 28, 2009

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