chix96’s Recent Comments

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  Take it from a scientist...

  ...who actually read the peer-reviewed article in Environmental Health Journal. Here's a note I composed to my coworkers after reading the article on the day of its release:

  An article came out in Environmental Health recently documenting detectable levels of mercury in 9 of 20 samples of HFCS, which is made using by-products of the chlorine industry: hydrochloric acid and caustic soda. The chlorine industry reports that HFCS manufacturers are the largest end-users of mercury-grade hydrochloric acid and caustic soda; the ingredients can also be made using mercury-free methods (9 of the 11 samples <.005 micrograms of detectable mercury were from a HFCS manufacturer that uses the mercury-free byproducts).

  At the high end, mercury was detected at 0.570 micrograms/g HFCS. The average American ingests 28.5 micrograms of mercury a day; at this rate, that's more than 4 times the EPA's recommended threshold of mercury consumption for a 150 lb person (0.1 micrograms/kg body weight). This is about half of what's in a can of tuna: 3.5 cans of tuna a week, to put it in perspective. The authors of the paper were unable to ascertain what percentage of certain food products are comprised by HFCS as the food manufacturers guard this as "proprietary information." The authors also point out that foods in which the first or second ingredient is HFCS may contain detectable levels of mercury, but the FDA does not test these food products for mercury. I'd like to see another study examining that!

  Oddly enough, I haven't seen a commercial from the HFCS folks recently.On Why is the FDA unwilling to study evidence of mercury in high-fructose corn syrup? posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago 7 Responses

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  [insert HFC plug here]

  So what, exactly, is high fructose corn syrup doing in dog and cat food?! Clearly, it is a nutritionally devoid yet caloric filler to make up for the caloric deficiencies of the other ingredients in pet food.On Is organic pet food worth the trouble? posted 1 year ago 12 Responses