Mercury in Pop Tarts?
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High Fructose Corn Syrup has been getting a bad rap these days. Producers like it because it is cheaper to use than glucose, so it is used in the foods implicated with the obesity epidemic- like soda, processed, and “junk” foods. Both fructose and glucose are basically “sugar” and have the same calories. So inherently, is high fructose corn syrup really worse than glucose itself?
Well, yes. A Princeton study found that:
rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.
In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.
“Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn’t true, at least under the conditions of our tests,” said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. “When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they’re becoming obese — every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don’t see this; they don’t all gain extra weight.”
And folks, that isn’t the worst! Now some foods with high levels of HFCS (listed as first or second ingredient) have been found to contain mercury. One study showed a link between mercury contamination and the processes used to make HFCS:
With 45% of the HFCS samples containing mercury in this small study, it would be prudent and perhaps essential for public health that additional research be conducted by the FDA or some other public health agency to determine if products containing HFCS also contain mercury. In 2004, several member states of the European Union reported finding mercury concentrations in beverages, cereals and bakery ware, and sweeteners [14] – all of which may contain HFCS. FDA does not currently have a mercury surveillance program for food ingredients such as added sugars or preservatives manufactured with mercury grade chlor-alkali products.(italics added)
But almost no US food manufacturers use those methods. So our foods should be safe.
Don’t I wish! After all, even if stateside processing methods have stopped using caustic soda (mercury comes from this step), not all products are made with exclusively stateside ingredients.
A report published by the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), shows detectable levels of mercury in 17 out of 55 tested products rich in high-fructose corn syrup. Some of the products found to have mercury were:
* Quaker Oatmeal to Go bars
* Jack Daniel’s Barbecue Sauce
* Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
* Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
* Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars
* Manwich Gold Sloppy Joe
* Market Pantry Grape Jelly
* Smucker’s Strawberry Jelly
* Pop-Tarts Frosted Blueberry
* Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup
* Wish-Bone Western Sweet & Smooth Dressing
* Coca-Cola Classic: no mercury found on a second test
* Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt
* Minute Maid Berry Punch
* Yoo-hoo Chocolate Drink
* Nesquik Chocolate Milk
* Kemps Fat Free Chocolate Milk
Researchers aren’t sure what form of mercury is contaminating the samples, and more samples haven’t been taken yet to repeat the study. Of course mercury poisoning is cumulative, so even small amounts can add up. It makes sense to limit any exposure to mercury if it can be avoided- especially for children. The list above may be clean the next time it is tested, and of course the manufacturers assure us that their foods are perfectly safe. So don’t trash everything in your pantry just because it might contain mercury, but instead because it is really just junk food in the first place!
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Bring up your children up on Chicken Vindaloo, Keema Nan bread, Pilau Rice, Bombay Potato, Mushroom Bhajee, Onion Bhajee, Chicken Jalfreze, Lamb Madras, Spicey Popodums and all things of this nature.
What ever else it does it will make them ‘regular’….;-)
I freaking LOVE chicken vindaloo and Nan bread! My boys eat so much at the Indian buffet that they fart saffron for weeks.
LOL MH!
Most of it is stuff kids eat, so it bothers me that there isn’t some kind of FDA mandated heavy metals testing in ALL processed food. Coke was on the list too, but after a second sample tested negative so they didn’t use it.
After looking at your AITP list of products, I feel safer, but I probably shouldn’t.