Home
http://iowa.sierraclub.org/Mercury/HgandFructose.pdf
Caustic soda is used in the process of converting corn syrup into high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Some chlorine manufacturers still use an outdated mercury-cell process to make chlorine from brine, a byproduct of which is caustic soda. This mercury-cell caustic soda can contain residual mercury contamination. If this older technology caustic soda is used in the HFCS manufacturing process, it can impart mercury contamination to the HFCS. One 2009 study examined 20 HFCS samples from three different manufacturers, and found detectable mercury in 9 of the 20 samples.
Caustic soda is used in the process of converting corn syrup into high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Some chlorine manufacturers still use an outdated mercury-cell process to make chlorine from brine, a byproduct of which is caustic soda. This mercury-cell caustic soda can contain residual mercury contamination. If this older technology caustic soda is used in the HFCS manufacturing process, it can impart mercury contamination to the HFCS. One 2009 study examined 20 HFCS samples from three different manufacturers, and found detectable mercury in 9 of the 20 samples.
After this revelation, another group did its own independent testing of brand-name products picked from the shelves of supermarkets (mainly soft drinks, snack foods and other items mostly marketed to children), where HFCS was the first or second ingredient on the food label. Several dozen products were sent to a commercial laboratory for testing using the latest mercury detection technology. Mercury was detected in nearly one in three of the 55 HFCS-containing food products tested. These included some of the most recognizable brands on supermarket shelves: Quaker, Hunt’s, Manwich, Hershey’s, Smucker’s, Kraft, Nutri-Grain and Yoplait. Mercury was found at several times the lowest detectable limit in some snack bars, barbecue sauce, sloppy joe mix, yogurt and chocolate syrup, and at lower levels in some soda-pop and strawberry jelly, ketchup, and chocolate milk. No mercury was detected in the majority of beverages tested; important because sweetened beverages are one of the biggest sources of HFCS in the American diet.
So far, the FDA has declined to rule that HFCS manufacturers cannot use mercury-grade caustic soda in their processes.
