“Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient**, according to two new U.S. studies.”

And so begins a frightening article published by both USA Today and the Organic Consumers Association just a couple of months ago. So why isn’t there more of an uprising responding to this information that the food industry is knowingly poisoning our families just to save a buck? Maybe it’s because the word just isn’t out there. It appears to me when searching around for information, most of the response to these findings were published the week following publication. And, then, discussion seems to have just dropped off the cliff.

So, I’m putting the call out to all of you to join the folks who are researching the HFCS/Mercury issue and, and I’m asking you to continue the conversation. Preferably, in a loud audible volume so that industry leaders will actually catch wind and realize that we demand to have food choices that are not toxic to our children.

What about those commercials that say HFCS is just as safe as sugar? The article below posted on the site The Good Human states it quite clearly:

“Pure sugar just happens to be a truly natural substance that has not been mixed in vats, chemically derived and played with, and used as cheap substitute in almost everything on the grocery store shelves. Everyone should limit the amount of sugar they ingest. But according to an article in SF Gate, “The body processes the fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters the way metabolic-regulating hormones function. It also forces the liver to kick more fat out into the bloodstream.”

The mental image of feeding my family something that is “mixed in vats, chemically derived and played with” quite frankly gives me hee-bee-gee-bees. It also inspires personal pride that I attempt to feed them naturally derived foods as much as possible. But, I don’t think that alone is enough. I don’t believe that taking the stance of “well, I just won’t patronize those companies” is enough when taking a position against these industry business practices.

So, Check out the links below. And spread the word. And ask yourself this question: Could the processed-food industry be responsible for some of the rising incidences of childhood sickness and disease? Or worse, could there be a more direct HFCS/mercury connection to the rise in such developmental disorders as Autism Spectrum Diagnoses—blamed most recently on vaccination ingredients (mercury!) and aggressive vaccination schedules? Maybe the answers to these questions rest more on our pantry shelves than we think.

Study: High Fructose Corn syrup contains mercury

Much High Fructose corn syrup contaminated with mercury, new study finds

New York Times: The Food Issue- An open letter to the Farmer in Chief (Michael Pollan)

US Autism- Food Matters

The double danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup

HFCS vs. Sugar: Is one worse than the other?

**Reading Nutrition Labels: The list of ingredients on a Nutrition label are ordered by the amount of that ingredient in the product. For instance, a jar of peanut butter might read: “Peanuts, Salt.” The first ingredient, peanuts were the primary ingredient followed by a lesser amount of salt. Likewise, a box of multi-grain crackers might list: Enriched wheat flour, soybean oil, whole grains (barley, millet, triticale, sorghum, rye,) whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda, malted barley flour, calcium carbonate, yeast. In this example, Enriched wheat flour (the first ingredient) constitutes most of the product while the amount of yeast (the last ingredient) was measured the least of all ingredients.