Mercury in corn syrup?

By Michael Hawthorne
Chicago Tribune

Researchers have detected traces of mercury in samples of high-fructose corn syrup, a widely used sweetener that has replaced sugar in many processed foods. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health.

The source of the metal appears to be caustic soda and hydrochloric acid, which manufacturers of corn syrup use to help convert corn kernels into the food additive.

A handful of plants across the nation still make the soda and acid by mixing a briny solution in electrified vats of mercury. Some of the toxic metal ends up in the final product, according to industry documents cited in the study.

Corn syrup manufacturers insisted their products are mercury-free. But the study said at least one maker of caustic soda that has used the mercury-based technology listed the corn syrup industry as a client.

The researchers cautioned that their study was limited. Only 20 samples were analyzed; mercury was detected in nine.

A former EPA scientist who reviewed the paper said more study is needed to establish the risk, if any, posed by contaminated corn syrup.