Mercury found in kid foods

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Mercury found in kid foods

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?blogid=46 & entry_id=35150 & type=moms

Most nutritionists view high-fructose corn syrup consumption as a major culprit in the nation's obesity crisis. The inexpensive, highly concentrated sweetener flooded the American food supply in the early 1980s, when the nation's obesity rate began to climb. Parents were advised to avoid giving their kids soda, sugary cereals, and sweetened yogurts--all packed with the artificial sweetener. Today, every mom knows that you shouldn't give your children soft drinks because it will make them fat, not to mention rot their teeth.

 

 

Now there's another reason to look at labels and avoid foods with corn syrup listed in the ingredients. Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where corn syrup is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.

"Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [u.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply," the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.

Some of the foods with detected mercury include: Quaker Oatmeal to Go, Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt, Minute Maid Berry Punch, Coca-Cola Classic, Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, Smucker's Strawberry Jelly, and Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Drink. For a complete list,

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?blogid=46 & entry_id=35150 & type=moms