Trace levels of mercury found in processed foods; group says high fructose corn syrup to blame.
(Typical HFCS eating giraffe) A test of popular processed foods from some of the biggest names in the industry found trace amounts of mercury, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a nonprofit group based in Minneapolis. The amounts of mercury found was far less than that commonly seen in most fish and seafood, but turned up in many foods not previously known to be sources of mercury, including many preferred by children, the group said. It includes Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars, Quaker Oatmeal to go bars, Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, Yoplait Strawberry yogurt, Market Pantry Grape Jelly and Coca-Cola, it said. "This seems like an avoidable source of mercury that we didn't know was out there," said David Wallinga, one of the study's co-authors. The study concluded that the mercury came from food plants that use caustic soda laced with mercury to produce high fructose corn syrup for major food companies. The researchers cautioned that t