Mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup

My sister sent me the article below as an FYI. I read the Huffington Post article in the link and particualrly noted the comments from an autism mom. Just another reason to eat as naturally as possible, but let's face it...if it's soy that penetrated our food supply (Crisco is now all soy), then it's corn and the high fructose corn syrup is the worst, apparently.


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FDA KNEW ABOUT MERCURY IN CORN SYRUP -- AND KEPT SILENT

The Food and Drug Administration has known for years that high fructose corn syrup is often contaminated with toxic mercury -- but did not inform or warn the public.

"There is no established safe dose for elemental mercury, the type discovered in corn syrup," wrote Michael Hawthorne, who had the story in the Chicago Tribune of January 27, 2009. "But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says an average-sized woman should limit her exposure to 5.5 micrograms a day of methylmercury, the kind found in fish. If that same woman regularly ate corn syrup contaminated at the highest level detected in the study -- 0.57
micrograms per gram -- the researchers estimated that she could end up consuming an amount of mercury that is five times higher than the EPA's safe dose."

But the FDA had the information as early as 2005, when one of its scientists co-authored a study finding the mercury in corn syrup. Despite this, the FDA allowed the corn industry to go forward with a campaign advertising corn syrup as "natural." That part of the story came out in the Huffington Post column of Leslie Hatfield Jan. 27.

The Corn Refiners Association is currently running a TV ad campaign
attempting to deny negative statements about corn syrup

-- "Mercury in Corn Syrup?" Chicago Tribune, January 27, 2009, by
Michael Hawthorne .

-- "Our Melamine: There's Mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup, and the
FDA Has Known for Years," Huffington Post, January 27, 2009, by Leslie
Hatfield .

Hugs for my father

My beloved 91-year-old father is in the hospital, I am again not posting much as you can understand. There are two operations he had to undergo emergently; one a pacemaker of which he came through with flying colors, and second will be a hernia operation. I will post back here after we get past the second operation.

God, I forgot how much I hate hospitals and I transcribe this stuff all day long! Our medical system is clearly failing. The right hand just seems to never know what the left hand is doing. When you are in the hospital, there should be at least one person with you at all times to keep abreast of what is going on. Otherwise, the family is left to piece together information. It's ridiculous, but that's our currently flawed system. How to change the paradigm...perhaps it is emerging. Until then, we are pretty much divided into various body parts with specialists who attend to each part. It's the bringing together of it all that's missing.

Then you have those golden gems, those docs and nurses who suddenly come in and you think, Thank God! A person who has not lost their compassion, their heart. And you praise them all day long and never forget their names.

back later

Milestones and Mayhem

Here he is, my toothless boy. Lib lost both top teeth this past weekend. Also, this weekend, was our very first round of chelation (applause). It went great. I did not think I would see much of a difference yet, but something has changed. He's vocalizing more, he's more alert, he is following commands better, and he's suddenly very loud. He seems to be very happy, too as seen here:
I had a feeling he was in a new phase. I was sitting at my computer tonight transcribing medical dictation, and thinking that if I see him get out the Nemo video, that will tell me he is going through another growth spurt. That seems to be the signal. But, he hasn't wanted to watch Nemo in a long time, and if I got the video out myself, he would put it back on the shelf.

It really was just a fleeting thought (intuition?) when, I kid you not, suddenly, I heard my husband asking Lib if he wanted to watch Nemo. I thought it was my husband's idea. I turned around and there was Liberty, Nemo DVD in hand.

How cool is that?!

Stay tuned. Oh--he's going to the potty by himself. All I have to do is tell him to go and he does it. He also ate homemade chicken nuggets and tater tots at school. I'm so proud.

At Last!

ABC News: Exclusive: Jeremy Piven Defends Play Departure Due to Mercury Poisoning

ABC News: Exclusive: Jeremy Piven Defends Play Departure Due to Mercury Poisoning

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Liberty's Favorite Video

taking a much needed timeout - back soon

painting by Maxfield Parrish "Aquamarine"

A really good day

I got a glowing report on Lib's first day back at school. This is a far cry from where we were last year when the teacher reported that he forgot his routine and had regressed over the 2-week holiday. This time, his teacher said he did mimicking and matching, made all kinds of new vocalizations, ate all of his food including all of those gluten free/casein free cereal bars he would never touch, and went to the potty all by himself. The first day back!

While Lib was at school, I drove to Target and bought him this cool stainless steel sippy cup. It is made by Thermos and called a "Foogoo." The lid flips up and there is a straw inside. He loves it. No more crappy plastic cups full of God-knows-what kinds of chemicals.

I had an appointment with Dr. Bock in the afternoon. When I described Lib's progress interspersed with odd behavior, he said, "Remember, recovery is never a straight line." Well, I will hang onto that thought.

We decided on a plan of DMSA to begin heavy metal detoxification and made sure we had the necessary supplements in place. Since Lib's bowels are now working properly on their own, we can forge ahead. And, he's basically sugar-free. If you remember our battle with yeast this time last year, you will understand how much I don't want to have any yeast problems when we chelate. Sheesh! That was a rough experience for us and even rougher on my poor child. I still remember his blackened teeth from the charcoal I had to give him.

So, we are finally ready to do this thing, though experience has taught me that we might have to do make some adjustments in dosing along the way. Dr. Bock agreed with me to start out very slowly with Lib. If I have learned anything, it is to first test the waters with small amounts of supplements or meds. You just cannot go by a one-size-fits-all chart for each child.

Wish us luck as we walk down yet another road.

Zippity Doo Dah, It's Back to School at Last

So, Liberty went skipping off to school today. He could barely get out of bed since we have gotten up whenever we wanted to for two weeks straight. But, once I showed him his backpack and said, "Hurry up, it's time for school," he got so excited, he could not get his clothes on fast enough.

Lots of new things have occured during these last few days before school started:

1) I say bye-bye to him and he waves.
2) I can say his name and he waves.
3) I can wave at him and he waves back.
4) He is looking in a mirror. Does that seem strange? He never did this before. He will hold up his toys and watch himself and his actions now.
5) He is going to the potty BY HIMSELF more often now. I can just say, "Liberty, go to the potty," and he does. He does get distracted along the way, but he still will get up and go.
6) He stopped eating bacon. Just like that. Done. Do you realize how much money this saves us? Bacon is almost $5 a pack. (No hormones, no antibiotics, etc.)
7) He ate a new food yesterday: Chicken cacciatore. This is huge. I did not have to grind it up. Doubly huge.
8) He did reciprocal play by tickling his father yesterday.
8) I asked, "Do you want a cracker or a chip?" He never answers usually. He said, "Cackuh." Be still my beating heart.

Now, I wait with bated breath for the teacher's note home. It will either be amazing or amazingly awful.

In the meantime, hear that?

Silence. Aaaaaahhhhhh. My steaming cup of coffee. Birds outside my window. Nowhere to rush to. Toys to clean up but who cares.

Peace and quiet. I so deserve this!