HFCS Contains Mercury

About six months ago, give or take, I started seeing these commercials on television advertising how high fructose corn syrup is just fine for you. My first thought, on seeing them, was that obviously Michael Pollan has had a huge impact on the food industry, or at least HFCS consumption! The advertisements, for those who have managed to miss them, are sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association, basically shows someone offering another person something made with HFCS, the second person freaking out, and the first person talking them into it by saying that it's perfectly fine for you. (Implying, of course, that people who opt not to consume HFCS haven't done their research and are just parroting everyone else.)

Here's the first commercial produced, so those of you who haven't seen it can get an idea for what the commercials are like:


I wonder if they're going to keep airing those advertisements, now that a new study has shown that many products containing HFCS contain mercury, and another study suggests that it's the corn itself that's contaminated.
-Kelly Hills

A Gourmet Q&A

We're unashamed fans of Michael Pollan around here, so it when I came across this Q&A with him on Gourmet's website, sharing it was a no-brainer. Pollan is doing the interview rounds talking about his new book, In Defense of Food (currently sitting on my nightstand awaiting a few hours of spare time), and in this particular interview talks about the inspiration for the new book, why cliche's about food matter, and uh... apparently how to survive on a diet of primarily whale blubber. Well worth the read - after all, you never know when you'll be stuck in the arctic wilderness with nothing but a whale carcass.
-Kelly