In 2004, FDA researcher Renee Dufault investigated whether high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) could contain mercury because some production facilities used mercury-cell technology to manufacture caustic soda, a chemical used in corn-starch processing. Her initial testing examined 20 samples, and 45%—nine samples—contained trace mercury, according to the account. Additional HFCS samples were tested by two independent federal and academic laboratories, which reportedly also detected low mercury levels in HFCS and foods containing it. Dufault and academic collaborators presented preliminary findings to the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in October 2005.
The FDA then asked Dufault to halt the investigation, and in 2006 she said she was denied permission to use federal extramural data for publication. She left the agency in 2008, citing her belief that the FDA no longer supported the work, and published the findings with collaborators in 2009. The source documents the research dispute and Dufault’s whistleblower account, but does not establish that FDA officials intentionally concealed a confirmed public-health danger or that HFCS consumption caused specific illnesses. She later founded the Food Ingredient and Health Research Institute, continuing advocacy for ingredient-safety research.
