SAN FRANCISCO — A recent study suggesting there are notable levels of mercury in high-fructose corn syrup is inaccurate, according to ChemRisk, a scientific consulting firm the Corn Refiners Association asked to investigate the study.

The recent news about mercury and high - fructose corn syrup was reported and published by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and the Environmental Health journal.

ChemRisk found the report and article fall below scientific standards for research and literature as the authors provided incomplete data and misleading conclusions, methods the authors describe are not in line with standard procedures for testing mercury, and the authors ignored important distinctions between organic and other forms of mercury and their implications for assessing human health risk.

In addition, ChemRisk said even if the mercury content found in limited sampling of foods and beverages were representative, the amounts are lower than levels of concern set by government agencies. Also, the study and report assumed the amounts of mercury detected was the result of high-fructose corn syrup and did not check for multiple sources of potential contamination.

"By combining the results of a 4-year-old sampling analysis of high-fructose corn syrup with a more recent testing of branded foods and beverages for total mercury, the I.A.T.P. report fails to recognize basic scientific facts regarding mercury; ignores common dietary sources of mercury, an element that is widely present in our environment at low concentrations; and makes improper assumptions regarding the sources of the mercury measured in various branded food products," ChemRisk reported.