Aluminum is found in a variety of foods -- Morton's iodized salt, Cherry Jell-O, non-dairy creamers, Post's Raisin Bran Cereal and the creamy center of Oreo cookies, for example. Unlike its neurotoxic metallic cousins lead and mercury, aluminum in processed foods is included in the Food and Drug Administration's list of substances generally regarded as safe to consume. In addition to aluminum's disputed role in Alzheimer's disease, however, aluminum is beginning to be suspected in other brain disorders. UC Davis researcher Mari S. Golub and her colleagues have documented significant neurobehavioral effects from aluminum consumption in recent studies with mice and found that those effects are speeded up when aluminum is ingested with a compound found in citrus fruit. Golub's group also found that the aluminum accumulated in the brain. The aluminum and citrate combination fed to mice disrupted three brain functions as measured by a standard behavioral test, according to a study the researchers presented this week at the Society of Toxicology's annual meeting. After five weeks, the mice that ate aluminum-spiked food showed lower grip strength, fewer startle responses to a loud noise and general sluggishness when compared to the control group. "These are things you might find with any neurotoxic substance," Golub says. The same effects took 12 weeks to achieve when the mice were fed aluminum without the citrate, according to another study by the same research team published in this month's Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. The citrate-enhanced effects suggest that the aluminum found in soda pop, wine coolers, orange juice and reconstituted lemon juice might be a significant source of the metal when compared with other food sources. The research group is conducting a long-term study of mice to further define the effects of aluminum in the diet.