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New Health Concerns. Water in situ. The Congressional Debate Over What Makes Food "Natural" Kinja is in read-only mode. We are working to restore service. Would we have to label every food as genetically modified then? Just because we haven't opened up a plant's genome and tampered with it until recently, we have been genetically modifying all of the foods that we eat for thousands of years. As I understand it, the typical banana can't even breed on its own because we've bred it to stop producing seeds, but no one believes that eating a banana will turn them into a mutant banana-person. (Note to self-sell this idea to Syfy network). Even the first humans who practiced agriculture was tampering with their food's genes through selective breeding.

Alternatively, could we just take all of the money that will have to be used for labeling and give that to educate people about the GMO issue? Flagged. Food Safety. Bacillus thuringiensis: Profile of a bacterium - Basic info. Apr 4, 2007 Basic info Print Send Bacillus thuringiensis It has been known for over a hundred years that certain common, soil-dwelling bacteria - Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) - have a toxic and deadly effect on insects. The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is found everywhere – it has been isolated from soil samples, leaf surfaces and insects. The bacterium was first discovered in silkworms in 1901 by a Japanese scientist, who named it Bacillus sotto, although he remained unaware of its special characteristics.

Field trials with Bacillus thuringiensis to control the European corn borer were being conducted as early as the late 1920s and in 1938 the first commercial Bt preparation (Sporeine) came onto the market in France. Since the introduction of the first Bt preparations in crop protection, more and more new, previously unknown strains of Bacillus thuringiensis have been identified, each of which affects only certain insect groups.

Targeted use How the Bt toxin works. Modern Meadow. See Global Research - 5 Gyres - Understanding Plastic Pollution Through Exploration, Education, and Action - 5 Gyres – Understanding Plastic Pollution Through Exploration, Education, and Action. The research we are doing The 5 Gyres team collects samples of the oceans surface to quantity the mass, size, color and type of plastic pollution floating in the gyres. We are also collecting fish to study the ingestion of microplastic particles. See our master timeline “What is the abundance of plastic pollution in the 5 Subtropical Gyres” We will use a manta trawl to collect 50 surface samples from each of the North and South Atlantic gyres.

“Are surface foraging fish in the Sargasso Sea ingesting micro-plastic particles?” Foraging nocturnal fish caught during our expeditions are dissected to analyze stomach contents. “How do we analyze our samples?” Sea surface samples are returned to the lab for analysis. Have Trawl- Will Travel In order to understand if plastic pollution exists in the 5 gyres, we have built 5 trawls to loan to vessels of opportunity. Step 1. The Suitcase Manta Trawl The Suitcase Manta Trawl has a 60cm wide mouth that dips 25cm into the sea surface. The Winged Trawl. Shrimp's Dirty Secrets: Why America's Favorite Seafood Is a Health and Environmental Nightmare.

January 24, 2010 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. Americans love their shrimp. It's the most popular seafood in the country, but unfortunately much of the shrimp we eat are a cocktail of chemicals, harvested at the expense of one of the world's productive ecosystems. Worse, guidelines for finding some kind of "sustainable shrimp" are so far nonexistent. In his book, Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood, Taras Grescoe paints a repulsive picture of how shrimp are farmed in one region of India.

Upon arrival in the U.S., few if any, are inspected by the FDA, and when researchers have examined imported ready-to-eat shrimp, they found 162 separate species of bacteria with resistance to 10 different antibiotics. Understanding the shrimp that supplies our nation's voracious appetite is quite complex. One more consideration, even in these cleaner systems, is the wild fish used to feed farmed shrimp. 8 Foods Even The Experts Won’t Eat. By April McCarthy. Originally published on Preventdisease.com. Food scientists are shedding light on items loaded with toxins and chemicals–and simple swaps for a cleaner diet and supersized health.

Experts from different areas of specialty explain why they won’t eat these eight foods. Clean eating means choosing fruits, vegetables, and meats that are raised, grown, and sold with minimal processing. Often they’re organic, and rarely (if ever) should they contain additives. The result is damage to our health, the environment, or both. So we decided to take a fresh look at food through the eyes of the people who spend their lives uncovering what’s safe–or not–to eat. Their answers don’t necessarily make up a “banned foods” list. 1. Fredrick Vom Saal, is an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A. The problem: The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. 2. 3. The solution: 4. 5. Dr. 6. Food Sovreignty: A Critical Dialogue_2013. As You Sow: Environmental Health - Nanomaterials. It is reported that nanotechnology is already being used in food and food related products but, due to the food industry's lack of transparency on the issue, concrete information about whether, and how much, nanomaterials are being used in food products is difficult to obtain.

In order to begin answering this question, As You Sow filed the first shareholder resolutions on nanomaterials and food safety in 2008 asking Kraft and McDonald's to report on their use of nanomaterials in their products and packaging. In 2009, our dialogue with McDonald's resulted in the company publicly stating that it "does not currently support the use by suppliers of nano-engineered materials in the production of any of our food, packaging, and toys. " Kraft also responded with a public statement about their use of nanomaterials in food and food packaging including that "If we ever intend to use nanotechnology, we will make sure that the appropriate environmental, health and safety concerns have been addressed. " As You Sow: Issue Brief on Nanomaterials. Slipping Through the Cracks is designed to inform companies, investors, and consumers about the emerging use of engineered nanomaterials in food and food related products.

It highlights the potential risks of nanotechnology for companies who are knowingly or unknowingly using it in their products and for public health. As You Sow and other leading investors surveyed 25,000 food manufacturers and tested a range of popular donuts; the results of both inquiries proved that nanomaterials are currently being used in food products. To test more food products for the presence of nanomaterials, As You Sow has also launched a crowdfunding campaign. Learn more and make your contribution at www.indiegogo.com/nanoays. The majority of food companies have not been responsive in providing information about their specific uses, plans, and policies on this topic and no U.S. laws require disclosure. Slipping Through the Cracks presents: Consume This First | Food Intelligence for Families Who Eat.

Methodology | EWG's 2013 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ Finding Healthier Food People don't want to consume pesticides with their food and water. The most recent government pesticide tests establish the widespread presence of pesticide residues on conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables and in tap water.

Even more disconcertingly, government scientists tested three popular types of baby food and found pears and green bean samples contaminated with fungicides and bug killers. In government tests analyzed by the Environmental Working Group, detectable pesticide residues were found on 67 percent of food samples after they had been washed or peeled. We found striking differences between the number of pesticides and amount of residues detected on Dirty Dozen Plus™ and Clean Fifteen™ foods. ^ back to top The Dirty Dozen Plus™ For the past nine years, EWG has scrutinized pesticide-testing data generated by scientists at the U.S.

Highlights of this year's Dirty Dozen™ Plus -- Organophosphate pesticides. The U.S. Pesticides in Baby Food Drinking water. How Your Chicken Dinner Is Creating a Drug-Resistant Superbug - Maryn McKenna. Continuing to treat urinary tract infections as a short-term, routine ailment rather than a long-term food safety issue risks turning the responsible bacteria into a major health crisis. kusabi/Flickr Adrienne LeBeouf recognized the symptoms when they started. The burning and the urge to head to the bathroom signaled a urinary tract infection, a painful but everyday annoyance that afflicts up to 8 million U.S. women a year. LeBeouf, who is 29 and works as a medical assistant, headed to her doctor, assuming that a quick course of antibiotics would send the UTI on its way. That was two years ago, and LeBeouf has suffered recurring bouts of cystitis ever since. There is no national registry for drug-resistant infections, and so no one can say for sure how many resistant UTIs there are.

Dr. But the origin of these newly resistant E. coli has been a mystery -- except to a small group of researchers in several countries. The U.S. In 2005, University of Minnesota professor of medicine Dr. Dr. On The Run: How Families Struggle To Eat Well And Exercise. Fast%20Food%20Nation. United States Accused of Planting Avian Flu in Recent H7N9 Outbreak. Janet C. PhelanActivist Post Amidst allegations by a highly placed Colonel in the Chinese army that the U.S. has released a bioweapon in Mainland China, concerns are ramping up that this year's version of the avian flu, H7N9, may turn into a major pandemic. The last few years have seen several false alarms on the pandemic front. Neither the bird flu of 2004 nor the swine flu of 2009-2010 ended up being of much concern, although agencies from the WHO on down certainly created quite a flurry around both of these flu bugs. H7N9 has already shown itself to have a high mortality rate, higher in fact than the Spanish flu of 1918, which caused 50 million deaths worldwide.

The latest figures show H7N9 as having a mortality rate of 21- 24%. According to Keiji Fukuda, WHO's assistant director-general for health, security and the environment, "This is definitely one of the most lethal influenza viruses that we have seen so far. " A number of insiders, including Dr. Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry. October 15, 2013, by Sylvia Allegretto, Marc Doussard, Dave Graham-Squire, Ken Jacobs, Dan Thompson and Jeremy Thompson » Full Report » California Legislative Hearing Testimony » Press Release » Press Coverage Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of enrollments in America's major public benefits programs are from working families.

But many of them work in jobs that pay wages so low that their paychecks do not generate enough income to provide for life's basic necessities. Low wages paid by employers in the fast-food industry create especially acute problems for the families of workers in this industry. This report estimates the public cost of low-wage jobs in the fast-food industry. More than half (52 percent) of the families of front-line fast-food workers are enrolled in one or more public programs, compared to 25 percent of the workforce as a whole. Conflictpalmoil. Ractopamine. Ractopamine. The ban on U.S. pork and beef exports to Russia over ractopamine is costly for American producers, but not as much as was recently reported by the U.S. Ambassador. U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul told a Moscow business newspaper that the year-old ban had cost America’s pork and beef industries $4-5 billion.

The ban… Continue Reading A new U.S. Department of Agriculture certification program for livestock producers may permit them to market their products with a special “Never Fed Beta Agonists” label. The sale of Smithfield Foods, the United States’ largest pork producer, to Shuanghui International, China’s largest meat company, raises new questions about the future of ractopamine, a controversial growth-promoting drug that is widely used in U.S. pork production and has long been the subject of trade disputes. Animal rights and food safety groups are petitioning the U.S. The Safety of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) » en español For more than 100 years, plastic products have revolutionized the way we live. Polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, is a particularly notable example. Because it provides an excellent barrier against oxygen and carbon dioxide, PET has become a material of choice for bottling beverages, such as mineral water and carbonated soft drinks.

It also is used for microwave food trays and food packaging films. Regulating Food-Contact Materials The U.S. The FDA regulates materials intended to come into contact with a food or beverage, including plastic packaging, as “indirect” food additives.1 According to FDA, indirect food additives “are substances that may come into contact with food as part of packaging or processing equipment, but are not intended to be added directly to food.”2 Regulations covering plastic packaging generally set limits for using a material based on available safety tests and a manufacturer’s intended use of the plastic packaging. Safely Using PET Packaging. FAQs: The Safety of Food Containers Made with Polycarbonate Plastic. » en español Polycarbonate plastic has been studied and tested for nearly 50 years, and its use in products that come in contact with food is regulated by the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as governmental bodies worldwide. A raw material used in polycarbonate plastics, bisphenol A (BPA), has been the subject of news reports questioning its safety. Extensive safety data on BPA show that polycarbonate plastic can be used safely in consumer products. The use of polycarbonate plastic in food-contact applications continues to be recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Food Safety Authority, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and other regulatory authorities worldwide. What is polycarbonate plastic and what types of products are made from polycarbonate? » back to top What does bisphenol A have to do with polycarbonate and some other types of food containers?

Resources and Links. The Safety of Beverages in Plastic Bottles. BEVERAGES | April/May 2009 By Jill Culora With bisphenol A (BPA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) consistently in the mass media with regard to beverage packaging, beverage processors must manage the vast amount of misinformation that abounds and maintain strict standards of beverage safety. While cognizant of consumer concerns, beverage manufacturers must insist on transparency and continue to reassure consumers about product safety. Below are common questions that beverage and food manufacturers must answer to reassure customers of the safety of their products. So how much of what we read about the safety of plastic bottled water containers is factual or just a plain modern-day urban myth? “What a lot of people don’t realize is that the U.S. A large percentage of bottled water is packaged in plastic containers, which includes those made from PET, polycarbonate and high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

How does one verify safe packaging? What is FDA’s stance on BPA? KSR2 Mutations Are Associated with Obesity, Insulin Resistance, and Impaired Cellular Fuel Oxidation. HB2 Bromine Precursor – A New Antimicrobial Intervention - Birko Food Processing Plant Cleaning Chemicals, Sanitation Chemicals and Delivery Equipment. A Diet that Fits Your Genes. Avian Flu - FAO's Animal Production and Health Division - home. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Hunger Portal. Coalition of Immokalee Workers. $2.4M fund to develop products from bio-based feedstocks | MSU Research. La Coca-colisation nuit gravement à la santé. Famines au XXIe siècle. Tell Congress to Stop the Corporate Farm Bill Boondoggle! | Food Democracy Now. When it comes to food, technology won’t save us. Modern wheat a "perfect, chronic poison," doctor says.

Hormonal effects of soy in premenopausal women and men. [J Nutr. 2002. IUF.SIB.Nutrigenomics. World of Food Science: Volume 14 - Education | The World of Food Science. Tests Found High Benzene Contamination of Diet Soda - 79 Percent of Samples Above Drinking Water Limit. Why a Stick of Chewing Gum is More Harmful To Your Health Than Anything You Eat. Everything Added to Food in the United States (EAFUS) Miami couple forced to rip out 17-year-old veggie garden in their front yard. E-numbers. Codex Alimentarius Food Additives. The Sad State Of School Lunch In The U.S. (PHOTOS) Causes of Foodborne Illness: Bad Bug Book > CFSAN - Bad Bug Book - pH Values of Various Foods. Check your freezer: 22,737 lbs of beef recalled. Persistence of Salmonella and E. coli on th... [J Environ Health. 2013. E coli test kit. The big 9 foodborne illnesses: botulism, campylobacter, E. coli, listeria, BSE, norovirus, salmonella, staph, and trichinosis. The Shelf of Life of Foods [Infographic]

The Shelf Life of Food. The 9 nastiest things in your supermarket. Steak made from human poop passes taste test. Human Tissue Found in Meats - But Eating It Is "No Threat" 8 creepy mystery ingredients in fast food. McDonald’s Invests $6.5 Million in Sustainable Guatemala Coffee. Retail Food Protection > Growing Sprouts in Retail Food Establishment - CFP Issues 02-III-01 and 04-III-012. GMO's, Good for Whom? Seeds at Risk in AgroBusiness. Invisible Threats. We Are What We Eat. Health References.