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News archives

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Holes in America's Food Safety Net

The Gist:
 
Amid increasing reports of food-borne illness, the GAO is calling out the Food and Drug Administration for failing in its duty to ensure the safety of the nation's food, particularly its fresh fruits and vegetables. Thousands of people have been sickened; the produce indus... Continued...

Chairwoman Slaughter's Statement On Agriculture Subcommittee Hearing on Animal Health, Antibiotics
Washington, DC - Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY-28), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Rules, today released the following testimony regarding the House Committee on Agriculture's Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry's hearing on advances in animal health within the livestock in... Continued...

Monday, September 29, 2008

Safeguarding our food
The Food and Drug Administration frequently has been criticized for doing a shoddy job of protecting the American consumer, but improvements have been slow in coming, if at all. That’s why we’re not confident that yet another scathing investigation of the agency will accomplish anything beyond remin... Continued...

Shoppers Offered “Safe Plastic Tips”
Plastics and children's toys could be hazardous to your health. That warning comes from a statewide consumer group that promotes safe products. Healthy Legacy says new science on the chemical BPA links high concentrations to increased risk of heart complications, diabetes and liver damage. Spokeswom... Continued...

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Reporting on contaminants and health in Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel
Over the past year, the JS has been publishing a remarkable series of stories about contamination, health and politics. And they just keep coming! One of the nice revelations for me, as a scientist, monitoring mainstream media coverage of stories about contaminants and health is to discover that... Continued...

Editorial: More Limits For BPA
The federal Food and Drug Administration needs to rethink its position on the safety of bisphenol A, an estrogen-like compound used in polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins and one of the most widely used chemicals in the world. Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, has been around for 50 years. It's ... Continued...

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Review points to holes in CFIA food safety system
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency isn't sure how to conduct investigations after food has been recalled from the market, and there's no clear policy on when the agency needs to alert the public about tainted food. This indictment comes not from the agency's growing chorus of critics in the wake... Continued...

U.S. House switches to Naturally Iowa's eco-containers
Anyone concerned about all those plastic water bottles filling up the country's landfills might look to an Iowa dairy for a solution. Clarinda, Iowa-based Naturally Iowa has been making its own bottles out of polylactic acid, or PLA, which is produced from corn and is biodegradable. The operation ... Continued...

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Bisphenol A Linked to Heart Disease and Diabetes
WASHINGTON, DC, September 16, 2008 (ENS) - For the first time, scientists have linked higher concentrations of the chemical bisphenol A in human urine with diagnoses of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Bisphenol A is widely used in epoxy resins lining food and beverage containers and in hard ... Continued...

5 Ways to Keep Bisphenol A, or BPA, Out of Your Food
With yesterday's study linking bisphenol A—a chemical in hard plastics and the linings of food and beverage cans—to diabetes and heart disease, you may be wondering what you can do to minimize your exposure. The Environmental Working Group last year conducted an analysis of BPA in various canned foo... Continued...

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Instead of Eating to Diet, They’re Eating to Enjoy
AFTER decades of obsessing about fat, calories and carbs, many dieters have made the unorthodox decision to simply enjoy food again. That doesn’t mean they’re giving up on health or even weight loss. Instead, consumers and nutritionists say they are seeing a shift toward “positive eating” — shunn... Continued...

Monday, September 15, 2008

Table Matters: How Industrial Animal Farms Impact Health and the Environment
American industrial animal farms contribute to major environmental and human health problems, according to a recent report from the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. The two-year study outlines the negative impacts that the industrial farm animal production system has on public he... Continued...

What the Chemical Industry Doesn't Want You to Know about Everyday Products
It takes a lot of nerve to go up against the $3 trillion-a-year global chemical industry. Ask University of Missouri-Columbia scientists Frederick Vom Saal and Wade Welshons. They've been in the industry's crosshairs for more than a decade, since their experiments turned up the first hard evidenc... Continued...

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Study: Neurotoxin In Everyday Household Items
A Minneapolis mom recently learned that ordinary, household items are contaminating her family. "Everyday household things could be doing our kids harm and we don't even really understand what they can do yet," said mother Christi Williams. Williams thought she had provided her children with... Continued...

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Scientists are breeding genetically modified pigs for organs
LONDON — British and American scientists are breeding genetically modified pigs in the hope of providing organs for transplant to humans, the project leader wrote in a newspaper Sunday. Scientists in London and California have begun conducting the genetic experiments to find a solution to record-... Continued...