Frankenfood

U.S. criticizes ‘unnecessary’ EU rules on genetically modified crops

"The United States on Monday criticized 'unnecessary' European Union rules against genetically modified US crop imports as it prepares to enter free-trade talks with the EU. EU restrictions notably have resulted in delays in the approval of new GM traits 'despite positive assessments by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA),' the US Trade Representative’s office said in a report on reducing trade sanitary barriers. The USTR also criticized the EU for imposing 'commercially infeasible requirements' on GE content in food products under EU Traceability and Labeling regulations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. criticizes ‘unnecessary’ EU rules on genetically modified crops

Major supermarket chains promise not to sell genetically engineered salmon in the U.S.

"The US Food and Drug Administration is in the final stages of deciding whether to allow GM salmon onto the market. If approved, AquaBounty Technology’s salmon would be the first genetically engineered animal to enter the food supply. The GM salmon is the first in some 30 other species of transgendered fish under development, including tilapia. Researchers are also working to bring GM cows, chickens and pigs to market. However, those plans could be blocked by Wednesday’s commitment from national grocery chains, such as Trader Joe’s, Aldi and Whole Foods, as well as regional retailers, not to sell genetically engineered seafood." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMajor supermarket chains promise not to sell genetically engineered salmon in the U.S.

Frankenfish and Other Stupid Industrial Food Tricks

"Genetically engineered salmon is one step closer to your unsuspecting plate. First came the farm-raised fish lacking the health benefits of wild-caught fish, and now food culture is taking one more step toward lunacy by creating genetically modified animals in the form of Frankenfish. The FDA will likely approve this untested experiment for human beings for consumption as food, thanks to a biotech company called AquaBounty Technologies. The company created this so-called food product via a new gene construct that combines Chinook salmon growth with a regulator gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrankenfish and Other Stupid Industrial Food Tricks

Milk Machine Aims to Hook Kids on Chemical Sweeteners

"As a solution to sagging milk sales, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) are petitioning the FDA to 'amend the standard identity of milk' and other dairy products. Dairy special interests want to be able to add high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and other chemicals to milk while bypassing the requirement that the products be labeled 'artificially sweetened.' The attempt is to pass this off as a health benefit for children because the chemical sweeteners are not considered to be sugar." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilk Machine Aims to Hook Kids on Chemical Sweeteners

Fed’s Big Ag Policy is Anything But “Green”

"Why are high fructose corn syrup and soybean oil in everything? Answer: Corn and soybean subsidies from the period 1995 - 2011 totaled $108 billion. Corn and soy make up almost half of all U.S. farmland. Most of this is GM (genetically modified) foods, allowing the agricultural industry to serve its masters who are the beneficiaries of political-business alliances under the Big Biotech umbrella: Monsanto, Syngenta, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, and Tyson." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFed’s Big Ag Policy is Anything But “Green”

Bottled Water Nazis and Big Beverage

"Opposition to bottled water seem to be the trend nowadays, in order to prove one's devotion to the environment. Just recently, Concord, MA banned the sale of single-serving water bottles from vending machines, restaurants, and stores. True, bottled water sales are up, and it should be celebrated that the sugar-addicted masses are turning away from the poisons churned out by Big Beverage and they are instead going back to drinking life-sustaining, healthy water. Why is it that the bottled water haters aren't raging against the commercial beverages that line the shelves of every store and gas station and vending machine in America, in the same eco-unfriendly plastic bottles?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBottled Water Nazis and Big Beverage

Diet soda tied to heart attack, stroke risks

"Diet soda may benefit the waistline, but a new study suggests that people who drink it every day have a heightened risk of heart attack and stroke. The study, which followed almost 2,600 older adults for a decade, found that those who drank diet soda every day were 44 percent more likely than non-drinkers to suffer a heart attack or stroke. The findings, reported in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, don’t prove that the sugar-free drinks are actually to blame. The findings do build on a few recent studies that also found diet-soda drinkers are more likely to have certain cardiovascular risk factors, like high blood pressure or high blood sugar." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDiet soda tied to heart attack, stroke risks

Diet sodas linked to higher risk of Type-2 diabetes in women

"Artificially-sweetened sodas have been linked to a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes for women than sodas sweetened with ordinary sugar, according to French research unveiled on Thursday. 'Contrary to conventional thinking, the risk of diabetes is higher with ‘light’ beverages compared with ‘regular’ sweetened drinks,' the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) said. The evidence comes from a wide-scale, long-term study, it said in a press release. Sugar-sweetened sodas have previously been linked with an increased risk of diabetes, but less is known about their artificially-sweetened counterparts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDiet sodas linked to higher risk of Type-2 diabetes in women

Popular Artificial Sweetener Penetrating the Gulf Stream, UNC Wilmington Scientists Confirm [2011]

"While pouring the popular artificial sweeter sucralose into their morning coffees, University of North Carolina Wilmington Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry Research Laboratory (MACRL) researchers began to ponder, 'If only 10 percent of this is going to stay in our bodies, what happens to the other 90 percent?' This question led to the first scientific confirmation that sucralose is lingering in the Gulf Stream, the conveyor belt of water transport that circulates in the Atlantic Ocean from the coasts of North America to Europe, Africa and beyond." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPopular Artificial Sweetener Penetrating the Gulf Stream, UNC Wilmington Scientists Confirm [2011]

Furor Growing Against Obama Over ‘Monsanto Protection Act’

"The protests come on the heels of a massive petition campaign organized by the advocacy group Food Democracy Now, which gathered the signatures of more than 200,000 people who wanted Obama to veto HR 933 in order to stop Section 735 -- the so-called 'Monsanto Protection Act' -- from being codified into law. But Obama ignored it, instead choosing to sign a bill that effectively bars federal courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of GMO or GE crops and seeds, no matter what health consequences from the consumption of these products may come to light in the future." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFuror Growing Against Obama Over ‘Monsanto Protection Act’