Jeffrey Smith has written the book on genetically modified foods (GMOs). Now he’s on a crusade to rid the U.S. of unhealthy food hybrids that not even animals choose to eat.
He tells the story of a farmer who was growing corn for his cows. The farmer grew non-GMO corn next to corn that had been modified by Monsanto, a large agriculture company. First, he grew the corn independently and then when it was ready for the big cow taste test he separated the corn and gave the cows a choice of which feed they wanted.
He says that without fail the cows chose the regular old non-GMO variety, AKA corn. He says the cows would approach the modified corn and sniff it before walking out of their way to reach the non-GMO corn trough.
Smith believes that if only humans had the sense of cows, we wouldn’t have any genetically modified ingredients in the food supply. He says, “It turns out there’s only nine food crops that are genetically engineered but they’re pretty widespread because soy and corn in particular are practically omnipresent in processed foods.”
Other countries have banned GMOs. Zambia, Venezuela India and all of Europe are GMO-free. But in the U.S. up to 70 percent of processed foods contain one or more genetically modified food ingredients.
What is a GMO?
A genetically modified organism is an organism that has been genetically altered using engineering techniques. In foods, the most common technique is called recombinant DNA technology, where molecules from different plant species are combined into a single hybrid with a new set of genes.
Some GMOs are transgenic, meaning that they have intact DNA segments or functional genes from another organism inserted into them.
Food expert Elisa Zied is the author of Nutrition at Your Fingertips. She says, “If a food is genetically modified it means that its genes are altered. DNA from one species is inserted into DNA of another species to create a unique genetic combination that doesn’t occur in nature.”
There are only a handful of crops that have been genetically modified. They include corn, canola, cotton, and soy. However, those are the plants whose derivatives are found in just about all processed foods.
In addition, recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) is commonly injected or fed to cows which then genetically alters the milk they produce. That hormone is often blamed in part for human obesity. After all, the hormone stimulates milk production in cows. Imagine what it does in people.
Food Fight
The big fight over GMO foods was fueled by a single Supreme Court ruling in 1980, which allowed companies to patent lifeforms for commercialization.
California company Calgene began selling the the first genetically modified food in 1994. It was the flavrSavr tomato, which was more resistant to rotting than its unaltered version. No special labeling was required and the FDA took a wait and see approach to new gene-modified foods.
Then came insect-resistant cotton and soybeans that could tolerate a potent chemical herbicide, both in 1996. Then thousands of patent applications poured forth starting a GMO frenzy.
According to the Grocery Manufacturers of America in the U.S. by 2009, genetically modified varieties dominated 89 percent of the planted area of soybeans, 83 percent of cotton, and 61 percent of corn.
Dr. Mae-Wan Ho is a geneticist and biophysicist who runs the Institute for Science in Society. She says, “Genetic engineering is inherently dangerous, because it greatly expands the scope for horizontal gene transfer and recombination, precisely the processes that create new viruses and bacteria that cause disease epidemics, and trigger cancer in cells.”
But well-meaning scientists invented genetically modified food crops as a means to common crop problems. GMO plants are resistant to disease and they can tolerate herbicides. They can also become more nutritious when vitamins are added.
However, most anti-GMO activists say the danger far outweighs the benefits and that a worldwide ban on GMO foods must be levied before it’s too late.
The U.K. Greenpeace website calls GMOs an utter disaster. It says, “The science of taking genes from one species and inserting them into another was supposed to be a giant leap forward, but instead they pose a serious threat to biodiversity and our own health.”
The debate rages on and for now GMO is making its way into our grocery stores and our stomachs.
Jeffrey Smith, anti-GMO activist and author of Seeds of Deception says, “I would say 70 to 80 percent of the food sold in the supermarket has some derivative of genetically modified food crops. In addition you have alfalfa, which is used as hay for animals, a little bit of zucchini, crooked neck squash and Hawaiian papaya. There’s also a genetically engineered drug for cows that increases milk supply, but also creates a hormone in the milk that many doctors and scientists think is quite unhealthy.”
No Laws Against GMO in the U.S.
Some consumer advocates estimate as many as 30,000 different products on grocery store shelves are contain genetically modified ingredients. That’s largely because many processed foods contain soy. And, half of North America’s soy crop is now genetically engineered.
Now, 93 percent of soy, canola oil and cottonseed, 86 percent of corn and 95 percent of sugar beets are genetically modified and they are base ingredients in most of the foods we eat and find in grocery stores.
Smith says just nine food crops have been approved for genetic modification but many others have been affected in the process.
Honey - Honey can be produced from GM crops. Some Canadian honey comes from bees collecting nectar from GM canola plants. This has shut down exports of Canadian honey to Europe.
Cotton - Resistant to certain pesticides – considered a food because the oil can be consumed. The introduction of genetically engineered cotton plants has had an unexpected effect on Chinese agriculture. The so-called Bt cotton plants that produce a chemical that kills the cotton bollworm have not only reduced the incidence of the pest in cotton fields, but also in neighboring fields of corn, soybeans, and other crops.
Rice - Genetically modified to contain high amounts of Vitamin A. And rice containing human genes is being grown in the U.S. but destined to treat infant diarrhea in the developing world.
Soybean - Genetically modified to be resistant to herbicides – Soy foods including, soy beverages, tofu, soy oil, soy flour, lecithin. Other products may include breads, pastries, snack foods, baked products, fried products, edible oil products and special purpose foods.
Tomatoes - Made for a longer shelf life and to prevent a substance that causes tomatoes to rot and degrade.
Corn - Resistant to certain pesticides – Corn oil, flour, sugar or syrup. May include snack foods, baked goods, fried foods, edible oil products, confectionery, special purpose foods, and soft drinks.
Sweet corn – genetically modified to produce its own insecticide. Officials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have said that thousands of tonnes of genetically engineered sweetcorn have made their way into the human food supply chain, even though the GMO crop was approved only for use in animal feed. Monsanto says that about half of the U.S. sweetcorn acreage has been planted with genetically modified seeds.
Canola - Canola oil. May include edible oil products, fried foods, and baked products, snack foods.
Potatoes - (Atlantic, Russett Burbank, Russet Norkatah, and Shepody) – May include snack foods, processed potato products and other processed foods containing potatoes.
Flax - More and more food products contain flax oil and seed because of their excellent nutritional properties. No genetically modified flax is currently grown. An herbicide-resistant GM flax was introduced in 2001, but was soon taken off the market because European importers refused to buy it.
Papaya - The first virus resistant papayas were commercially grown in Hawaii in 1999. Transgenic papayas now cover about one thousand hectares, or three quarters of the total Hawaiian papaya crop. Monsanto, donated technology to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, for developing a papaya resistant to the ringspot virus in India.
Squash - (yellow crookneck) – Some zucchini and yellow crookneck squash are also GM but they are not popular with farmers.
Cotton seed oil – Cottonseed oil and linters. Products may include blended vegetable oils, fried foods, baked foods, snack foods, edible oil products, and smallgoods casings.
Meat - Meat and dairy products usually come from animals that have eaten GM feed.
Sugarbeets - May include any processed foods containing sugar.
Dairy Products – About 22 percent of cows in the U.S. are injected with recombinant (genetically modified) bovine growth hormone (rbGH).
Vitamins - Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is often made from corn, vitamin E is usually made from soy. Vitamins A, B2, B6, and B12 may be derived from GMOs as well as vitamin D and vitamin K may have “carriers” derived from GM corn sources, such as starch, glucose, and maltodextrin.
How can the public make informed decisions about genetically modified (GM) foods when there is so little information about its safety? The short answer is labeling. But efforts thus far to pressure the FDA have fallen short.
According to the FDA and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are over 50 new plant varieties that have completed all of the federal requirements for commercialization and are waiting to go into production.
Just Say “No” to GMO Rap, by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Seven billion is a big number. It looks like this: 7,000,000,000. According to National Geographic magazine If you started counting out loud to 7 billion, it would take you 200 years. And, If you took 7 billion steps it would take you around the globe 133 times.
By the end of October, that’s how many people will inhabit Earth. This symbolic population milestone comes with a list of caveats and some opportunities as well. The lucky 7 billionth planetary citizen will likely be born in India or China, the leaders in global population.
We add 80 million people per year as water tables are falling, soil is eroding, glaciers are melting, and fish stocks are vanishing.
China is number one with 1.34 billion, followed closely by India with over 1.2 billion while the U.S. is a distant third with 312 million.
However, demographers at the United Nations Population Fund estimate that we are adding 219,000 people to the planet per day, which puts on target to reach 8 billion by 2025 and 10 billion people by 2083.
With all those people and a finite supply of space and resources, there are some challenges that lie ahead. Namely, poverty, access to food and water and a hope for a clean environment.
In Sub-Saharan Africa 900 million people suffer under the double burden of the world’s highest birthrates and the world’s deepest poverty. In 40 years that region will house almost 2 billion people, accounting for almost half of the projected growth, according to the New York-based Population Council.
Rural families flock to cities. Now 21 cities have populations larger than ten million. Over 335 cities have more than one million. And only 9 of those cities are in the U.S.
John Bongaarts, a spokesman for the research organization tells the Associated Press, “Most of that growth will be in Africa’s cities, and in those cities it will almost all be in slums where living conditions are horrible.”
The International Water Management Institute predicts that by 2025 1.8 billion people will live in places from severe water scarcity.
Many African nations are realizing that smaller families are more favorable for food production and access to water.
Lagos, Nigeria is about to overtake Cairo, Egypt as Africa’s biggest city. There, the former Nigerian health minister says reaching the 7 billion global population number should be a wake up call. He supports formal education for girls, getting teenage girls to stay in school and for women to control the number of children they have.
Babatunde Osotimehin says, “It’s an opportunity to bring the issues of population, women’s rights and family planning back to center stage.” He says there are over 215 million women worldwide who need family planning but don’t have access. He adds, “If we can change that, and these women can take charge of their lives, we’ll have a better world.”
But around the world, the challenges of a growing population are different. In Europe population numbers are barely growing and that’s only because of immigration, which in itself is highly controversial. The death rates in developed countries are outpacing birthrates. But shifting populations from around the world are offsetting those losses and creating steady population growth.
In India, there is a population imbalance. More than half of India’s population is under 35. This “youth dividend” could either be a boon to the Indian economy or it could zap their resources and slow the nation’s population growth, which by 2025 could be 1.6 billion people, making it the most populous country.
A population demographer in New Delhi says, “If the young population remains uneducated, unskilled and unemployable, then that dividend would be wasted.”
India also has a growing gender gap, where boys are outpacing girls in the latest census data. Indian families are showing a preference for sons and because of a surge in sex selection tests, many female fetuses are being aborted.
In China, after decades of forced family planning where urban families are allowed on child and rural families two children, the population growth has slowed rapidly. Perhaps too rapidly. Soon, China will have a shortage of young people to take care of a massive elderly population.
Like India, China has a gender gap. The United Nations says there are 43 million missing Chinese girls because parents restricted to one child opted to abort female fetuses.
In the western world France and the U.S. have the steadiest growth rates, both bolstered by immigration. Italy and Spain are both facing people shortages to help with a rapidly aging population. For the last consecutive four years more people have died in Italy than have been born.
But Lagos, Nigeria is clipping along at a six percent annual population growth. With 15 million and growing in the capital city, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with over 160 million. In Nigeria, 60 percent of the population is under 30 and needs education, training and access to healthcare.
Ndyanabangi Bannet, the U.N. Populations Fund’s representative in Nigeria says, “It is a plus if it is taken advantage of but if it is not harnessed, it can be a challenge, because imagine what hordes of unemployed young people can do.”
A recent article in the journal Nature suggests that with drastic changes in agriculture we can accommodate a bigger population. University of Minnesota ecologist Jonathan Foley says there are five key changes we need to make to boost food output and accommodate a bigger global population.
1. Stop farming in places like tropical rainforests, which have high ecological value and low food output
2. Improve crop yields in regions of Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe where farmland isn’t meeting its potential
3. Change farming practices to better manage water, nutrients, and chemicals
4. Shift diets away from meat
5. Stop wasting food (up to one-third of all food grown is wasted either in production, transport, or after purchase)
But with 696,000,0000 million able bodies under the age of 30 in India and Nigeria alone, we have the opportunity to change the world for the better before the next 3 billion arrive.
]]>Pee pressure, beer bottle-humping beetles and a wasabi-flavored fire alarm were among the top prizes awarded at Harvard University’s 21st Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, a more laid back version of the Nobel Prize ceremony. Nobel Prize laureates present the Ig Nobels to scientists and philosophers who have made legitimate contributions toward the sillier side of science.
Top honors in literature went to a researcher who 15 years ago wrote a paper about procrastination. Waiting a ridiculous amount of time before honoring the man is indicative of the Ig Nobel prizes. His theory holds that even the best procrastinator can successfully execute a complex task if he believes that he is working on it to avoid an even greater task.
Stanford University philosophy professor John Perry says, “To be a high achiever, always work on something important, using it as a way to avoid doing something that’s even more important.”
A Japanese team decided that during an emergency people would much rather be awoken or alerted using a fire alarm that produces the horseradishy smell of wasabi rather than a blaring sound. They won the Ig Nobel Chemistry prize for determining the correct and patent-pending density for airborne wasabi, a feat fit for a sushi restaurateur.
A group from the beer-swilling nations of Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. stumbled upon a species of beetle that is convinced it can mate with beer bottles. And not just a particular brand either.
Male Jewel Beetle Mates with Stubbies
Another Ig Nobel prize went to an international team from Europe, the U.S. and Australia who tested the idea that people with an overwhelming need to urinate make decisions differently. During their full-blattered research they discovered that those in greatest need to relieve themselves actually exhibited the same level of clarity as a drunk person. One of the papers is titled “Inhibitory Spillover.” (PDF) Just don’t hold it and drive.
Finally, the Math prize went to a group of people predicting the Apocolypse, including Dorothy Martin of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1954), Pat Robertson of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1982), Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1990), Lee Jang Rim of KOREA (who predicted the world would end in 1992), Credonia Mwerinde of UGANDA (who predicted the world would end in 1999), and Harold Camping of the USA (who predicted the world would end on September 6, 1994 and later predicted that the world will end again on October 21, 2011). They won the prize “for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations.”
The Nobel laureates who physically handed the Ig Nobel Prizes to the new winners:
Dudley Herschbach (chemistry, 1986)
Rich Roberts (physiology or medicine, 1993)
Roy Glauber (physics, 2005)
Eric Maskin (economics, 2007)
Peter Diamond (economics, 2010)
Louis Ignarro, (physiology or medicine, 1998)
Cover Photo: Arturas Zuokas, the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania and winner of the Ig Nobel Peace Prize for demonstrating that the problem of illegally parked luxury cars can be solved by running them over with an armored tank.
]]>Gender stereotypes about math and science abound. Boys are known for performing better in math and science while girls tend to excel in history and language arts. Though the U.S. still leads the world in scientific discovery and vision, another stereotype is that the U.S. education system is failing students and allowing other countries to out compete citizens for global jobs.
The results of the six-month long Google Science Fair blew both of those stereotypes right out of the water. Three girls, all from the U.S. won the first annual science competition. They beat out 10,000 other students from 90 countries, demonstrating female and U.S. prominence in science.
But perhaps more notable than breaking stereotypes is the potential real science that these young women are doing. One has discovered a way to make ovarian cancer treatments more effective. Another wants to revise the Clean Air Act using her model, quantifying air pollution among asthmatics. And the third winning project could lead to a barbeque meat marinade that reduces carcinogens.
Shree Bose, Age 17
When not in the cancer lab, Bose enjoys a good cattle drive near her home of Fort Worth, Texas.
For her ground-breaking science project, she won $50,000 from Google as well as a trip to the Galapagos Islands on the National Geographic Discovery research ship. She will also have an opportunity to have a once in a lifetime internship experience at CERN, the nuclear physics lab in Switzerland.
Alice Bell, one of the judges for the Google Science Fair and a writer for the UK paper The Guardian says that the teens she met through the judging process are not the public. She says, “It is perhaps best to think of schoolchildren as holding a liminal position with respect to science and the rest of society. They are not quite inside the scientific community or squarely outside it either. They are both science and ‘the public’, and they are neither of these things, yet. Their lives could go in a range of directions.”
One thing is for sure, after winning this new scientific accolade, none of these girls lives will ever be the same.
Naomi Shaw, Age 16
In her project she quotes a common saying among environmentalists, “The genetic make-up is like loading a gun. The environmental pollutants represent the trigger!”
Shah noticed that doctors are quick to prescribe steroids and other inhalers, instead of addressing the quality of the air asthma sufferers are breathing. She learned that’s because nobody had figured out how much air pollution affects lung function. So she did.
Online environmental magazine Grist calls Shah awesome, not because she is a budding scientist but because she “let’s her green flag fly.” Shah describes herself as an environmentalist as well as an objective scientist in training.
She says, “Air quality doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves, and should be one of the top sustainability goals for the coming future.”
Shah took first place at the Intel Science Fair earlier this year. Since then she has sent President Obama and Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Lisa Jackson a letter asking for her mathematical model to be used to revise the Clean Air Act.
Lauren Hodge, Age 14
She found that lemon juice and brown sugar cut the level of carcinogens sharply, while soy sauce increased them.
Shah and Hodge each received $25000 scholarships and internships at Google and LEGO.
Girl power ruled the day at the first Google Science Fair.
Bose is proud of that fact. She told the New York Times, “Personally I think that’s amazing, because throughout my entire life, I’ve heard science is a field where men go into.” She added, “It just starts to show you that women are stepping up in science, and I’m excited that I was able to represent maybe just a little bit of that.”
Google science fair judge Vint Cerf was secretly pleased by the female sweep in all three age groups. Of the 15 finalists, there were 9 boys and 6 girls.
Though the competition was completely gender neutral, he says, “I was secretly very pleased to see that happen. This is just a reminder that women are fully capable of doing same or better quality work than men can.”
]]>Update:
Preliminary tests prove negative for E. coli in bean sprouts from an organic farm in the Uelzen district of the German state of Lower Saxony. 23 out of 40 sprout samples from the farm came back negative for the bacteria. 17 samples are undergoing further testing which won’t be available for 7-10 days.
Hamburg, Germany is the epicenter for what is now the deadliest E. Coli outbreak in modern history. 21 people have died and 2,200 people have fallen ill, including over 600 with a rare disease that causes kidney failure and other dangerous symptoms.
While German health officials haven’t ruled out tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce entirely, they are confident that the bacterial outbreak originated in 17 different kinds of bean sprouts on an organic farm. So they took the popular salad item off the menu across the country until further notice.
Bean sprouts are the perfect incubator for E. coli and they have been linked to previous outbreaks, including one in Japan in 1996. According to the Lower Saxony Agriculture Ministry Gert Lindemann, the farm grows 18 types of sprouts and cultivates them in liquor barrels at a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Then the sprouts are watered with steam.
“Those are also optimal conditions for the germ of all germs.” — Gert Lindemann, Lower Saxony Agriculture Minister
U.S. health officials periodically warn people against eating bean and alfalfa sprouts since both are known to carry E. coli.
This strain is new and scientists say it combines the genes of two other strains of E. coli to create a deadly bacteria.
]]>As of Wednesday afternoon officials said 17 people had died in Germany and one in Sweden. A recent E. coli outbreak across Europe is believed to have started in northern Germany but it appears to be causing people to fall ill all around the world, including two cases in the U.S.
The unusually virulent strain of the bacteria commonly found in animal stomachs, including our own, has contaminated fresh vegetables and forced many markets to stop selling cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce. At first, Germany pointed a finger at cucumbers imported from Spain but later withdrew the accusation.
Officials are worried that they may never know the cause of the food-borne illness, which has sickened over 2,000 people in under a week.
While e. coli bacterial outbreaks occur periodically from poorly handled produce, this outbreak has health officials and scientists more concerned. For one it is striking healthy adults over age 20 and is causing kidney failure, stroke and some patients to lapse into comas. That makes this much more serious than typical outbreaks which cause gastrointestinal distress for most and are more tend to be more serious for the elderly and children.
Scientists immediately ran a gene sequence of the new bacteria and found it is a new strain of E. coli, which had mutated from two other strains to combine their poisonous effects and become much more deadly.
Hilde Kruse, a food safety expert at the World Health Organization says, “This is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before.” And she adds, “Various characteristics that make it more virulent and toxin-producing.”
According to health experts this outbreak is already the third largest, following a 1996 Japanese outbreak and a 2000 Canadian outbreak. And it may be the deadliest.
The new European E. coli strain shows the presence of genes typically found in two different types of E. coli: enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC).
Because many people likely ate contaminated vegetables but didn’t have strong reactions, doctors believe the outbreak may be much larger. Those with mild responses to the bacteria probably wouldn’t seek medical attention. They may stay home from work and recover quickly, thinking they had the flu.
The WHO put information about haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) on its website after most people in Germany developed those two diseases from exposure to the bacteria.
A WHO statement says that as of May 31, nine of the patients in Germany had died of HUS and six of EHEC. It goes on to say, “There are many hospitalized patients, several of them requiring intensive care, including dialysis.”
NBC News reported that according to doctors, two-thirds of patients in Hamburg, Germany, were suffering from severe neurological problems such as language difficulties and seizures.
]]>Two feisty 15 year olds are pushing Girl Scouts of the USA to remove palm oil from their popular cookies. Rhiannon Tomitshen and Madison Vorva learned that palm oil plantations are used to grow a key ingredient in all girl scout cookies and that ingredient requires farmers to destroy rainforests to make room for the palm plantations.
The two girls take the Girl Scout oath of protecting the environment and limiting resources seriously. Now they want the cookie maker Kellogg’s to follow the same rules and use a blend of different oils that don’t destroy the environment but still taste good and are healthy.
After being inspired by Dr. Jane Goodall work with chimpanzees the girls wanted to raise awareness about orangutans which are often displaced when rainforests are cut down to make room for palm oil plantations in Indonesia. Pygmy elephants and Sumatran tigers are also under threat by the expansion of palm oil plantations.
The rapid growth of the use of palm oil by food manufacturers is in large part due to the fact that the oil contains no trans fats. As more and more companies and food producers remove trans fats from their ingredient list palm oil is becoming a staple. But it does so at the cost of the environment.
After going public with their campaign to remove palm oil from Girl Scout cookies Kellogg’s pledged to buy green palm certificates to invest in the transition to sustainable palm farming. While Tomitshen sees this as a great step in the right direction she won’t be satisfied until the company removes palm oil from Girl Scout cookies and the rest of their products.
She says, “Kellogg’s has the moral authority to remove palm oil from the cookies and do the truly right thing.”
Palm oil is a common ingredient in cookies, candy and ice cream that we all eat every day. But as you take a bit of that Kit Kat bar these two girls would like you to take a moment to think about the orangutans and the rainforest.
]]>“Girl Scouts shouldn’t have to think about rainforest destruction and orangutan extinction or having to struggle with not being able to go to camp because they can’t raise the funds.” — Madison Vorva, Girl Scout and environmental activist
Cooked tomatoes and tomato products could possibly be more effective than medication in the fight against high cholesterol and blood pressure.
Doctors used to say, “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning.” That was the cure all for patients. Now the pharmaceutical companies have a pill for every occasion and ailment.
Researchers in Australia have found that two ounces of tomato paste or tomato juice contains 15 grams of the natural chemical lycopene. If people with high cholesterol or high blood pressure consume 50 grams of lycopene it could help lower bad cholesterol levels and blood pressure without the dangerous side effects of cholesterol medications.
Dr. Karin Ried from the University of Adelaide and one of the authors of the paper that appeared in the journal Mauritas recommends tomato paste. She says that half a liter of tomato juice or 50 grams of tomato paste daily would provide protection against heart disease.
Researchers conducted a meta analysis, meaning they analyzed existing studies, looking at the effects of lycopene on cholesterol and high blood pressure. The scientists analyzed 14 international studies conducted over 55 years.
They found that in small doses, lycopene has little or no effect on reducing cholesterol or blood pressure. But once the amount of lycopene is increased to above 25 grams per day, the authors started to see slight reductions in both cholesterol and blood pressure. They started to see increased benefit with higher amounts of lycopene.
Not everyone is viewing the tomato as the new wonder drug. the website Todays Vital Health says there have been no direct studies comparing the effectiveness of statins and tomato products in fighting high cholesterol or blood pressure.
Dr. Ried says that lycopene in excess of 25 grams a day can reduce cholesterol and blood pressure by ten percent, eliminating the need for many to take medication, like statins.
“That’s comparable to the effect of low doses of medication commonly prescribed but without side-effects, which can include muscle pain and weakness and nerve damage.” — Dr. Karen Ried, University of Adelaide, Australia
So just consume 6-8 ounces of tomato products a day and you’ll keep the need for statins away.
]]>Chinese farmers are scratching their heads after fields of watermelons turned into exploding land mines. The official cause remains unknown but some believe that the farmers sprayed a rapid growth chemical on the fruit too late in the season and after an extremely wet period. The combination of factors could lead to exploding fruit, as the cells expand so rapidly the fruit bursts out of its rind.
State-run Chinese TV reports that acres of watermelons have been destroyed by the mysterious fruit explosions.
In China the chemical forcholorfenuron is commonly used to give fruits a burst of growth. The chemical is only approved for use on kiwis and grapes in the United States. But using the chemical incorrectly can cause problems — like exploding watermelons.
In 2004 the Environmental Protection Agency added forcholorfenuron to a list of newly created pesticides. The agency classified the growth accelerator as a phenyl urea compound but found that it is unlikely carcinogenic in humans. Due to the small amounts required to accelerate fruit growth, the agency decided to approve the chemical.
Though it did include a warning.
“The Agency‘s major concern is forchlorfenuron‘s persistence and its possible chronic effects to terrestrial organisms. It is highly persistent in the environment with laboratory half-lives ranging from 226-578 days in terrestrial environments and stable in aquatic environments. While forchlorfenuron rapidly photodegrades in sensitized water, the Agency does not believe that this route of dissipation is significant in the environment. Suspended sediment and shading prevent photodegradation.”
This plant growth regulator should be used two to three weeks after bloom. If applied properly (in low amounts) Forchlorfenuron results in an increase in fruit size, but does not affect the number of fruit or the keeping quality of the fruit.
Farmer error is likely behind the Chinese exploding watermelons. Although some Chinese officials say that the seeds, which were imported from Japan, might be the culprit. In ten fields, farmers who claimed not to use forchlorfenuron also experienced combustible fruit.
]]>Mary Ann Hitt, Beyond Coal Campaign Director with the Sierra Club with information on toxic mercury in fish. Emission from coal-fired power plants is the leading cause of mercury pollution and subsequent bio-accumulation in seafood. The heavy metals spew into the air and then settle in the ocean where they collect in the fatty tissues of our favorite fish.
The EPA warns pregnant women or women looking to become pregnant about the dangers of mercury on unborn children. The agency says stay away from big, predator fish like Swordfish, Orange Ruffie and even Ahi tuna. They tend to have the highest mercury concentrations because they feed on smaller fish that are also exposed to mercury.
But it’s not just women. In men, mercury can increase the risk of heart disease.
Trout, Salmon and other fish, including Tilapia contain far less mercury and won’t pose as much risk to seafood lovers.
The Sierra Club has more information about mercury pollution and finding safe fish to eat.
]]>A new report estimates that half the meat and poultry sold in the supermarket may be tainted with the staph germ.
A study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases recently found a startling amount of staphylococcus bacteria in grocery store meat. The study included 136 samples from 80 different brands of turkey, pork, chicken and beef from five cities across the country.
Researchers discovered that 47 percent of all samples contained the staph aureus bacteria, which can make people sick if exposed to it. They also found that of all the samples with staph contamination 96 percent were resistant to one common antibiotic and 52 percent were resistant to three or more antibiotics.
Scientists believe the harmful bacteria in the meat is appearing because animals are being exposed to antibiotic-resistant staph on farms. The bacteria does not appear to be from poor food-handling procedures during manufacturing.
But this study does raise concerns about the use of antibiotics in agriculture. Routinely food farmers give their animals antibiotics to fuel growth rather than to fight disease. Now, it appears decades of feeding drugs to animals is creating a microbial chain reaction that will lead to longer, more intensive human illness when these superbugs become drug-resistant.
Currently, the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System is monitoring four pesky bacteria. NARMS is a collaboration of the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The group is watching Enterococcus, Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli. It doesn’t currently track staph bacteria or any of its anti-biotic cousins like MRSA.
“Salmonella and Campylobacter, the most common sources of food borne illnesses in the United States, account for well over a million resistant infections in this country each year.” — Margaret Mellon, Union of Concerned Scientists, from her Congressional Testimony, July 2009(PDF).
Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been ravaging patients in hospitals and become a community health problem. Now that this familiar superbug has been found on meat, research needs to be conducted to see if this is part of the reason for the rise of MRSA.
Since heat kills bacteria, cooking meat and cleaning cutting boards, knives or anything (including hands) that comes into contact with raw meat with hot, soapy water should help prevent the spread of staph. Public health officials are watching these tough bacteria closely.
The World Health Organization, Union of Concerned Scientists and American Medical Association have called for significant restrictions in the use of antibiotics in animals for non-therapeutic purposes. The FDA has even drafted guidelines(PDF) advising food farmers to stop giving animals antibiotics that are used as human medicines but until they become regulations they are just suggestions.
In the meantime, drug-resistant bacteria are moving into our food supply.
“Antibiotic-resistant microorganisms generated in the guts of pigs in the Iowa countryside don’t stay on the farm. They can be transmitted to humans in at least three ways: carried on meat or poultry; colonizing farm workers who transmit them into the community; or moving through water and soil, which can lead to the contamination of fresh produce.” –Margaret Mellon, Director of the Food and Environment Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
Veterinarians say that when antibiotics used in raising food animals such as pigs, cows and chickens are the same as those used in doctors’ offices, those bacteria become impervious to those classes of human drugs.
]]>The consumer watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest wants to ban all artificial color from foods. At the very least the organization wants the Food and Drug Administration to put warning labels on foods containing some dyes, like Yellow 5 and Red 40, which have been linked to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children already prone to it.
CSPI executive director Michael Jacobsen says, “Getting rid of food dyes is not going to solve the hyperactivity or attention deficit disorder problem. But it would reduce the problem.”
Advisors to the FDA met this week in a meeting to discuss the science behind artificial colors in food and whether they lead to hyperactivity in children. At the end of the two-day meeting, the FDA decided not to require labels on foods containing artificial colors.
FDA advisers examined how the problem was reduced when Great Britain banned several artificial colors. Most companies did. Strawberry bars purchased in the U.K. are made with paprika extract for color. In the U.S. the same product is made with Red 40.
The Grocery Manufacturers of America issued a statement saying there’s no clear link between artificial food colors and hyperactivity among children, and that “we are always producing the safest possible product for our consumers.”
Experts say the use of artificial colors in the U.S. has increased by half in the past 20 years, and a fresh look at their effect is overdue. Georgetown University’s Dr. Laura Anderko says, “The regulation hasn’t kept up with our consuming habits.”
Frito-Lay recently announced it will switch to using natural colors like beets and carrots in half of its snacks by the end of the year. The FDA advisers recommended further study of the link between artificial food coloring and ADHD but voted 8 to 6 against putting warning labels on food products.
The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of this panel of advisers but it often does.
]]>Scientists say the growing number of people on the Earth could lead to a food crisis by 2050 and reshape the planet. Now@9 viewers and Actor/Comedian Hal Sparks discuss the idea.
The conversation was sparked by this weekend’s American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Washington D.C. where top scientists gathered to discuss breakthroughs, discoveries and science policy.
Food shortages, rapid population growth and a more affluent developing world all spell resource shortages in the future. That will dramatically change the face of the planet. And scientists are starting to discuss how we can prepare now.
]]>From the front line of the food wars comes a new warning for those who regularly consume beverages and condiments that contain caramel coloring.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest is asking the FDA to ban all food products with an artificially dark color, including Coke, Pepsi and other cola drinks, Worcestershire sauce, whiskey and some dark beers.
Caramel coloring doesn’t add anything to the foods except…color. It’s not a preservative and it adds no nutritional value. The caramel coloring that concerns some scientists breaks down sugars using ammonia and in some cases cancer-causing chemicals get released during the reaction.
That has some scientists concerned. But others say that in order to get a cumulative effect of the tiny amounts of carcinogenic chemicals, you would need to drink 10,000 Coca-Colas a day for a lifetime.
Nevertheless the state of California is considering putting warning labels on Coke and other products containing caramel coloring. The beverage industry says there is no cancer-causing agents in any of its products.
Even if the risk is minimal, CSPI says take the color out and you remove the problem.
]]>Tony Ford may call himself a ‘technician,’ but in reality he’s more like a flimflam man: A purveyor of potions. A glorified vitamin salesman.
But he is one of thousands of independent sellers of L-Arginine, the latest miracle health cure, said to cure stroke, cancer, diabetes, reverse Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and lower cholesterol.
The FDA doesn’t regulate nutritional supplements and this hidden camera investigation shows the dubious medical science at the heart of this product’s claims.
KRQE’s Larry Barker reports.
]]>10 scientific facts you thought you knew…that most people don’t.
Is there gravity in space?
How long can a goldfish hold a memory?
How much of our brains do we really use?
Does lightning ever strike twice?
How long does it take to digest chewing gum?
Does a microwave cook food from the inside out or outside in?
Did humans and dinosaurs ever coexist?
It’s an opportunity so rare only 16 schools in the nation will participate, and one of those schools is from Jefferson County, Kentucky. As WLKY’s Monica Hardin reports, these students are taking their knowledge in science to a whole new level that’s out of this world.
Their experiment will fly aboard the last shuttle Endeavour mission, slated for April 2011. The students from Shawnee High School want to know whether the probiotic lactobacillus gg — a common good bacteria that grows in our gut — can live in microgravity, the conditions astronauts experience in outer space.
Here’s a list of the the other schools participating in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.
]]>With Thanksgiving less than a week away, if you plan on frying a turkey this year, someone wants your leftovers. Newport Biodiesel in Newport, Rhode Island collects french fry oil from fast food restaurants but this Thanksgiving the company wants your leftovers. If you live outside Rhode Island, contact your local biodiesel manufacturer to learn how to recycle your extra vegetable oil.
]]>21 papers produced from scientists in different fields released a report this week saying that technology may be one of the best fixes for a growing problem. Members of Britain’s Royal Society concluded that artificial meat — created in giant vats using vegetable protein — may be one of the best solutions to reducing future food shortages created by a growing global population and climate change.
The papers were released ahead of an international climate change meeting in Cancun, Mexico at the end of the year.
Other solutions to the future food crisis — feeding livestock nano-enhanced medicine to make them produce better meat, improving refrigeration in developing nations and just consuming less by reducing food waste.
]]>Seven Louisiana fishermen reported getting sick after exposure to the oil dispersant that is being used to thin the oil slick on the Gulf of Mexico.
Nalco, the company that makes Corexit, the dispersant used after the April 20 Horizon Deepwater oil spill, says it has faith in its product. It insists that the product is biodegradable and that when it breaks down into tiny droplets, microscopic organisms then eat the oil and dispersant, cleaning the ocean in the process.
“The use of COREXIT dispersants to break up the oil in the Gulf of Mexico has been widely acknowledged by government officials as a safe, effective and proven response. Its ingredients rapidly biodegrade, do not bio-accumulate and are commonly found in popular household products. And because the dispersant works by spreading oil particles evenly through the water column, it is extremely unlikely that individuals along the Gulf Coast would come into contact with it.” — Nalco Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Manian Ramesh
But after health concerns began emerging the EPA is trying to curb the use of Corexit. To date, BP has sprayed more than one million gallons of the dispersant to prevent a massive oil slick from reaching the shorelines of the gulf states.
]]>Cookbook author David Joachim shows how his book The Science Of Good Food can fix most any kitchen mess. And in this video you’ll learn how to turn a basic custard into a delicious orange flan.
Joachim says you can turn to the book when you are baking a cake and something goes wrong. He’ll show you how to use science to fix a food disaster. He and his co-authors offer 100 recipes and over 1,600 tips on using science to cook.
]]>Agricultural scientists in India say they have developed a variety of rice that requires no cooking and can be eaten simply after being soaked in water.
]]>For centuries, champagne makers considered pent-up carbon dioxide a hazard that could make their bottles explode. But the bubbles are so pleasing to the palette, it’s no wonder 322 million bottles of champagne were sold world-wide last year. WSJ’s Robert Lee Hotz reports.
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Did you fall into a turkey coma? Well, if you did don’t blame it on the much-maligned tryptophan. It was more likely something else, like all the starch in stuffing or sugars in candied yams that made you need a nap.
New research is finding that carbohydrate-rich meals help tryptophan cross the blood-brain barrier more easily but turkey isn’t the only food containing that amino acid.
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Beer has been flavoring human culture for at least 9,000 years. During that time, the rich brew has transformed and evolved to satisfy the complex palates of the time.
Now, science is a driving force in making beer. And, understanding some of the chemistry can refine color, aroma and flavor.
More Info:
IBU Chart Graph
Dogfish Head Brewery owner Sam Calagione talks ancient beer.
Water, water everywhere but no two types are regulated the same way. It’s a mouthful but a new report suggests that consumers know less about expensive bottled water than they do about what comes out of the tap for free.
Now the Government Accounting Office is suggesting better labeling, to differentiate between bottled water which is regulated by the FDA and municipal tap water which is regulated by the EPA. Here is the GAO testimony (PDF), presented to Congress this week.
Americans drank 8.6 billion gallons of bottled water in 2008, twice that which was consumed ten years ago. Bottled water is a big business, worth about $16 billion a year. But few consumers ever know where the water comes from or if it is better for them than drinking tap water. One report found most people believe that bottled water is healthier.
]]>Indulge all of your senses at Chef Homaro Cantu’s Moto, where the international menu is boosted by what the trailblazing chef calls molecular gastronomy — a futuristic method of preparing food that incorporates science and artistry into the culinary experience.
Making icecream with liquid nitrogen.
Courtesy of Academia Barilla Culinary School.
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Cows are more like people than we thought. Or so says new international research stemming from a six-year analysis of the entire genetic code for cows.
Over 300 researchers from over 25 countries have been poring over segments of DNA trying to identify which building blocks do what.
The preliminary results–spread out over 20 journal articles–could help advance medicine, cattle breeding and even reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Listen here.
]]>Looking for a way to make extra money and help further medical research?
Try becoming a medical test subject and give yourself over to the warm embrace of science where you can make up to $50,000 a year.
Before starting, go here:
BioTrax.com
and here…
to see if you qualify.
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An internal analysis of high fructose corn syrup by an investigator at the Food and Drug Administration is trickling out, four years after the samples were taken.
And, that study, printed in the journal Environmental Health this week found mercury in some samples of corn syrup, a primary ingredient in most common processed food products from Pop Tarts to barbeque sauce.
A second study found low levels of mercury in many products, taken off the shelves at grocery stores.
The Corn Refiners Association disputes the claims in both studies.
So little is known about how mercury is metabolized in our bodies. Some believe low levels of mercury pass in and out of our bodies all the time and that nutrients in our diet helps process the metal. For those who are concerned about mercury in processed foods, eat more foods with zinc and selenium in them.
A full list of the products tested by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
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Staying young and living longer is something that we all strive to do. Now science is coming closer to identifying a genetic fountain of youth and discovering proteins that control aging.
Resveratrol is a super-charging protein in cells that increase their energy and reduce the impact of free radicals which cause aging.
Some scientists are estimating that people born after 1975 could start living to 125. A few even point to a future where we replace body parts that no longer function. And one lone futurist wants to become a robot.
Wine Therapy:
Making a toast to your health could have new meaning this holiday season. Researchers have identified a substance in red wine that may hlep prevent Alzheimer’s disease. ScienCentral’s Brad Kloza reports.
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Blue-green algae has been a health craze since the 1980s. The one-celled organism is staging a comeback with a new algae product that promotes the release of stem cells to repair damaged tissue.
And, it says it can help fix aches and pains and cure disease.
But the science doesn’t back up these claims. And, new research is showing that promoting stem cell mobility may help promote cancer tumor growth.
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Environmental toxins are all around. And, many consumer products contain these man made compounds that damage organs, mutate cells or disrupt one biological system or another. From bath toys to shower curtains, these chemicals are seeping into our lives.
Two Reports:
Body Burden: Pollution in Newborns
Volatile Vinyl: The New Shower Curtain’s Chemical Smell
Pesticides, fire retardants and phthalates are showing up in newborn babies and seem to be building up in the foods we eat and even in the ocean.
Here’s a list of resources to find out more about consumer risk for some products:
Science is facing some big questions, like how will we capture excess atmospheric carbon dioxide or how will we overcome antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections?
But, a one-celled organism that lives in the sea may have the answers to health and environmental issues living inside.
Cyanobacteria and bacteriophages are knocking down barriers in biology and could even help the environment down the road. But first, scientists need to figure out how these tiny sea creatures tick.
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There is a sweet little insect that is dong the world a big favor. The tiny midge is a gnat-like fly that is solely responsible for the world’s chocolate supply. Without this pollinator the cacao fruit would not exist.
Chocolate lovers everywhere owe this millimeter-long bug a debt of gratitude.
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Just about everyone loves ice cream. It’s especially good on a hot summer day or on warm apple pie. What could be better?
But, pesky ice crystals that tend to form on the inside of the container could put a damper on your sweet desire to eat the creamy treat.
Now science is coming to the rescue of ice cream lovers to develop a way to keep the ice cream ice free.
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Some of us must have sugar. It might come in the form of sweet soda or piles of cookies. We affectionately refer to those cravings as a sweet tooth or those having a taste for sugar.
Well, scientists are learning that a genetic mutation might be triggering those insatiable cravings.
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The current rice shortage being felt around the world doesn’t have just one source. It seems that many reasons are causing the food shortage. And, one is quite elemental.
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Soon the greasy goodness of fat might make low-fat foods taste a lot better without adding calories. Researchers have pioneered a new technique for wrapping fats so the body can’t digest them as easily. This may have applications for drug delivery systems as well.
]]>British scientists now have permission to create human-cow hybrid embryos to further stem cell research of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Protests began last fall leading up to the decision on January 17. Many are opposed to the crossing of the line between animals and people. Previously mouse-cow hybrid embryos proved that this process would probably work with human cells.
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The FDA says that cloned meat is just as safe as meat bred the old-fashioned way. It decided to allow cloned meat to enter the food supply in the midst of a heated debate about the meat’s safety. But cloned meat and milk won’t be on store shelves anytime soon. The organization has asked cloned meat manufacturers to wait until the market adjusts. The high cost of cloning might prolong the the wait even further.
]]>Nutrigenomics is a relatively new science that explores the relationship between genetic makeup and certain nutrients found in food that may assist in the prevention of specific diseases. It may help scientists better understand certain genetic disorders. For now, it’s helping arthritic pets climb stairs more easily and lead better lives.
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After years of inventing useful peanut-based foods, Mohomed Ahmedna has announced his latest creation–the allergen-free peanut.
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