Food Safety
Gov. Dept. Works With Major Corporation to Hide Animal Abuse
U.S. Government Supports CAFOS Over Small Family Farms
As reported by ABC News, Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy for Animals, stated:
“It is deeply troubling that a governmental agency that is entrusted with monitoring and overseeing agriculture and food production is so corrupt that it’s in bed with the very corporate interests that were documented abusing and neglecting animals. The fox apparently is guarding the henhouse.”
Indeed, the U.S. government has a history of supporting these industrial confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), both by looking the other way when abuse or contamination occurs, and by directly subsidizing cheaply produced beef, and corn and soy used for feed.
As it stands, 2 percent of U.S. livestock facilities produce 40 percent of farm animals,i and these large, corporate-owned CAFOs have been highly promoted as the best way to produce food for the masses. The only reason CAFOs are able to remain so “efficient,” bringing in massive profits while selling their food for bottom-barrel prices, is because they substitute subsidized crops for pasture grazing.
Factory farms use massive quantities of corn, soy and grain in their animal feed, all crops that they are often able to purchase at below cost because of government subsidies. Because of these subsidies, U.S. farmers produce massive amounts of soy, corn, wheat, etc. — rather than vegetables — leading to a monoculture of foods that create a fast food diet. As written in the book “CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories”:…..
No Quick Fixes for Outbreak Surveillance and Response
By John J. Guzewich
Many of us have experienced the frustration of learning of a foodborne disease outbreak and wondering why didn’t we know about it sooner, why we don’t know all the details we wanted to know, why the investigation wasn’t successful or…
Cantaloupe Growers Invite Public to Webinars
By Dan Flynn
When the goal is to get consumers back after last year’s deadly cantaloupe outbreak, the industry’s Stephen Patricio says growers need to impose “transparent yet severe and expensive restrictions on ourselves.”And the industry groups sponsoring educational sessions for cantaloupe growers…
Safeway Drops ‘Pink Slime,’ Walmart to Offer Consumers Choice
By Helena Bottemiller
Responding to widespread consumer concern, the nation’s second and third largest grocery chains, Safeway and SuperValu, will stop selling Lean Finely Textured Beef (LFTB), otherwise known as ‘pink slime,’ ABC World News reported Wednesday.Safeway said “considerable consumer concern” led to…
Denver Defends New Restaurant Inspection Scheme
By Dan Flynn
Bob McDonald, Denver’s environmental health director, wants restaurateurs and the public at large to understand how the city now enforces inspections.McDonald met Tuesday with some of Denver’s restaurateurs who are upset because more fines are being levied after inspections.The city…
Health
U.S. travelers to Olympics may bring home measles, CDC warns
Health officials are bracing for the possibility of a measles outbreak in the USA, fueled by unvaccinated American tourists returning home from this summer’s Olympic Games.
A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine estimated that each measles case costs $160,000 for investigation, follow-up and possible hospitalization.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that the Olympics in London, as well as the Euro 2012 soccer cup in Poland and Ukraine, will be huge draws for American travelers and will increase the risk for measles infection. The virus is much more prevalent in Europe, leading to eight deaths and 26,000 illnesses last year.
“Disease knows no borders,” said Rebecca Martin, director of the CDC’s Global Immunization Division. “We are concerned about Americans coming back from the Olympics this summer and unknowingly infecting others.”
If aspirin is a miracle drug, shouldn’t we all be taking it?
A small dose of the painkiller every day can reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovasular disease and blood clots.
So, did you take a mini-aspirin this morning? If not, why not? Research appears to confirm aspirin’s growing reputation as that most medicinal of cliches – a miracle drug. The study, published on Tuesday, reported that taking a low dose of acetyl-salicylic acid – the generic name for aspirin – daily for between three and five years reduces the chance of being diagnosed with cancer during that time by 19 per cent.
Seaweed toast is same as half an hour on treadmill
Breakfasting on a slice of bread baked with ground-up seaweed could help burn more calories than half an hour on a treadmill, according to new research
Trials on nearly 80 healthy but overweight men showed those fed scrambled egg on seaweed enriched toast felt so full they consumed 179 calories less a day.
The tests at Sheffield Hallam University are the first to involve adding the entire seaweed plant to the bread mix rather than breaking it down to extract various chemicals.
The bread – served with the crusts cut off – did not include any salt at all with the seaweed acting as a total replacement.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9160343/Seaweed-toast-is-same-as-half-an-hour-on-treadmill.html
Breakthrough in cancer detection to be tested on smokers
A simple blood test that can detect lung cancer five years earlier than conventional screening will be trialled by the NHS on thousands of high risk smokers.
The test is being trialled in Scotland in the hope it could provide the first national screening program for lung cancer as well as paving the way for better detection of other tumorous cancers such as breast, colon and prostate.
A version of the test, developed at Nottingham University, to detect breast cancer early could be ready next year.
It could revolutionize how cancer is diagnosed and mean treatment can start at a much earlier stage when the chances of success are best.
Holistic Health
Indoor urban farm in New York helps feed hundreds of families
By Jonathan Benson,
(NaturalNews) Flowering displays are replacing urban decay all across America, with recent reports out of New York illustrating the power of creative, resourceful thinking in implementing successful, city-based farming initiatives. New York Daily News reports that a food pantry in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., has successfully created a 250-square foot indoor farm that produces food for hundreds of local families and their children — and many others in the area are working…
http://www.naturalnews.com/035300_urban_farms_local_food_indoor.html
Vitamin E tocotrienols work through multiple pathways to delay disease onset and extend lifespan
By John Phillip,
(NaturalNews) The result of several new research bodies that have been published all point to the powerful effect of vitamin E tocotrienols to prevent stomach cancer, reduce fatty liver disease incidences and prevent disease mechanisms that can extend natural lifespan in humans. Over the past decade, many studies have highlighted the importance of the most common vitamin E isomer known as alpha-tocopherol. While this form of the vitamin is important to lower risk of heart disease, a plethora of new…
http://www.naturalnews.com/035303_vitamin_E_disease_prevention_lifespan.html
French pine bark contains powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that ease symptoms of chronic disorders like arthritis, asthma
By Jonathan Benson, March 21 2012
(NaturalNews) An antioxidant-rich nutrient with powerful anti-inflammatory properties, French pine bark extract, also commonly known as Pycnogenol, is hailed by many as an effective treatment for asthma, osteoarthritis, chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and many other chronic diseases. And based on the myriad research that has been conducted on French pine bark over the years, all of this and more appear to be true of the nutrient. French pine…
http://www.naturalnews.com/035304_French_pine_bark_pycnogenol_anti-inflammatory.html
Pet Health
Caring for Your Pet’s Skin During the Winter Season
By the time we reach adulthood, most of us have discovered that winter weather can wreak havoc on our skin. Humidity is low, the outside air is cold and windy, and we’re going in and out of cold to warm and back again throughout each day. Even in homes with great ventilation, our bodies have to struggle to keep up with the temperature and moisture changes that occur throughout the day.
It stands to reason that the body cannot always keep up the necessary balance of chemicals, oils and bacteria the skin needs to stay soft, flexible and comfortable, and the common result is dry, itchy, flaking skin. What is true for human skin is often true for animal skin, as well, and many of the same remedies are useful for both preventing and treating skin problems in dogs.
Recalls
Listeria Found in Ready-to-Eat Beef Sausage
By Julia Thomas
Southside Market & BBQ of Elgin, TX is recalling approximately 2,373 pounds of ready-to-eat beef sausage products that may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Wednesday.The problem was…
