Category: Issue 317
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Study Credits Family of Viruses in Decline of Honeybee Population
A recent study has reportedly suggested that multiple viruses are responsible for the increase of colony collapse disorder (CCD) among global honeybee populations. Reed M. Johnson, et al., “Changes in transcript abundance relating to colony collapse disorder in honey bees (Apis mellifera),” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 2009. According to researchers, “Microarray analysis…
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Researchers Claim Brains of the Elderly Obese Show More Atrophy
According to researchers with the University of Pittsburgh and UCLA Schools of Medicine, brain scans of 94 elderly individuals showed that “obese subjects with a high BMI (BMI>30) showed atrophy of the frontal lobes [planning and memory functions], anterior cingulate gyrus [attention and executive functions], hippocampus [long-term memory], and thalamus [sensory information processing and relay]…
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Meg Kissinger & Susanne Rust, “BPA Industry Fights Back: Public Relations Blitz Takes Cue from Tobacco Companies’ Past Tactics,” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, August 22, 2009
This article discusses a four-month Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel investigation into the initiatives allegedly undertaken by the plastics industry to forestall the proliferation of local, statewide and national restrictions on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food and beverage product packaging. According to the authors, “The industry has launched an unprecedented public relations blitz that uses many…
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National Food Policy Conference to Focus on Food Safety and Child Nutrition
Jointly sponsored by the Consumer Federation of America and the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the 32nd annual National Food Policy Conference will feature keynote addresses by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. Scheduled for September 8-9, 2009, in Washington, D.C., the conference will convene speakers representing industry, government, academia, and…
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Stephen Lendman, “Codex Alimentarius (CA) Threatens Human Health,” Health, August 24, 2009
According to a researcher with a non-profit think tank that focuses on curbing “globalization,” the Codex Alimentarius Commission is controlled by corporate interests and thus poses a threat to consumer health and fair trade practices in the food market. According to Stephen Lendman of the Montreal-based Centre for Research on Globalization, genetically modified (GMO) foods and…
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AHA Sets Guidelines on Limiting Consumption of Added Sugars
The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued guidelines on limiting the consumption of added sugars, claiming that most American women should consume no more than 100 calories (six teaspoons) of added sugars per day and men no more than 150 calories (nine teaspoons). Citing a report from the 2001-04 National Health and Nutrition Examination survey,…
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California Court Rules Against Insurer over Losses from Spinach Contamination Outbreak
A California trial court has determined that the insurer of the nation’s largest seller of bagged fresh spinach must pay for its losses from the 2006 nationwide E. coli outbreak that led to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory against eating any fresh spinach. Fresh Express, Inc. v. Beazley Syndicate 2623/623 at Lloyd’s, No. M88545…
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Boulder County Commissioners Delay Decision on GM Sugar Beets
The Boulder County Board of Commissioners has reportedly delayed a decision about whether genetically modified (GM) sugar beets can be grown on open-space land. At a August 25, 2009, public hearing, six farmers who in December requested permission to grow the beets on county land apparently asked the commissioners to delay the decision. “I don’t…