Category: Issue 359
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Pharmaceuticals, Antimicrobial Chemicals Can Migrate to Crops Through Treated Sewage Used as Fertilizer
Soybeans grown in soil that contains pharmaceuticals and the chemicals found in personal care products can reportedly absorb those compounds. Chenxi Wu, et al., “Uptake of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products by Soybean Plants from Soils Applied with Biosolids and Irrigated with Contaminated Water,” Environ. Sci. Technol., July 21, 2010. The plants were apparently grown under conditions…
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Processed Meat Consumption Allegedly Linked to Bladder Cancer Risk
A recent study has purportedly linked an increased risk of bladder cancer to “meatrelated compounds,” including nitrate and nitrite. Leah Ferrucci, et al., “Meat and components of meat and the risk of bladder cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study,” Cancer, August 2010. Researchers apparently identified 854 transitional cell bladder-cancer cases among the 300,933…
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Study Claims Pancreatic Cancer Cells Thrive on Fructose
A recent study has reportedly suggested that pancreatic cancer cells “can readily metabolize fructose”—but not glucose—“to increase proliferation.” Haibo Lu, et al., “Fructose Induces Transketolase Flux to Promote Pancreatic Cancer Growth,” Cancer Research, July 20, 2010. The abstract maintains that “fructose and glucose metabolism are quite different,” as fructose “induces thiamine-dependent transketolase flux and is preferentially…
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AlterNet Article Questions “Nutraceuticals”
“Energy bars and energy drinks are just the tip of this antioxidant-enhanced, vitamin-enriched, high-fiber iceberg,” writes Anneli Rufus in an August 3, 2010, AlterNet article examining health claims based on nutraceuticals such as “vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, other botanicals, and that amorphous category known as dietary supplements.” According to Rufus, “nutraceuticals hark back to preindustrial…
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Import Safety: Regulatory Governance in the Global Economy, U. Penn. Press
One of the editors of this collection of essays about how to protect consumers when food and products freely cross international borders is Adam Finkel, a former senior enforcement official at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The book is “a direct outgrowth” of a 2009 Penn Law School conference that brought together leading scholars…
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Food Activist Focuses on Industry’s Use of Experts to Win PR Wars
Food activist, author and lawyer Michele Simon writes on AlterNet about how PepsiCo has placed a number of respected, and previously anti-industry, scientific experts on its payroll to the dismay of activists like Marion Nestle and others concerned about the purported influence of corporate resources on the public debate over health, obesity and nutrition. She…
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Cranberry Dispute Erupts in Antitrust Litigation
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. has filed a lawsuit against a competitor alleging that it has orchestrated “an unlawful and malicious campaign” against Ocean Spray designed to damage the company’s reputation, frustrate its relationships with customers and undermine its dealings with grower-owners and other cranberry growers in the industry. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. v. Decas Cranberry…
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California Chefs Claim EVOO Fails to Meet Regulatory Standards
Seeking to represent a statewide class of all those who purchased extra virgin olive oil during a four-year period, one of Bravo TV’s “Top Chefs” and individual consumers have sued companies that make and sell the product, alleging that it often does not meet international and U.S. standards. Martin v. Carapelli USA, LLC, No. BC442300…