Free Republic

For half a century, meat producers have fed antibiotics to farm animals to increase their growth and stave off infections. Now scientists have discovered that those drugs are sprouting up in unexpected places. Vegetables such as corn, potatoes and lettuce absorb antibiotics when grown in soil fertilized with livestock manure, according to tests conducted at the University of Minnesota. Today, close to 70 percent of the total antibiotics and related drugs produced in the United States are fed to cattle, pigs and poultry, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Although this practice sustains a growing demand for meat, it...

Foods containing a widely used additive may increase the growth of lung cancers or cause new tumors to develop, new research suggests. Tumors were more plentiful in mice with lung cancer fed a diet containing 0.5 to 1 percent inorganic phosphates (equivalent to the 40 mg. that humans on average consume daily) for a month according to a study in next month's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The tumors' mass increased by 14 percent in the mice fed the most phosphates. Inorganic phosphates are chemicals added to a variety of processed foods including cheese, meat, beverages and...

Industry experts and businesspeople in China say that the industrial chemical has been routinely added to fish and animal feed to artificially boost protein readings. Reporting from Los Angeles and Shanghai--Melamine in Chinese-produced milk powder has sickened hundreds of thousands of children and added to a growing list of made-in-China foods banned across the globe.Now, some scientists and consumer advocates are raising concerns that fish from China may also be contaminated with the industrial chemical. China is the world's largest producer of farm-raised seafood, exporting billions of dollars worth of shrimp, catfish, tilapia, salmon and other fish.The U.S. imported about...

PARIS - Ten tons of chocolate bonbons could stuff a lot of stockings this holiday season — but instead they will be under the lock and key of French customs agents. The French customs service announced Tuesday that officers at the giant Rungis international market outside Paris seized nearly 33,000 boxes of gold-foil-wrapped morsels, on suspicion that they were counterfeit Ferrero Rochers, a popular Italian chocolate brand.

Photo Credit: Caritas International Harare, Dec 10, 2008 / 08:01 pm (CNA).- Caritas Internationalis is warning that the crisis in Zimbabwe is so grave that people facing crushing food shortages are mixing cow dung with their food. With pressure continuing to mount on President Mugabe to relinquish his hold on power, Zimbabweans are suffering the consequences of his government’s policies. Besides the lack of food, people are also suffering a cholera epidemic and crippling hyperinflation. Caritas Internationalis Secretary General Lesley-Anne Knight reports that "people in Zimbabwe are dropping dead on the streets from Cholera. They’ve witnessed people mixing cow...

> Celente Predicts Revolution, Food Riots, Tax Rebellions By 2012 > > > Thursday, November 13, 2008 > > > > > > > > > stock market > > > > > > > > > > Gerald Celente > > > > > > > The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012. >...

The Bush administration’s prescription for economic health has been to encourage consumers to shop our way to prosperity. But as we’ve been learning the hard way, doing so with borrowed money isn’t sustainable. The current recession is already being compared to the Great Depression. And while the effort to win World War II is often credited with helping to end that funk, the two wars we’re currently fighting have only helped sink the economy even more. While we probably don’t need another world war, some lessons learned during the last one may still be relevant. The nation awaits President-elect Obama’s...

Last week I received a very concerned call from South Dakota farmer and agronomist Bryan Lutter. "Neal, we're out of propane!" I figured this was personal distress – he and his family farm over three square miles of land and I know this has been a tough year for many people. He promptly corrected my misconception when I tried to console him. "No, everybody is out, all three grain elevators, we can't get fuel for the bins, and we're coming in real wet this year." There are equally dramatic issues due to the bankruptcy of Verasun and the apparent insolvency...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- A New Mexico infant is dead and another is getting treatment at a hospital for a rare illness called enterobacter sakazakii. The New Mexico Department of Health said the illness is sometimes associated with baby formula. A baby boy in Otero County has died from the bloodstream and central nervous system infection. Now the state is advising safe ways to feed infants, including breastfeeding. “We're doing lab tests right now we're working with the Centers for Disease Control, and the Food and Drug Administration to look at every possible avenue. Right now it hasn't been linked...

ST. PAUL (AP) ― The Minnesota Department of Agriculture will begin testing all donated venison before it's distributed by food shelves due to fears of lead contamination. The expanded screening announced Wednesday comes in response to a program of X-ray testing this fall that found lead fragments in random venison samples intended for donation. The department says the testing showed 5.3 percent of whole-cut venison processed for the Minnesota Hunter Harvested Venison Donation Program contained lead fragments. While the contamination was small, it comes despite changes in state rules intended to eliminate lead contamination, including prohibitions against donating ground venison....

It's time to start reflecting on the past year, and I want to kick mine off with some admissions on places where I was flat wrong. Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs - boy, did I get on that train. When I found out that those little bulbs operated at roughly 1/3 the wattage of normal bulbs and they lasted for 5 years, I ran out and outfitted the entire house with them. I'm not some earth-worshiping, tree-hugging, enviro-nazi, by the way. I'm just a guy who loves technology, electronics, and efficiency, and who doesn't like to change light bulbs. One place...

90 Percent of U.S. Infant Formula May Be Contaminated with Melamine; FDA Abruptly Declares Chemical Safe for Babies Saturday, November 29, 2008 by: Mike Adams, NaturalNews Editor Key concepts: Melamine, Infant formula and The FDA (NaturalNews) Up to 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States may be contaminated with trace amounts of melamine, the toxic chemical linked to kidney damage, according to recent tests. The FDA's test results, which the agency hid from the public and only released after the Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information Act request, showed that Nestle, Mead Johnson and Enfamil...

<p>Two months ago, federal food regulators said they were unable to set a safety threshold for the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula. Now, however, they found a way to settle on a standard that allows for higher levels than those found in U.S.-made batches of the product. Food and Drug Administration officials on Friday set a threshold of 1 part per million of melamine in formula, provided a related chemical is not present. They insisted the formulas are safe.</p>

Public health groups, consumer advocates and members of Congress blasted the Food and Drug Administration yesterday for failing to act after discovering trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula sold in the United States. "This FDA, this Bush administration, instead of protecting the public health, is protecting industry," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA budget. In an interview, DeLauro said she wants the agency to disclose its findings and to develop a plan to remove melamine from formula. "We're talking about babies, about the most vulnerable. This really makes...

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration said it found "trace levels" of the industrial chemical melamine in one sample of U.S.-made infant formula and in a few samples of products like nutritional and medical supplements, all made by the five U.S. manufacturers of infant formula. The FDA said, however, that the formula and the supplements were safe to consume. The agency declined to identify the companies and brand names of the products involved. But the nation's five FDA-approved makers of milk-based infant formulas are Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myer Squibb Co. Nestlé SA's Nestlé USA unit, PBM Products LLC and Solus...

One of the more astute observations on the role of government in farm policy ever uttered was offered by then-congressman, later (from 1991-93) secretary of agriculture, Ed Madigan. “The majority of farmers,” Madigan, a moderate Republican, told me in a September 1984 interview between campaigning around his central Illinois district, “just want to be left alone.” So, added the Ranking Member of the House ag committee, “I leave ’em alone.” Twenty-five years and hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars later, Madigan’s leave-’em-alone admonition remains as true as it is unheeded. A generation of expensive, expansive policy has delivered a corporate...

Firms in Guangzhou have been told to dispose of recalled milk contaminated with melamine in an appropriate manner or face severe punishment, a senior environment official said on Tuesday. Zheng Zhewen, director of the Guangzhou environmental protection bureau, said: "We will heavily punish people and organizations that dump or dispose of milk without due care." On Sunday, a waste disposal company in the Baiyun district of Guangzhou used a compactor to dispose of 18 tons of milk, 6 tons of which spilled into the local river, he said. People living nearby complained of a foul smell and were worried the...

Candy, snacks, bakery products, pet food and other Chinese products that contain milk will be detained at the border until tests prove that they are not contaminated, the federal government announced Thursday. The Food and Drug Administration said it issued the alert because of concern about such products being contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine. It was discovered in infant formula in September and has sickened more than 50,000 infants in China and killed at least four.

(IsraelNN.com) The bankruptcy of the kosher meatpacking plant Agriprocessors, the largest American kosher meat operation, has forced many Jews to go vegetarian amid kosher-food shortages and soaring prices. The Postville, Iowa plant had supplied more than half of the kosher meat for millions of Jews as well as non-Jews who prefer buying meat processed according to Jewish law. Federal investigators raided the plant in May and charged officials with violating immigration laws and hiring 389 illegal workers. Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy this week after the resulting labor shortage left it unable to meet customer demand and forced a shutdown of...

Per capita meat consumption more than doubled over the past half-century as the global economy expanded. It is expected to double again by 2050. Which raises the question, what does all that meat eat before it becomes meat? Increasingly the answer is very small fish harvested from the ocean and ground into meal and pressed into oil. According to a new report by scientists from the University of British Columbia and financed by the Pew Institute for Ocean Science, 37 percent by weight of all the fish taken from the ocean is forage fish: small fish like sardines and menhaden....

Arla Foods, the Scandinavian owner of Lurpak butter and Castello cheese, has warned that it will be more than a year before dairy sales rebound in China following the melamine scandal, underscoring the toll the food safety scare has taken on corporate profits. Peder Tuborgh, chief executive of Arla Foods, said its sales volumes in China were "half" what they were a few months ago. "There's absolutely nothing good to say about the melamine scandal . . . we need to use all effort possible to regain the confidence of the consumer." Mr Tuborgh said that food companies needed to...

The Chinese authorities, already battling a food safety scandal over melamine contamination of milk and eggs, have been accused of covering up an outbreak of maggots in oranges. Tens of thousands of tons of mandarin oranges have had to be destroyed in recent weeks, state media have revealed in the past few days. Yet persistent rumours of an infestation of fruit fly maggots, spread by text message, were denied or played down before the extent of the problem was confirmed. .....According to state media, a farm in Sichuan, in the south-west of the country, first reported its crop of mandarin...

In the days leading up to Halloween, a "Made in China" stamp on a bag of candy can give some parents a bigger fright than the most ghoulish of costumes. Fears about contamination, specifically from the toxic chemical compound melamine, have prompted some parents to take a closer look at where candies are coming from. "I am absolutely worried about what my kids are going to bring home this Halloween," said Megan Zandstra, mother to three young children. Zandstra says she has been receiving e-mails from friends who have been spreading the word about melamine, and specifically about the news...

Eggs tainted with the industrial chemical melamine were detected last month in the same northeast Chinese city from where contaminated ones sold in Hong Kong originated, an official said Monday. The safety inspector from Dalian city's food and drug department said tests were carried out on eggs for melamine in the wake of the scandal about the widespread use of the chemical in Chinese dairy products. "Agricultural authorities carried out some checks into eggs after the (tainted) milk powder incident was disclosed, the official, who declined to be named, told AFP by phone. Some eggs were found to be tainted...

HONG KONG has discovered the toxic chemical melamine in a brand of eggs and biscuits, authorities said on Saturday, adding to the growing list of tainted products pulled from shelves. Hong Kong's food safety watchdog said tests showed the Select Fresh Brown Eggs and Croley Foods Sunflower Crackers contained melamine, the chemical at the centre of a toxic milk scandal which has rocked China's dairy industry. The Extra Large brand eggs were from farms in mainland China and the biscuits from the Philippines, said the Centre for Food Safety, which has conducted tests on supermarket foods since the scandal broke...

TOKYO — Nissin Food Products Co said Friday it was recalling half a million cups of instant noodles over fears of insecticide contamination in the latest food safety scare to rock the country’s consumers. A 67-year-old woman vomited and felt numbness on her tongue after eating Nissin’s Cup Noodle this week in the Tokyo suburb of Fujisawa, the city’s health office said. The product was made at a Nissin factory in Japan. A series of previous scares have involved food imported from China. The health office said on inspecting the Cup Noodle they had discovered paradichlorobenzene, the key chemical in...

Australian officials ordered the recall of a milk drink and cake brand after tests showed they were contaminated with melamine, bringing to six the number of Chinese-made products withdrawn in Australia following China's tainted milk scandal. A spokeswoman for Food Standards Australia New Zealand said Monday that Orion brand Tiramisu Italian Cake with Cheese Cream and Dali Yuan brand First Milk vanilla-flavored drink were recalled Friday after government tests revealed the Chinese-made products contained low levels of melamine, the industrial chemical that has sickened tens of thousands of Chinese children.

Lawyers for victims of China's tainted milk scandal said Thursday the government had warned them not to sue, although three lawsuits had already been filed and more were expected. The three suits filed separately seek damages over the contamination of dairy supplies with the industrial chemical melamine, which has been blamed for killing four babies and sickening 53,000 children. However, the courts involved had yet to notify plaintiffs whether the cases would be accepted, while judicial authorities were warning lawyers to back off, Beijing attorney Li Fangping told AFP. "This pressure is being placed on all of us," said Li,...

Organic food. To me, this is one of the biggest scams out there. If a company slaps an organic symbol on their packaging, people will pay twice as much as the “non-organic” equivalent. Now, I may not have been the best organic chemistry student in college, but I do seem to remember that organic is anything carbon based, usually referring to something found in a living species, specifically a plant or animal. So, isn’t just about everything we eat organic? Can’t I clip some toenails into a box, and label them as “organic soy crisps?” Yes, I am being facetious,...

Tests on leading brands of U.S. bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants, including cancer-linked chemicals three times higher than California's health standard, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental advocacy group.

Imagine Africa feeding itself comfortably, instead of being overwhelmed by its own expanding population. Imagine millions of tropical consumers being fed without clearing more forests, thus protecting the wildlife in the very regions where most of the species of the world live and are critically threatened by population pressure. Suddenly, high-yield conservation for the tropics may not be a pipedream. Half of the world's tropic croplands suffer from aluminum toxicity that forces crop plants to shut down their growth. Grains and oilseeds produce meager yields-and scientists haven't even known why. The resulting low yields and food scarcity have stifled the...

Cuba is limiting how much basic fruits and vegetables people can buy at farmers' markets, irritating some customers but ensuring there's enough — barely — to go around... The government is delivering all items distributed each month on the universal ration that provides Cubans with up to two weeks of food — including eggs, beans, rice and potatoes... But the rest of the food Cubans supplement their diets with at supply-and-demand farmers markets and government produce stands has dwindled, prompting the government to limit consumer purchases and cap prices on items including rice, beans, root crops and fresh greens. Rodriguez...

Iran faces U.S. challenge in "pistachio war" KERMAN PROVINCE, Iran (Reuters) - For some Iranians, it's a galling thought: the United States may oust Iran as the world's largest producer of pistachio nuts this year because of one of the worst harvests ever in the Islamic Republic. The popular nibble is Iran's main export commodity outside the oil sector, earning it more than $1 billion last year, and providing many people with jobs in the arid, southeastern province of Kerman, which has 140,000 pistachio farmers. Unusually cold weather during the flowering in April dealt a blow to the 2008 crop,...

Despite the “populist uprising” to block the economic bailout, President Bush signed a $700 billion rescue plan Oct. 3. The bailout spurred much debate, including a second dispute between financial analysts Peter Schiff and Stephen Leeb on CNN. CNN’s “Your $$$$$” hosted the heated discussion on Oct. 4. In it, Schiff and Leeb argued about the need for a bailout – which Schiff termed a choice “between freedom and socialism.” In contrast, Leeb referred to it as a choice between inflation and starvation. Delaying a bailout would cause “mass starvation, not just in this country, all over the globe,” according...

Melamine Found in Chocolate Products From China South Korea's food watchdog has detected quantities of melamine, an industrial chemical, in chocolate products from foodstuff giants Nestle SA, Mars Inc. and South Korea's Lotte that were manufactured in China, Yonhap News reported Saturday. The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) said 2.38 parts per million (ppm) and 1.78 ppm of the toxic substance was discovered in samples of M&M's Milk and Peanut Snickers Fun Size products, respectively, from Mars Korea. A Kit Kat bar from Nestle Korea was also found to contain 2.89 ppm of melamine, the agency said. The...

Cadbury recall all chocolate made in China over fears it may contain contaminated milk British chocolate giant Cadbury today ordered a recall of its Chinese-made products after revealing tests have ‘cast doubt’ on its safety. It is feared the sweets could contain melamine-laced milk, which has been blamed for killing four children in China and making around 50,000 ill. The 11 recalled confectionery items - made at Cadbury's factory in Beijing - are distributed in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia. Doubts: 11 products distributed in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia were recalled ....Authorities say suppliers might have added melamine, which...

<p>VERMONT -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.</p>

/begin my translation A Puppy in Nanning Got Dozens of Kidney Stones: Contaminated Powered Milk Suspected Ms. Chen, a resident in Nanning, Guangxi Province, has a puppy with repeated serious illness, because, in less than a year, it underwent one surgery after another, taking out kidney stones three times. They numbered a few dozens in total, with varying size. On Sept. 26, this reporter personally saw the kidney stones taken out from the puppy ten days ago. "They are big stones," said Dr. Lian, the vetenarian, while staring at them. At present, Ms. Chen has stopped giving the puppy the...

CHINA'S toxic milk scandal escalated today as one of the nation's famous candy brands was pulled off shelves and four more people outside the mainland were thought to have fallen ill. The industrial chemical melamine has also been found in Heinz baby cereal and in potato crackers in the southern Chinese territory of Hong Kong and officials ordered a recall of the products. In China, the maker of White Rabbit candy, given to US president Richard Nixon on a landmark 1972 trip, said it was halting domestic sales after its products were found to contain melamine, normally used to make...

European Union regulators Thursday ordered rigorous testing of imports containing at least 15 percent milk powder after concluding that food containing tainted milk powder from China may well be circulating in Europe and putting children at risk. The action, announced by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Commission, significantly expands the potential geographic reach of a milk adulteration scandal in China to now include a range of foods sold around the world. The Europeans said cookies, toffees and chocolates were the major concerns. The World Health Organization and the Unicef also expressed concern Thursday about the Chinese milk...

(LEAD) S. Korea finds harmful chemical in Chinese creamer product SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's health authorities said Friday they have found traces of a harmful chemical in a Chinese creamer product used in instant coffee mixes. The discovery of melamine, which can cause kidney problems and even death in severe cases, follows a confirmation by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) on Thursday that two types of snacks sold domestically contained traces of the industrial chemical. Both products were imported from China. Seoul started scrutinizing imported dairy products after several Chinese manufacturers were found to have...

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human...

VERMONT -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman. "PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says. PETA officials say a move to human...

VERMONT -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman. "PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says. PETA officials say a move to human...

VERMONT -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

List of Nations Banning Chinese Milk Products Grows By VOA News 25 September 2008 South Korea is the latest nation to ban imports of Chinese dairy products after discovering Chinese-made snacks contained a chemical that has sickened thousands of children who consumed contaminated milk. The Korean Food and Drug Administration, KFDA, says tests on more than 100 products found the chemical melamine in two biscuit-type snacks. Officials ordered the products to be removed from store shelves and destroyed. More than a dozen governments in Asia, Africa and Europe have either banned or recalled Chinese dairy products since the scandal broke...

Government outlet provides safe, special food for the nation’s leaders BEIJING - While China grapples with its latest tainted food crisis, the political elite are served the choicest, safest delicacies. They get hormone-free beef from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, organic tea from the foothills of Tibet and rice watered by melted mountain snow. And it’s all supplied by a special government outfit that provides all-organic goods from farms working under the strictest guidelines.

Australia and New Zealand issued recalls Thursday for an imported Chinese candy that was found to contain the industrial chemical melamine. New Zealand Food Safety Authority spokesman Geoff Allen said Thursday morning that he expected the White Rabbit Creamy Candies to be off shelves within 24 hours. "This product contains sufficiently high levels of melamine which may, in some individuals, cause health problems such as kidney stones," deputy chief executive Sandra Daly said in a statement posted Wednesday on the agency's Web site. "The levels we have found in these products are unacceptable."