Life Abundantly

Nutt in Charge of Magic Mushroom Study

2012-01-25T10:20:00.001-05:00

Can psychedelic mushrooms be a treatment for depression and other psychological illnesses? Dr Nutt of the Imperial C0llege is leading a study to see if the mushrooms can benefit severely depressed patients.

Prof Nutt stressed that people should not be tempted to conduct their own experiments with magic mushrooms.

Magic mushrooms 'could treat depression'

Magic mushrooms could be used as a treatment for depression, scientists hope.

Magic mushrooms Photo: John Downing

2:51PM GMT 23 Jan 2012

A clinical trial of ''magic mushroom therapy'' could take place in the UK within a year following two ground-breaking studies.

Doctors plan to treat depressed patients who cannot be helped by modern drugs or behaviour-based psychotherapy with the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Psilocybin would slowly be infused into their bloodstreams while they receive a carefully tailored ''talking therapy''.

The controversial trial is planned by Professor David Nutt, from Imperial College London, who three years ago was sacked as the Government's chief drug adviser.

Prof Nutt, former chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) clashed with then Home Secretary Alan Johnson after criticising the decision to toughen the law on cannabis.

The move to investigate psilocybin as a possible treatment for serious depression is linked to results from two far-reaching scientific studies.

In one, volunteers were given psilocybin infusions while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans.

The findings, reported today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed the drug disconnected two key ''hub'' regions of the brain with multiple connections to other areas.

One of these regions, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is known to be hyperactive in people with depression. The other, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) at the back of the brain, is thought to play a role in consciousness and self-identity.

The second study, soon to be published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, found that the magic mushroom chemical enhanced memories associated with positive emotions.

Scans showed that the memory experience was very ''real''. Activity was increased in brain regions that processed vision and other sensory information.

Speaking to journalists in London, Prof Nutt said the findings were ''a revelation''.

''Psychedelics are thought of as 'mind-expanding' drugs so it has commonly been assumed that they work by increasing brain activity, but surprisingly, we found that psilocybin actually caused activity to decrease in areas that have the densest connections with other areas.

''These hubs constrain our experience of the world and keep it orderly. We now know that deactivating these regions leads to a state in which the world is experienced as strange.''

It is the first time serious research has been carried out on the effects of ''psychedelic'' drugs for more than 50 years.

In the 1950s and 1960s, scientists investigating drugs such as LSD and psilocybin carried out studies on around 40,000 patients and published 1,000 papers.

Such work was brought to an abrupt halt when the drugs came to be seen as social evils and were made illegal.

''They got banned because they could be society changing,'' said Prof Nutt. ''There was great concern about that. Since then they've been virtually impossible to research.''

He said finding support for the new studies had been ''damned difficult''. Neither the Medical Research Council (MRC) nor the Wellcome Trust, Britain's biggest research charity, had been willing to fund them. And both Nature and Science, the two most prestigious scientific journals, refused to publish the findings.

Now the MRC is said to be showing interest in the planned clinical trial, which Prof Nutt believes could be undertaken this year with sufficient backing.

Twenty six patients with a history of serious depression which cannot be treated with drugs or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) are expected to take part.

Half will be treated with psilocybin while trained psychotherapists prompt them to recollect happy memories and think positively.

Findings from the earlier research suggest the positive effects of the drug might be long-lasting, or even permanent.

After the treatment, the patients' progress will be monitored for a year. Their responses will be compared with those of a ''placebo group'' of another 13 patients given infusions of a salt solution containing no psilocybin.

For safety reasons, both the PNAS and British Journal of Psychiatry studies involved healthy volunteers unaffected by mental problems. All had also taken hallucinogenic drugs in the past without reacting badly to them.

Thirty participants took part in the PNAS study and ten in the British Journal of Psychiatry study.

Volunteers had a range of vivid and ''dreamlike'' experiences including seeing geometric patterns, an altered sense of time, and the ''Alice in Wonderland'' sensation of being either very big or very small.

They also underwent ''mystical'' transformations of the sort reported by Buddhist monks who practise deep meditation. This has been described as the ''ego dissolving'' and becoming ''one with the universe''.

One volunteer described the effect of psilocybin as being like ''kneeling before God''.

Prof Nutt stressed that people should not be tempted to conduct their own experiments with magic mushrooms.

''This is a research tool which may give us insights into how to treat depression,'' he said. ''I would strongly resist people self-medicating.''

Dr Kevin Healy, who chairs the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy, described the British Journal of Psychiatry study as ''interesting'' but added: ''We are clearly nowhere near seeing psilocybin used regularly and widely in psychotherapy practice.

''Although this study found that psilocybin enhanced autobiographical recollection in 10 healthy volunteers, we have no evidence that it would enhance a therapeutic response in patients, where the experienced relationship between patient and therapist is central to the therapeutic work.''

Witch's Brew to Destroy a Brain

2012-01-23T14:45:00.002-05:00

The addition of Aluminum and Fluoride together is a witch's brew that destroys

the personality and the ability to think and remember. As the chart below indicates there is a skyrocketing incidence of Alzheimer's dementia over the recent years- years that coincide with the atmospheric spraying of aluminum compounds called chemtrails. With fluoride already in the water supply this is a perfect witch's brew to destroy the minds of an entire population with every breath and every sip.

So what I want to know is, Who are the witches that have concocted this brew?

Aluminum + Fluoride = Alzheimer’s and

Dementia

Translation

(Chart taken from CDC National Vital Statistics 2000 report page 9)

Barbara H. Peterson

Farm Wars

Chemtrails contain “the oxides of metals,” according to this geo-engineering patent. These substances are supposedly sprayed into our atmosphere for “beneficial” climate manipulation, or geo-engineering, and residue tests indicate excess aluminum oxide in water and soil after heavy chemtrailing. Fluoride is put in our water to “prevent tooth decay.” Both of these actions, geo-engineering and fluoridation, on the surface, appear to be beneficial, with only good intentions behind their implementation. Really!

Aluminum is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease:

Certain aluminum compounds have been found to be an important component of the neurological damage characteristics of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Much research over the last decade has focused on the role of aluminum in the development of this disease. At this point, its role is still not clearly defined. Since AD is a chronic disease which may take a long time to develop, long-term exposure is the most important measure of intake. Long-term exposure is easiest to estimate for drinking water exposures. http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/alzheimers.htm
“Subacute to chronic toxicity: Aluminum may be implicated in Alzheimers disease.” (Material Safety Data Sheet)

…and dementia:

Dementia develops when the parts of the brain that are involved with learning, memory, decision-making, and language are affected by one or more of a variety of infections or diseases. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, but there are as many as 50 other known causes. Most of these causes are very rare.
http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/alzheimers-dementia

Fluoride “enhances the bio-availability of aluminum,” allowing it to cross the blood-brain barrier easier, thus making it more toxic. The following study is from 1998:

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND DEMENTIA – IMPORTANT NEW STUDY SHOWS GRAVE IMPLICATIONS FROM INTERACTION OF ALUMINUM AND LOW DOSE FLUORIDE
The latest edition of the peer-reviewed medical journal, Brain Research, (vol.784:l998), reveals that aluminum-induced neural degeneration in rats is greatly enhanced when the animals were fed low doses of fluoride. The presence of fluoride enhanced the bio-availability of aluminum (Al) causing more aluminum to cross the blood-brain barrier and become deposited in the brain. The aluminum level in the brains of the fluoride-treated group was double that of the controls.
http://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/aluminum.html

So why are we fluoridating our water supply? Considering that the secret is out about the effectiveness or lack thereof of fluoride to prevent tooth decay as referenced by the following report, how exactly is it that this potentially deadly combination has gone relatively unnoticed by the medical establishment? And probably the most important question of all is, why are we standing by and blindly accepting our poison without so much as a whimper?

Fluoride, Dentists “Magic Bullet” is Shooting Blanks
SOURCE: New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.
Poor Not Helped; Money Wasted; Kids in Dental Pain; Viable Alternatives Shunned
New York – January 20, 2012 — Despite decades of water fluoridation in New York State, the Journal of the American Dental Association reports that emergency treatment for NYS toddlers’ severe tooth decay has grown substantially in numbers and costs, many require general anesthesia, (1)reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. (NYSCOF)
Fluoridation is touted as an effective cavity preventive that will save money. But this study and others proves it’s doing neither.
In 72% fluoridated NYS, 25,622 children, under six-years-old, made cavity-related emergency dental visits from 2004 though 2008. Visits grew from 4,361 in 2004 to 5,683 in 2008. Seventy-five percent required general anesthesia, up from 35% in 2004. Total costs: $121 Million ($18.5 million in 2004 increased to $31.3 million in 2008), most borne by taxpayers.
“There is a limited number of dentists willing to treat patients younger than 6 and/or accept Medicaid” write the NYS researchers.
More Statistics Show Fluoridation Fails New York State
NYS Department of Health statistics reveal that, even when water is fluoridated, cavity-rates are extremely high in low-income third-graders. (2)For example:
85% of low-income third graders have tooth decay in WayneCounty(74% fluoridated)
83% in OntarioCounty(61% fluoridated)
82% in CayugaCounty(not fluoridated)
82% in AlleghenyCounty(14% fluoridated)
81% in LivingstonCounty(55% fluoridated)
67% in SchuylerCounty(not fluoridated)
58% in NassauCounty(not fluoridated)
Fluoridation not only fails New YorkStatebut nationally children, the elderly and poor lack dental care.The General Accounting Office estimates that 6.5 million children aged 2 through 18 in Medicaid had untreated tooth decay in 2005.(3)
Oral health complications may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
Annually, 164 million work hours and 51 million school hours are lost due to dental problems, according to the Instituteof Medicine. (4)Also, a 2008 study of the armed forces reveals 52% of new recruits had oral health problems needing urgent attention, reports the Pew Charitable Trust.
“The American economy is hurt by dentists’ refusal to treat low-income Americans and by organized dentistry’s lobbying to outlaw cheaper dental care by viable dental professionals, such as dental therapists,” says attorney Paul Beeber, NYSCOF President. “Fluoridation is a false concept that must be abandoned.”
Past Studies Show that when fluoridation ceases so do cavities (5 )
Cavity rates decreased six years after fluoridation was stopped in Kupio, Finland.
Seven years after fluoridation ended in LaSalud, Cuba, cavity-free children increased dramatically
Following the cessation of water fluoridation in the East German cities, Chemnitzand Plauen, a significant fall in caries prevalence was observed.
After fluoridation ended in the East German cities, Spremberg and Zittau, cavities in 12-year-olds significantly decreased
During an 11-month fluoridation break in Durham, NC,cavity rates remained stable but dental fluorosis declined in children born during that period
In British Columbia, Canada, “the prevalence of caries decreased
over time in the fluoridation-ended community while remaining unchanged
in the fluoridated community.”
In 1973, the Dutch town of Tielstopped fluoridation. Decayed, missing and filled surfaces dipped in 15-year-olds. Never-fluoridated Culemborg’s 15-year-olds had 72% less cavities over the same period.
Beeber says, “The multi-billion dollar Pew Charitable Trust continues to waste its resources promoting fluoridation in Iowa, Arkansas, Austin and elsewhere with misinformation. However, we agree with their findings that ‘Support for CWF (Community Water Fluoridation) is soft, especially among the following groups…Those who report being more knowledgeable of Community Water fluoridation.’”
Contact: Paul Beeber, Esq, 516-433-8882 nyscof@aol.com
http://www.Fluoridation.Webs.com
http://www.FluorideAction.Net
SOURCE: New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.

Research shows that fluoridation does not reduce cavities but quite possibly increases them, yet we fluoridate our water, then spray aluminum from the sky to pollute that water, the soil, and air. We unwittingly ingest this aluminum, take a nice cool drink of fluoridated water, and end up a few years down the road wondering where we misplaced our minds and health. This is a two-part mix that leads to a crippling disease.

Our brains and nervous systems are under attack, and we end up paying dearly for the privilege of being poisoned to death. Insane? Yes. But very real. Whether you believe we are being subjected to an intentional depopulation agenda or simply hapless victims of reckless corporate greed, it’s happening! You can’t refute the facts. Aluminum + Fluoride = Alzheimer’s and Dementia. The combination is deadly. They know it, I know it, and now you know it.

Notes:

http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/alzheimers-dementia

http://www.nanomaterialstore.com/alo_alpha_msds.php

http://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/aluminum.html

Toxic Mercury in Processed Food

2012-01-23T12:04:00.003-05:00

One of most toxic substances known is mercury. It damages the brain and other parts of the body. There is almost no 'natural' exposure to the metal. It must be administered artificially. So how is it that the majority of Americans will test positive for this toxic metal. Its in the vaccines, its in the food, its in the creams, its in the light bulbs...

Mercury Pandemic: Avoiding Toxic Levels of Daily Exposure

218

NaturalSociety
January 22, 2012

Mike Barrett

With today’s manufacturing there are many chemicals and toxins that are both purposefully added to products as well as unintentionally added. Mercury is one of those unintended additions to many of the products peopleconsume and topically apply every day. In order to avoid exposure to this heavy metal, and in turn avoid the risk of any heavy metal toxicity, you need to know where the metal resides in order to avoid it.

Mercury Highly Present in Many Foods and Consumer Products

One of the most significant places you may find mercury is in processed foods. In 2009, a study found that almost half of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury — a carcinogenic chemical element that is toxic in all its forms to the human body. Even more troubling, nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products that listed HFCS as the first or second ingredient were found to contain mercury as a whole. With an incredible amount of processed foods and fast foods containing this ingredient, the result could be described as a mercury pandemic. Instead of addressing this major public health concern, the FDA is focusing their time on crushing beneficial supplements through NDI regulations that threaten the entire infrastructure of the nutraceuticals industry.

Mercury is also very present in skin whitening creams and body care products. Mercury has been found in some of these products at levels as high as 300,000 parts per million. A newspaper sent 50 skin-lightening creams to a certified lab for testing. Six were found to contain amounts of mercury banned by federal law. Five of the six had more than 6,000 parts per million — enough to potentially cause kidney damage over time.

Another everyday product you may want to avoid is compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Only months after it was found that energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs release carcinogenic chemicals into the air, a new study has found that these harmful chemicals are continually released from the bulbs over a period of weeks to months. Furthermore, the study also found that the levels of mercury released exceed those that are considered safe for humans.

Avoiding these products will not only result in better overall health, but you will also dramatically reduce your exposure to mercury. Along with this avoidance, dental amalgam fillings, multi-dose vaccines, and seafood should also be avoided.

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Ants and Grasshoppers: When Famine Comes

2012-01-23T11:49:00.001-05:00

Most people are not ants, most people are grasshoppers. Grasshoppers have fun while the ants are busy working. The ants seem to know the future and they prepare for it. They lay up food for the long winter so when spring comes they're still alive to start over. Grasshoppers die with the first frost and never live to see another season. Some people are preparing for the coming famine they can easily see on the horizon. Most people are grasshoppers who either see nothing or deny what they see. More than likely if you are reading this you at least have tendencies toward being an ant.

Alternative Foods in Famines,

by ShepherdFarmerGeek

January 21, 2012 6:41 PM

Several future scenarios include or produce famine on a very large scale. The goal of a famine feeding strategy is to get people from the beginning of the famine to the end alive and not permanently damaged. In extreme circumstances this may call for unusual measures…

Preparing for famine. We can be reasonably confident that any future crisis will include food scarcity. From EMP to pandemic, from war to drought, food is a critical resource. (The projected death rate from an EMP, including death from a variety of causes including famine, is 9 out of 10 Americans!) The sooner we can educate people about the dangers ahead the sooner every family can begin to prepare. Every little bit will help. And the sooner we start the better.
People need to know the facts in a non-inflammatory way and in a way they can relate to, “painting them a picture” so to speak of how it could affect them and their family. They need to know they cannot expect a government rescue, they need to take personal responsibility for their preparedness. And they need hope – to believe that their efforts can make a difference in the outcome.
Americans have been manipulated, lied to, cheated, and stampeded from issue to issue by unscrupulous people in government, education, the media, and even the church. We need a well thought-out strategy so that we don’t sound like crazies predicting the end of the world or selling something. That’s not going to happen without a lot of deliberation and work.

One of the reasons for getting a head start on famine preparedness is that the real experience of famine is horrible - it is surreal and disorienting and frightening. People need mental preparation, a sort of “mental inoculation” so that they are mentally, emotionally, and spiritually up for the challenge. Without this innerpreparation many people will give in to paralysis and hopelessness and make an already dire situation worse.
Consider all the time and effort and materials that are going toward creating lovely politically-correct landscaping in 99% of American cities. Most of that landscapingcould be replaced with food-producing plants, pasture grasses, fruit- or nut-producing trees, edible decorative plants, and even simply gardens. Fruit trees take several years to come to maturity – if people are going to plant them they are going to need to get going now..
As a group or a church becomes prepared their efforts will be multiplied by those in the community who catch the vision and understand the dangers. City policies for landscaping, even public landscaping, could be improved, and laws examined to allow emergency contractual changes to neighborhood covenants.
Gardeners need to be educated on how to grow insect resistant crops that don’t require pesticides, or that can be treated without commercial chemicals that will in all likelihood be unavailable. Cold-resistant and drought-resistant crops should be encouraged and seeds (for more than a single season’s planting!) and know-how distributed.

Stored foods. Clearly the best option in the face of famine is to buy food in advance! The challenges are (a) the cost of accumulating food over and above everyday consumption, (b) storing a large quantity of food, some of which will need special storage conditions, (c) making sure there is a nutritional balance, and (d) trying to guess how long a famine might last and how much might be needed. Because we can make some advance preparations now we even have the luxury of asking a nutritionist to help us develop a nutritionally sound plan, or of finding some individual or organization that has already done this basic meal planning. (A good resource is the LDS storage food calculator.)
In addition to a centralized storehouse, food storage should also be dispersed to individual homes as much as possible to make it harder to be all stolen or destroyed in one emergency or raid. Dispersed storage also means greater storage totals, and greater participation as people take personal responsibility. Bulk foods purchases could feed as many as 1,000 people for around $100 per day.

Raised foods. Raising basic, hardy crops such as beans, cabbage, beets / sugar beets, and potatoes can contribute significantly to the food available. It’s difficult to raise grain in a gardening situation, except for corn. Whether or not corn grows well will depend on what caused the famine in the first place – it typically needs a long, warm growing season which may not happen in some areas. Bean pollination can be improved (if insects are affected by cold or disease) by growing larger varieties and hand-pollinating. Sprouting grains in spring could provide an early “crop”. Unless massive amounts of vegetable seeds are made available to a community in advance, with gardening help, the first year’s crops are not going to come close to meeting the need.

Livestock. Livestock that can survive on foods that people do not eat (like grass) are an option (cows, sheep, rabbits, etc.), but livestock that requires grain input (chickens and turkeys) may not be an efficient use of the calories available. Care must be taken (if possible) not to eat livestock that may be needed for other essential purposes, such as oxen or horses for plowing or transportation. Growing children, the elderly, and the ill would benefit greatly from additional protein (eggs/meat) and fats.

Purchased/traded foods. In a famine some food typically continues to be available from traders or markets or even in stores, but at a significantly higher price. Saving up money to purchase food after a famine begins would be crazy, since far more food can be purchased for the same amount of money before it begins. But it’s possible that a delegation could be sent to other areas with a surplus to trade for food. A survival community theoretically could bring back additional food to sell to the public to cover the expenses of the trip.

Hunted/found foods. Hunting, fishing, trapping, and foraging are all good sources so long as there aren’t thousands of other people competing for the same resources. Once famine has thinned the population and concentrated people in the cities for government feeding programs, wild game and edible weeds/plants may rebound and be more available.

Gleaned foods. Combining a wheat field leaves significant amounts of grain still in the field where the combines miss the stalks – that grain can be collected. There may be fruit on fruit trees that was too difficult to reach or that was overlooked by pickers. All food harvesting processes should be investigated as possible gleaning candidates.

Discarded foods. An organized effort to collect food thrown out by restaurants and grocery stores could make a significant contribution to feeding people, and if nothing else scavenged foods may be fed to livestock to supplement their feed and indirectly contribute to feeding people. Fruit left in the field because of blemishes or damage, insect damage or rot, might yet have an edible portion. Even rotten, disgusting foods may provide highly-nutritious food for maggots (rather than feeding on feces), which can be safely consumed by humans.

Livestock feeds. Animal products like “All Stock” are made with bran, minerals, and molasses. It contains 12% protein (red wheat is typically 14%), 2% fat, 15% fiber, and vitamin A and D – it could be consumed by humans. “Cull peas,” a product of split pea manufacture, are peas that are too small to be processed for human use. A serving of pea soup has 8 grams of protein, 26 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fat, and 161 calories. Chicken scratch is just coarsely ground corn and wheat. It costs more than just plain whole corn and wheat, but if whole grain is not available the scratch is edible. The one thing to watch out for is that some foods unfit for human consumption are sometimes dumped in the livestock market – grains contaminated with mold, pesticides and other chemical contamination. Great care will need to be used to detect and avoid harmful feed (and it’s not good for the animals either!)

Insects. Millions of people around the world already know that the local insect population can be considered a potential food source. Maggots, or other large insects / bugs / worms such as earthworms and cicadas and grasshoppers are edible and nutritious when properly prepared. In ideal circumstances insects could even be raised, rather than having to be foraged for (found foods, below). Insects could be fed foods that are unfit for human and livestock consumption and produce high quality protein in return.

Lake “seaweed”. Not all algae is edible (avoid globular and floating!), but the long stringy strand-types can be boiled (or pressure-cooked!) and consumed, containing starches and even fats. There may be water pollution issues, but in a worst-case scenario that would be a secondary concern. Blooms of algae (floating on surface or making the water turbid) can be highly toxic and make everything in the water, including fish, toxic. Saltwater kelp/dulse (sea lettuce) is edible.

Non-traditional foods. Some things are edible (or could contribute nutrition to a meal) that are not commonly considered food. Some foods consumed by other cultures may have been rejected as too spicy, disgusting, or strong. Even dogs, cats and horses in excess of what is needed for security and agriculture/hauling should be considered if times are desperate enough. Bones discarded by butchers (turkey bones, chicken bones, etc.) contain valuable nutrients, as do organ meats including heart, lung, kidneys, liver, and intestines. They’re all edible, all safe and nutritious, and all consumed in many other non-Western cultures today. See e University database of foods known to be used by populations around the world in famine. Just three crops - maize, wheat and rice - account for about 40% of the world's consumption of calories and protein. 95% of the world's food needs are provided for by just 30 species of plants. In stark contrast, at least 12,650 species names have been compiled as edible (Kunkel 1984)

Fillers. Historically, chaff and fine sawdust have been added to breads to make the flour go further and still be filling. It’s not nutritive, but it’s filling as a last resort. Steel-cut (pin-cut) oats can be added to chopped meats to extend the meats because the oats take on the flavor and are nutritious in themselves.

A note about Vitamins. If every family would stockpile a year’s supply of a goodmultivitamin for each person it would be a huge help toward meeting their nutritional needs (particularly Vitamin D.) People escaping famine by pouring into Irish cities in the mid-1800’s died more frequently from disease caused by crowded conditions (and weakened immune systems) than directly by starvation. “In famines, most people do not die of hunger but of hunger-related fevers and diseases,” according to the excellent Multitext Project in Irish History.

Where do we start? “The minimum survivable calories varies between individuals, with 600 to 1,000 given as a standard range, according to the US Army Survival Handbook. The less active an individual is, the fewer calories he can eat and still survive.” There are a lot of variables to consider, and active, contributing persons would need more food than inactive and barely surviving ones. We don’t know how bad a famine will get or how long it will last, but we have to start somewhere:
The last time I checked, locally purchased wheat straight from the silo costs $200 a ton. That's just 10¢ a pound. At 92 calories per ounce that works out to 1472 calories/pound, and around 14,000 calories per dollar (roughly 72¢ per person per day). Bulk, un-winnowed wheat could be the cheapest calories per dollar deal we can find, and could be the foundation for a desperate food planning strategy. If I did the math right about 1,000 people could be fed on $72 per day. It’s not impossible to save a lot of people.

"Pinto beans are much more nutritious but more expensive ($1,600 per ton at Costco), and corn, potatoes (dried or stored in cool/humid conditions), oats, sugar, oil (corn oil keeps and is inexpensive) – all can be bought in bulk. Using the figures from Paul B.’s SurvivalBlog article Staple Foods Storage By The Numberstarget nutrient categories per person per day are 112.5 grams of protein, 412.5 grams of carbohydrates, 100 grams of fat, and 40 grams of fiber. Much of that can be met with wheat, supplemented with other bulk foods as well as the alternative food sources mentioned above in this article.

Replant, Store, Raise, Hunt, Trap, Fish, Forage, Scavenge, Glean, Trade, and “eat outside of the box” – these are all famine survival strategies, but without aplan very little is going to get done. The effort in your community, your church, your club needs to begin NOW – today – and be led by the “vision bearer” – the person who “gets” that there is a storm coming and who has the leadership charisma to organize and motivate people. (This person might or might not be a person in the officially sanctioned ranks of an organization or church!)

Preparing for a famine, to prevent widespread death from hunger in our community, will be hard work that requires leadership and sacrifice and focus. We can probably save ourselves - those of us who have already been “prepping” for years – but the compassion of God calls us to save as many others as we can.
Find a way. Be Prepared. Trust God. We can do both.

Why Johnny Is Shootin Blanks

2012-01-22T16:28:00.002-05:00

Monsanto's Roundup Pesticide is very deadly against agricultural pests, and also sperm cells a new study finds. Apparently, life = life = life... If you can kill one form of life, more than likely the same thing will kill other forms as well. Sort of makes sense if you think about it. How could any of these things be good in the long run?

Montsanto's Round Up Pesticide is also a Spermacide

Andre Evans
NaturalSociety
January 21, 2012

A recent study has found that Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide may be responsible for causing infertility. After reviewing the many already well-documented negative impacts Roundup has on the environment and living creatures, it is no surprise to add yet another item to the list.

Researchers tested roundup on mature male rats at a concentration range between 1 and 10,000 parts per million (ppm), and found that within 1 to 48 hours of exposure, testicular cells of the mature rats were either damaged or killed. According to the study, even at a concentration of 1 ppm, the Roundup was able to affect the test subjects by decreasing their testosterone concentrations by as much as 35%.

How can such small levels of exposure have such a profound effect on the reproductive system? Roundup, being a glyphosate-based herbicide is also known to have endocrine disrupting properties.

Monsanto’s Best-Selling Herbicide Roundup Linked to Infertility

Much like BPA, glyphosate-based herbicides have the ability to interfere with the natural hormonal balance in the human body, thereby introducing a number of health risks along with even the smallest levels of exposure. These chemicals are strong enough to affect your metabolism, behavior and mood, reproductive organs, and even provoke cancer.

As a result, any plants that are sprayed with roundup carry with them a chemical effect similar to that of other endocrine disruptors, offsetting the hormonal balance and causing adverse effects, despite even the smallest levels of exposure. This in part contributes to the number of males with increased fertility issues in more recent times.

It is no surprise that Monsanto, a company already infamous for a whole slew of dangerous concoctions, would also be responsible for affecting another major aspect of human health on a large scale.

Ultimately it is highly important to avoid any products sprayed with pesticides or herbicides for the many associated health risks – now fertility included. In addition to avoiding food which has been tarnished by this pesticide, you may also want to consider investing in a water filter. The carcinogenic chemical Roundup contains known as glyphosate has been found to be contaminating the groundwater in areas it is being applied in.

Being aware of the hormonal disruptors you face in your daily life such as BPA and now Roundup is a must. Even the smallest levels of exposure can have the large negative effects.

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Why Real Food Costs More (video)

2012-01-18T12:46:00.001-05:00

Any one who tries to save money on food is a fool. Why? Because US government subsidies favor food products like Twinkies over whole natural foods like carrots. Save money on car insurance if you want, or on your cable but not on food. Right now, if you want to eat good food you have to pay extra- unless you grow it yourself...

65% of Fish from Japan is Radioactive

2012-01-18T12:16:00.000-05:00

The mainstream media and government continue their silence on the ongoing global nuclear disaster spewing forth from Fukushima, Japan. But we all share the same air and water and what is taking place in one place on the globe, especially of the magnitude of Fukushima affects us all one way or another. The the radioactive contamination of all of Japan continues, it means that anything from Japan is likely to be radioactive. As a major world fishing nation, seafood from Japan is widely exported. How safe is it now? Recent reports show massive amounts of radiation...

After Fukushima, fish tales

S
BY ALEX ROSLIN, SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE JANUARY 13, 2012

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An aerial view of debris floating in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Honshu in March after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck northern Japan: The garbage patch is estimated to be twice the size of Texas.
Photograph by: U.S. Navy
After the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years, authorities in Canada said people living here were safe and faced no health risks from the fallout from Fukushima.
They said most of the radiation from the crippled Japanese nuclear power plant would fall into the ocean, where it would be diluted and not pose any danger.
Dr. Dale Dewar wasn’t convinced. Dewar, a family physician in Wynyard, Sask., doesn’t eat a lot of seafood herself, but when her grandchildren come to visit, she carefully checks seafood labels.
She wants to make sure she isn’t serving them anything that might come from the western Pacific Ocean.
Dewar, the executive director of Physicians for Global Survival, a Canadian anti-nuclear group, says the Canadian government has downplayed the radiation risks from Fukushima and is doing little to monitor them.
“We suspect we’re going to see more cancers, decreased fetal viability, decreased fertility, increased metabolic defects – and we expect them to be generational,” she said.
And evidence has emerged that the impacts of the disaster on the Pacific Ocean are worse than expected.
Since a tsunami and earthquake destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant last March, radioactive cesium has consistently been found in 60 to 80 per cent of Japanese fishing catches each month tested by Japan’s Fisheries Agency.
In November, 65 per cent of the catches tested positive for cesium (a radioactive material created by nuclear reactors), according to a Gazette analysis of data on the fisheries agency’s website. Cesium is a long-lived radionuclide that persists in the environment and increases the risk of cancer, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which says the most common form of radioactive cesium has a half-life of 30 years.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which monitors food safety, says it is aware of the numbers but says the amounts of cesium detected are small.
“Approximately 60 per cent of fish have shown to have detectable levels of radionuclides,” it said in an emailed statement.
“The majority of exported fish to Canada are caught much farther from the coast of Japan, and the Japanese testing has shown that these fish have not been contaminated with high levels of radionuclides.”
But the Japanese data shows elevated levels of contamination in several seafood species that Japan has exported to Canada in recent years.
In November, 18 per cent of cod exceeded a new radiation ceiling for food to be implemented in Japan in April – along with 21 per cent of eel, 22 per cent of sole and 33 per cent of seaweed.
Overall, one in five of the 1,100 catches tested in November exceeded the new ceiling of 100 becquerels per kilogram. (Canada’s ceiling for radiation in food is much higher: 1,000 becquerels per kilo.)
“I would probably be hesitant to eat a lot of those fish,” said Nicholas Fisher, a marine sciences professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Fisher is researching how radiation from Fukushima is affecting the Pacific fishery. “There has been virtually zero monitoring and research on this,” he said, calling on other governments to do more radiation tests on the ocean’s marine life.
“Is it something we need to be terrified of? No. Is it something we need to monitor? Yes, particularly in coastal waters where concentrations are high.”
Contamination of fish in the Pacific Ocean could have wide-ranging consequences for millions.
The Pacific is home to the world’s largest fishery, which is in turn the main source of protein for about one billion people in Asia alone.
In October, a U.S. study – co-authored by oceanographer Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the non-profit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass., – reported Fukushima caused history’s biggest-ever release of radiation into the ocean – 10 to 100 times more than the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.
“It’s completely untrue to say this level of radiation is safe or harmless,” said Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.
Edwards, who is also a math professor at Vanier College, said Fukushima has highlighted how lackadaisical Canadian authorities are about radiation risks – the result, he says, of the influence of Canada’s powerful nuclear industry.
“The reassurances have been completely irresponsible. To say there are no health concerns flies in the face of all scientific evidence,” said Edwards, who has advised the federal auditor-general’s office and Ontario government on nuclear-power issues.
Other Fukushima impacts have been unexpected, too. The first debris swept into the sea by the tsunami reportedly started to wash ashore on the west coast in mid-December, a year earlier than scientists and authorities predicted.
Residents of Vancouver Island, Alaska and the U.S. Pacific coast have said they’ve found large quantities of bottles, cans, lumber and floats.
The debris is part of 18 million tonnes of debris from Japan floating across the Pacific – taking up an area thought to be twice the size of Texas.
The impact of the debris on the Pacific is unclear. Much of it is expected to eventually join an already massive patch of existing garbage floating in the Pacific gyre.
The arrival of the debris on the west coast also appears to have caught Canadian authorities off guard.
“What debris are you talking about?” Health Canada spokesman Gary Holub asked when contacted for a comment this week.
“Debris from Japan is not expected on the west coast of Canada for another year.”
He asked a reporter to email him media stories about the debris. Later, Holub emailed a statement saying “there has been no official confirmation that the source of this debris is from the tsunami in Japan.”
He said, “It is ‘highly unlikely’ the debris will be radioactive and that Health Canada will await scientific data before deciding whether to test any of it.”
It’s also unclear how the debris will impact fish in the Pacific.
But there is a good chance Canadians have already eaten some of the types of fish most likely to be contaminated with cesium, based on the Japanese fisheries data.
Japan exported $76 million of food products to Canada in 2010, including $13 million of fish and crustaceans. No figures were available for 2011.
The Gazette analyzed the Japanese fisheries data for 22 seafood species that Japan has exported to Canada in recent years.
Some cesium was found in 16 of these 22 species in November, the last full month for which data was available.
Cesium was especially prevalent in certain of the species:
73 per cent of mackerel tested
91 per cent of the halibut
92 per cent of the sardines
93 per cent of the tuna and eel
94 per cent of the cod and anchovies
100 per cent of the carp, seaweed, shark and monkfish
Some of the fish were caught in Japanese coastal waters. Other catches were made hundreds of kilometres away in the open ocean.
There, the fish can also be caught by fishers from dozens of other nations that ply the waters of the Pacific.
Yet, Japan is the only country that appears to be systematically testing fish for radiation and publicly reporting the results.
CFIA is no longer doing any testing of its own. It did some radiation tests on food imports from areas of Japan around the stricken nuclear plant in the weeks after the Fukushima accident.
Only one of the 169 tested products showed any radiation. CFIA stopped doing the tests last June, saying they weren’t needed.
“The quantities of radioactive material reaching Canada are very small and within normal ranges,” CFIA spokesperson Lisa Gauthier said in an emailed statement.
“They do not pose any health risk to Canadians, the food we eat or the plants and animals in Canada.”
In August, CFIA also tested a dozen samples of fish caught in B.C. coastal and inland waters. None of those tests found any radiation.
CFIA said it has no plans to do any other radiation tests on fish in the Pacific or imports from other nations that fish in the ocean, including Japan.
CFIA now relies on Japanese authorities to screen Japanese food exported to Canada.
But Japan’s monitoring of food has come under a storm of criticism from the Japanese public after food contaminated with radiation was sold to consumers.
A Canadian seafood industry official was surprised when told CFIA doesn’t plan any more tests of Pacific fish.
“It is certainly our expectation that the CFIA will test again this year,” said Christina Burridge, executive director of the B.C. Seafood Alliance.
The alliance is an umbrella of Pacific seafood harvesting associations whose member firms generate about $700 million in yearly revenues.
Burridge said CFIA promised her group last spring it would test Pacific salmon and tuna returning to B.C. fishing grounds in 2012 and 2013 because of the possibility those fish could have migrated close to Japan.
“We all agreed that if there was any risk of contamination, it would be in 2012 and 2013,” she said.
She wouldn’t comment on the Japanese fisheries data, which she hadn’t seen previously. But she said of the data: “It would reinforce our expectation that the CFIA would test this year.
“We want to be able to assure our customers that our expectation that there will be no increase in detectable levels (of radiation) is true,” she said.
She said she based this expectation on “a general belief that contamination will be limited to the coastal waters off Japan.”
But despite this belief and the importance of the Pacific fishery, few studies exist on how Fukushima affected marine life.
One of those studies found that fish and crustaceans caught in the vicinity of Fukushima in late March had 10,000 times more than so-called safe levels of radiation. The study, published last May in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, also said macroalgae had 19,000 times the safe level.
Those levels were measured before the Japanese utility that runs the crippled nuclear plant dumped 11,000 tonnes of radioactive water into the Pacific in April and additional leaks that have released hundreds of tonnes more.
But since that early study, little research has been published on the topic.
“People want to know what’s happening with the cesium and how much is in the fish, but we don’t know. It’s frustrating,” said oceanographer Buesseler.
“It’s disconcerting how big of an event Fukushima was and how little data are out there. No one has taken responsibility for studying this in a single agency (in the U.S.), even though we also have reactors on the coast and other events could happen,” he said.
SUNY’s Fisher agrees: “In the U.S., it’s very difficult to acquire funding to do that work. A lot of people are very frustrated. Funding agencies are already spread incredibly thin, and they were not prepared for this,” he said.
After governments refused to provide funds, Buesseler, Fisher and other scientists secured funds from a private foundation for a research voyage in the Pacific to gather radiation data on fish, plankton and water.
Fisher can’t discuss his findings because they aren’t published yet. He expects to send them for publication in coming weeks.
Buesseler has already reported some results from the 15-day cruise last May and June.
He co-authored the study in October that said cesium levels in the Pacific had gone up an astonishing 45 million times above pre-accident levels. The levels then declined rapidly for a while, but after that, they unexpectedly levelled off.
In July, cesium levels stopped declining and remained stuck at 10,000 times above pre-accident levels.
It meant the ocean wasn’t diluting the radiation as expected. If it had been, cesium levels would have kept falling. The finding suggested radiation was still being released into the ocean long after the accident in March, Buesseler said in an interview.
“It implies the groundwater is contaminated or the facility is still leaking radiation.”
The Japanese fisheries data seems to support this conclusion. Far from declining, contamination levels in some species were flat or even rose last fall, including species that Japan exports to Canada like skipjack tuna, cod, sole and eel.
In November, the average Japanese catch had 111 becquerels of cesium per kilogram – above the new radiation ceiling of 100 becquerels per kilo that Japan has announced it will implement for food this spring.
The November level declined from a peak level of 373 becquerels per kilo last April. But it was an increase from the October average of 78 becquerels per kilo.
Such persistently elevated levels of radiation warrant more monitoring and research, Fisher said. “It’s not something we can easily dismiss.”
Continuing radiation leaks from Fukushima could be to blame, he said. Another culprit, he said, may be a phenomenon called biomagnification – the tendency for radiation concentrations to increase in species that are farther up the food chain.
About 2.7 per cent of the fish catches also exceeded Japan’s existing ceiling for food of 500 becquerels per kilo. That was also up from one per cent in October.
In November, 0.8 per cent of Japanese catches exceeded Canada’s ceiling of 1,000 becquerels per kilo, up from 0.2 per cent in October.
But food with radiation below these limits can still pose health risks, Edwards believes. “There is no safe level of radiation. They should be making every effort to monitor food.”
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Read more:http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/After+Fukushima+fish+tales/5994237/story.html#ixzz1jpYBQ8vh

Are You Drinking Toilet Water?

2012-01-13T11:25:00.004-05:00

The National Research Council says toilet water is better for you then fresh water. Are they right? Are you sure you aren't already drinking it? Maybe you better check.

Toilet on tap: Panel recommends Americans drink more waste water to combat future shortages

'Wastewater is a drought-proof supply and a very viable option compared to imported water and other options'

By DANIEL BATES

Last updated at 8:03 PM on 11th January 2012

Next time you pour a glass of water from the tap try not to think about this - you might be about to drink what you once flushed away.

Rising numbers of Americans are consuming wastewater, or 'toilet on tap', without even realising it, according to an official report.

Even though it once contained human waste, food scraps and bath scum, the National Research Council claims that it could actually be better for you than fresh water.

It also says says that only wastewater that has been treated gets back into circulation, although the last industry-wide study was done was back in 1980.

Waste not, want not: Water flushed down the toilet, or emptied from sinks, bathtubs, washing machines and dishwashers heads to a treatment plant where materials like oils, soaps and chemicals is filtered out

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, wastewater is nothing more than 'used water'.

It includes substances such as oils, soaps and chemicals and comes from sinks, bathtubs, toilets, washing machines and dishwashers.

Businesses and industries also contribute their share of used water that must be cleaned.

Wastewater is sent to a treatment plant where large material is filtered out before it is oxygenated to make it safe for human consumption.

The NRC looked at water drawn from a normal source that had five per cent wastewater and compared it to a sample which had been completely treated.

'You can have a supply that is as safe as the current drinking water supplies. It's a drought-proof supply.'

- Professor Jörg Drewes

By examining 24 different potential contaminants and a number of pathogens, they found no difference in risk between the two.

In fact, when it came to the pathogens, the fully wastewater sample had fewer.

The announcement from the NRC is a change from its stance in 1998 when a paper said that reclaimed water should only be used for drinking as 'an option of last resort'.

Jörg Drewes, an engineering professor at the Colorado School of Mines who contributed to the report said that wastewater was now a 'viable option'

He said: 'This can be done reliably without putting the public at risk.

'We can really say that there is no difference from the risk standpoint. You can have a supply that is as safe as the current drinking water supplies.

'Wastewater is a drought-proof supply. People are always generating wastewater.

'That can be a very viable option, the committee felt, compared to imported water and other options.'

Water scarcity is growing problem in the U.S. especially in arid states like California and Arizona.

Contributing to the problem is the amount we waste - less than 10 per cent of drinkable water is used for cooking, drinking, showering or washing dishes.

Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at the non-profit Environmental Working Group, said: 'We flush it down the toilet, literally...we have to do something'.

In the instances where wastewater has been put back into the system, voters have sometimes reacted badly and rejected it.

Water reuse projects also tend to be more expensive than most water conservation options, although they are cheaper than seawater desalination.

In Arizona a case is currently ongoing in the Federal Court over the use of reclaimed water to make snow at a ski resort.

Until it is resolved the U.S Forest Service in Flagstaff has put up a sign telling people not to eat the snow, even though it is considered safe for skiing.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085351/Toilet-tap-Panel-recommends-Americans-drink-waste-water-combat-future-shortages.html#ixzz1jM8Xxj45

Bald Head Cancer Barbie Doll Unveiled

2012-01-13T10:02:00.001-05:00

In an apparent attempt to normalize cancer, Mattel has produced what some are calling, A Cancer Barbie Doll! It's Barbie, minus the big hair, after chemo therapy! Just what your daughter needs to play with right?

Cancer Barbie: Backers seeking bald doll to help sick kids come to terms with hair loss

Cancer patients pushing for Mattel to manufacture 'Beautiful and Bald Barbie'

Comments (14)

BY NINA MANDELL AND NANCY DILLON / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, January 12 2012, 7:02 PM

VIA FACEBOOK

Bald Barbie from the “Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let’s see if we can get it made” Facebook fan page. Below, Barbie with short-cropped, chemo hair.

VIA FACEBOOK

Photo of a photo composite showing a bald barbie called "Hope Barbie". JT Sherrard claims to have created the photo using an image of the 1998 Holiday Barbie.

Barbie is the ultimate big-haired blonde, but there’s a grassroots movement afoot to make her go bald.

Two women whose lives have been touched by cancer are urging toy giant Mattel to make a Barbie without a ‘do to help kids come to terms with hair loss.

Their Facebook page for the “Beautiful and Bald Barbie” campaign had won about 50,000 fans by Thursday — more “likes” than Mattel’s corporate page.

New Jersey photographer Jane Bingham helped kick it off in December after reading about a 4-year-old Long Island girl who received a one-of-a-kind hairless Barbie from Mattel.

Bingham, 41, lost her own hair while fighting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma last year and noticed her 9-year-old, Belleliana, had a tough time with it.

“She would imitate me, putting scarves on her head,” said Bingham, who lives in Sewell, N.J. “I’d really love to see this Barbie come with some scarves, maybe a hat and maybe a wig, to make it interactive.”

Bingham joined forces with California resident Beckie Sypin, mother of a 12-year-old girl with leukemia. Her daughter Kin, whose hair fell out, loved the idea.

“She wants to take a bunch of them to the children's hospital where she gets her treatment," Sypin said.

Mattel issued a statement saying it was “honored” by the request and takes all such ideas “seriously” — but did not suggest it would manufacture the doll.

Dr. Abraham Bartell, a child psychiatrist at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said special toys for kids with hair-loss are available, but a Barbie would be useful because it’s so iconic.

“It would be easier on parents if they could just go into a toy store and find them,” he said.

But he said a bald Barbie could be a tough sell in stores.

“I think there would be a push back from parents who would have to explain something to their children that makes them feel uncomfortable," he said.

Long Island cancer patient Michele Brodtman, 38, said she told 6-year-old daughter Eryn about the doll idea today and got a hug.

“She was really frightened when I lost my hair in chemotherapy,” the East Islip mom of two said. “She said I didn’t look like a girl.”

Supporters plan to keep up the pressure.

A Change.org petition has more than 1,000 signatures. And a second Facebook page popped up — with 1,000 fans — pushing G.I. Joe to shave his head for the cause.

What's Really in the Food You Eat (article and video)

2012-01-13T09:44:00.002-05:00

Last night at Howard University, the Power Study group took up this topic: What's really in the food you eat? I wish I had had this article then. It goes beyond comprehensive to inform the public of the FDA sanctioned horrors being done to our food supply by the food gangsters of Agri-business who think that food is all about money and have no concern for human life and health. What is being done to our food supply, even that which is high priced and labeled organic or vegan is beyond your worst nightmare. What follows is a long scientific article and a short video on the topic. Make this article a reference for future use. It makes it clear that We the People have to take charge of our own food or perish.

What's That Plastic Coating Doing on Your Veggies?

Fancy yourself a vegetarian or vegan?

Think that the label that says “organically grown” has anything to do with the packaging, storage, and transport of that product to stores?

What if I told you that cow, pig, and chicken collagen is now used in place of wax on your fruits and vegetables, among many other things much worse than you can probably imagine?

And what if then I told you, as with most atrocities that happen now-a-days, that this is all approved by the FDA…

Since the early 12th century, there has been a tradition of applying wax onto the skins of fruits and vegetables for longer storage life. Today, that tradition is being carried on with a whole new generation of chemicals and compounds that are genetically designed to accomplish the same goal. But in these modern times, the health and well-being of the consumer of that apple is not necessarily the goal of this unnatural, inorganic process.

Bottom line… your produce is being dipped and sprayed with an experimental host of holy horrors in the name of “food safety” and longer shelf-life. Prepare yourself to be shocked and amazed that our Federal agency that is designed to protect us, the Food and Drug Administration, is allowing these dangerous and unhealthy practices to be perpetrated on an unwitting public, all in the name of profits.

This video was recently posted to Youtube, showing a woman peeling off of her freshly bought supermarket romaine lettuce what appears to be a plastic coating, similar to the type one would peal off of the screen of a new electronic gadget. She has no idea what she has discovered…

Now, while this seems to be an almost incredible and hard to believe hoax, the truth is even stranger. Please read on…

For those of you that know of my writing, you know that I like to get right down to the nitty-gritty… the primary source. And so we will go right to what the FDA has to say about what this strange plastic-like substance is, and whether or not it approves of such food handling practices (which it does).

Here is the link for the FDA’s website, entitled:

“Chapter VI. Microbiological Safety of Controlled and Modified Atmosphere Packaging of Fresh and Fresh-Cut Produce – Analysis and Evaluation of Preventive Control Measures for the Control and Reduction/Elimination of Microbial Hazards on Fresh and Fresh-Cut Produce”.

Link:http://www.fda.gov/Food/ScienceResearch/ResearchAreas/SafePracticesforFoodProcesses/ucm091368.htm

Wow! That sounds so wonderfully official and scientific, doesn’t it?

So what are these “preventative control measures” as referred to in this report?

Well, for our purposes, since these measures are actually edible, let’s explore what the FDA approves for our fruits and vegetables to be dipped in and sprayed with for our own “safety”…

The report states:

This chapter addresses the use of modified atmosphere packaging and controlled atmosphere packaging for the preservation of fresh produce. There have been great technological advances in this area of preservation, particularly as it refers to improving the quality and shelf-stability of highly perishable food products, such as produce. However, when using these technologies, careful attention must be paid to the effect on the survival and growth of pathogenic organisms. This chapter focuses on food safety aspects of packaging technologies that are either commercially available or under investigation…

Over the past 20 years, there has been an enormous increase in the demand for fresh fruit and vegetable products that has required the industry to develop new and improved methods for maintaining food quality and extending shelf life…

One of the areas of research that has shown promise, and had success, is that of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). This technique involves either actively or passively controlling or modifying the atmosphere surrounding the product within a package made of various types and/or combinations of films. In North America, one of the first applications of this technology for fresh-cut produce was introduced by McDonald’s (Brody 1995), which used MAP of lettuce in bulk-sized packages to distribute the product to retail outlets…

A modified atmosphere can be defined as one that is created by altering the normal composition of air (78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.03% carbon dioxide and traces of noble gases) to provide an optimum atmosphere for increasing the storage length and quality of food/produce (Moleyar and Narasimham 1994; Phillips 1996). This can be achieved by using controlled atmosphere storage (CAS) and/or active or passive modified atmosphere packaging (MAP).

The numerous film types used in MAP are listed in Table VI-2 (see below), and some commercially available MAP systems are listed in Table VI-3. Oxygen, CO₂, and N₂, are most often used in MAP/CAS (Parry 1993; Phillips 1996). Other gases such as nitrous and nitric oxides, sulphur dioxide, ethylene, chlorine (Phillips 1996), as well as ozone and propylene oxide (Parry 1993) have been suggested and investigated experimentally.

So was that plastic looking film being peeled off of that supermarket lettuce above actually one of many forms of modified atmosphere packaging? Was it dipped in or sprayed by a “MAP” chemical compound for “food safety”?

Lets read further into this FDA report…

1.3. Films used in MAP

Edible biodegradable coatings are yet another variant of the smart film technology, where a film is used as a coating and applied directly on the food…

The use of MAP for whole and fresh-cut produce involves careful selection of the film and package type for each specific product and package size . Effective MAP of produce requires consideration of the optimal gas concentration, product respiration rate, gas diffusion through the film, as well as the optimal storage temperature in order to achieve the most benefit for the product and consumer. In addition, when selecting an appropriate film, one has to take into account the protection provided, as well as the strength, sealability and clarity, machineability, ability to label, and the gas gradient formed by the closed film (Zagory 1995).

Recently, the long list of films and commercially available MAP systems has been augmented with the conception of both smart and edible packaging systems (Guilbert and others 1996; Phillips 1996). “Smart” or “intelligent” packaging is being used in the fresh-cut industry and includes indicators of time and temperature, gas composition, seal leakage, and food safety and quality (Rooney 2000). Some intelligent systems alter package oxygen and /or carbon dioxide permeability by sensing and responding to changes in temperature. Other smart films incorporate chemicals into packets placed in the packaging system, with no contact with the product; an example would be the use of O₂ scavengers with O₂ indicators. Another type of smart film, developed with food safety in mind, is currently undergoing testing. This novel system, when incorporated into a packaging film, uses an antibody detection system to detect pathogens, and expresses a positive finding as a symbol on the surface of the package, thereby alerting food handlers to the presence of pathogens. Although this technology shows promise, it is still in its infancy and comprehensive assessments have yet to be performed. Several limitations have been suggested with this technology; for example, it would not likely be able to detect pathogens at concentrations below 10⁴ CFU/g or cm² and would not detect pathogens within the product.

Edible biodegradable coatings are yet another variant of the smart film technology, where a film is used as a coating and applied directly on the food(Guilbert and others 1996; Francis and others 1999). Wax has been used in China since the 12th and 13th centuries as an edible coating to retard desiccation of citrus fruits, and in the last 30 years, edible films and coatings made from a variety of compounds have been reported. Guilbert and others (1996) and Baldwin (1994) have extensively reviewed some of the newer edible films (see Tables VI-3 and VI-5). These films are gaining popularity due to both environmental pollution and food safety concerns (Padgett and others 1998). However, a number of problems have also been associated with edible coatings. For example, modification of the internal gas composition of the product due to high CO₂ and low O₂ can cause problems such as anaerobic fermentation of apples and bananas, rapid weight loss of tomatoes, elevated levels of core flush for apples, rapid decay in cucumbers, and so on (Park and others 1994).

Edible films may consist of four basic materials: lipids, resins, polysaccharides and proteins (Baldwin and others 1995). Plasticizers such as glycerol as well as cross-linking agents, antimicrobials, antioxidants, and texture agents can be added to customize the film for a specific use (Guilbert and others 1996). Plasticizers have the specific effect of increasing water vapor permeability. Therefore, their addition must be considered when calculating the desired water vapor properties of each specific film, since too much moisture can create ideal growth conditions for some foodborne pathogens. The most common plasticizer used to cast edible films is food-grade polyethylene glycol, which is used to reduce film brittleness (Koelsch 1994).

What is polyethylene glycol?

Link –http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene_glycol – which causes nephrotoxicity (renal problems)

Link – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephrotoxicity

What is a plasticizer?

Plasticizers (UK = plasticisers) or dispersants are additives that increase the plasticity or fluidity of a material. The dominant applications are for plastics, especially polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The properties other materials are also improved when blended plasticizers including concrete, clays, and related products. The worldwide market for plasticizers in 2000 was estimated to be several million tons per year.

Plasticizers work by embedding themselves between the chains of polymers, spacing them apart (increasing the “free volume”), and thus significantly lowering the glass transition temperature for the plastic and making it softer. For plastics such as PVC, the more plasticizer added, the lower its cold flex temperature will be. This means that it will be more flexible and its durability will increase as a result of it. Some plasticizers evaporate and tend to concentrate in an enclosed space; the “new car smell” is caused mostly by plasticizers evaporating from the car interior.

Plasticizers make it possible to achieve improved compound processing characteristics, while also providing flexibility in the end-use product… Plasticizers also function as softeners, extenders, and lubricants, and play a significant role in rubber manufacturing.

Other uses include:

Phthalate-based plasticizers are used in situations where good resistance to water and oils is required. Some common phthalate plasticizers are:
Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), used in construction materials and medical devices
Diisononyl phthalate (DINP), found in garden hoses, shoes, toys, and building materials
Bis(n-butyl)phthalate (DnBP, DBP), used for cellulose plastics, food wraps, adhesives, perfumes, and cosmetics – about a third of nail polishes, glosses, enamels, and hardeners contain it, together with some shampoos, sunscreens, skin emollients, and insect repellents
Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBzP) is found in vinyl tiles, traffic cones, food conveyor belts, artificial leather, and plastic foams
Diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), used for insulation of wires and cables, car undercoating, shoes, carpets, pool liners
Di-n-octyl phthalate (DOP or DnOP), used in flooring materials, carpets, notebook covers, and high explosives, such as Semtex(plastic explosive). Together with DEHP it was the most common plasticizers, but now is suspected of causing cancer
Diisooctyl phthalate (DIOP), all-purpose plasticizer for polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, rubbers, cellulose plastics, and polyurethane.
Diethyl phthalate (DEP)
Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP)
Di-n-hexyl phthalate, used in flooring materials, tool handles, and automobile parts
and on and on…

Continued…

Lipids, or waxes and oils, and resins such as shellac and wood rosin have been widely used for intact fruits and vegetables in two distinct forms, laminates and emulsions (Baldwin and others 1995). Lipid-based edible barriers are known for their low water vapor permeabilities. Koelsch (1994) found that the water vapor permeability of a cellulose-based emulsion barrier is dependent on the lipid moiety used; a minimum permeability can be achieved when stearic acid is used as the lipid. This is due to the effective barrier formed by stearic acid through an interlocking network. However, lipid-based edible films also require a support matrix to reduce brittleness, and have difficulty adhering to the hydrophilic cut surfaces of fruits and vegetables (Koelsch 1994; Baldwin and others 1995). Some of the most common compounds used for support matrices are modified celluloses of hydroxypropylmethyl, ethyl and methylcellulose, chitosan and whey protein isolate (WPI; Koelsch 1994).

*** Authors note: Steric acid is also known as tallow(animal and plant fatty acids used in the production of soap).

In general, polysaccharides such as cellulose, pectin, starch, carrageenan, and chitosan, can adhere to cut surfaces of produce and effectively allow gas transfer; however, they are not effective moisture barriers. Due to their CO₂ and O₂permeabilities, polysaccharide-based films allow the creation of desirable modified atmospheres, an attractive advantage over plastic or shrink wrap MAP which can be labor intensive, expensive and environmentally harmful (Baldwin and others 1995). A number of cellulose derived coatings are available commercially, most taking advantage of the modified atmosphere effect of the barriers. Pro-long (Courtaulds Group, London) and Semperfresh (Surface Systems International, Ltd., Oxfordshire, U.K.) are examples of water-soluble composite coatings comprised of the sodium salt of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and sucrose fatty acid ester emulsifiers (Baldwin and others 1995). Their properties are discussed in Table VI-6. A newer product called “Snow-White,” based on sucrose esters of fatty acids, has also been used to combat oxidative browning in the potato industry. Nature-Seal is a polysaccharide-based surface treatment that uses cellulose derivatives as film formers, but unlike Semperfresh and Pro-long, does not contain sucrose fatty acid esters. Nature-Seal is a browning inhibitor that is applied as a dip or spray and has been shown to delay ripening of whole fruits and vegetables, and to retard discoloration of peeled carrots and cut mushrooms.

*** Authors note: Sucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes calledsaccharose. This is the kind of processed sugar many health conscious people avoid, and which diabetics aren’t supposed to consume, though the natural sugars in fresh fruit is acceptable for diabetics. This is a blatantly deceiving practice.

Finally, proteins such as casein, soy, and zein, can also adhere to hydrophilic cut produce surfaces and are easily modified to form films; however, they also allow water diffusion (Baldwin and others 1995). Unlike lipid-based barriers, protein-based barriers do not require the addition of a support matrix, since the protein acts as both the water vapor barrier and structural component of the film (Koelsch 1994). Park and others (1994) reported the successful application of a corn-zein film to extend the shelf life of tomatoes. Color change, loss of firmness, and weight loss during storage were delayed, and shelf life was extended by 6 d in comparison to untreated tomatoes. The corn-zein product used in the above study was a commercial product that was brushed onto the tomatoes (Regular Grade F4000, INC Biomedicals, Inc.), and consisted of 54 g of corn-zein, 14 g of glycerine, and 1 g of citric acid dissolved in 260 g of ethanol. Park and others (1994) did not comment on the use of citric acid in the film solution; however, others have found that edible films composed of zein were more successful in preventing the rancidity of nuts when citric acid was added (Guilbert and others 1996).

*** Author’s note: Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol,pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volitile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a solvent, and as a fuel. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol or spirits.

In order to obtain an edible film that incorporates all the best qualities of these four basic materials, as well as fulfilling the specific conditions for each fruit or vegetable, manufacturers are now producing films comprised of different combinations. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of the four basic edible film barriers, as well as combinations thereof, are listed in Table VI-5 (discussed below).

Here is Table VI-3:

“Commercially available modified atmosphere packaging systems for small and large quantities of produce”

Edible Films¹
TAL Pro-Long (Courtaulds Group)	Blend of sucrose esters of fatty acids and sodium carboxymethylcellulose; depresses internal O₂and is edible.	Pears
Nutri-Save	N, O-carboxymethychitosan edible film.	Pears, apples
Semperfresh, Nu-Coat Fo, Ban-seel, Brilloshine, Snow-White and White Wash products (Surface Systems Intl. Ltd.)	Sucrose ester based fruit coatings with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose products manufactured exclusively from food ingredients available in dip or spray.	Most fruits and vegetables, processed and whole potatoes (Snow-White and White-Wash)
PacRite products (American Machinery Corp.)	Variety of products, water-based carnauba-shellac emulsions, shellac and resin water emulsions, water-based mineral oil fatty acid emulsions, and so forth.	Apples, citrus, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, squash, peaches, plums, nectarines
Fresh-Cote product line (Agri-Tech Inc.)	Variety of products including; shellac-based, carnauba-based and oil emulsion edible films.	Apples, pears, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, stone fruits
Vector 7, Apl-Brite 300C, Citrus-Brite 300C (Solutec Corp.)	Vector 7 is a shellac-based film with morpholine; the Apl-Brite and Citrus-Brite are carnuba-based films.	Apples and citrus fruits
Primafresh Wax (S.C. Johnson)	Carnauba-based wax emulsion.	Apples, citrus and other firm-surfaced fruit
Shield-Brite products (Pace Intl. Shield-Brite)	Shellac, carnauba, natural wax and vegetable oil/wax and xanthan gum products.	Citrus, pears, stone fruit
Sta-Fresh Products (Food Machinery Corp.)	Natural, synthetic, and modified natural resin products and combinations thereof.	Citrus, apples, stone fruits, pomegranates, tomatoes, pineapple, cantaloupes, and sweet potatoes
Fresh Wax products (Fresh Mark Corp.)	Shellac and wood resin, oxidized polyethylene wax, white oil/paraffin wax products.	Citrus, cantaloupes, pineapples, apples, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables
Brogdex Co. products	Carnauba wax emulsions with or without fungicides, emulsion wax, high shine wax, water-based emulsion wax, carnauba-based emulsion, vegetable oil, resin-based and concentrated polyethylene emulsion wax products.	Apples, melons, bananas, avocado, chayote, papaya, mango, pineapple, citrus, stone fruits.
FreshSeal^TM (Planet Polymer Technologies Inc. has licensed CPG Technologies of Agway, Inc. to produce)	A patented coating that slows the ripening process by controlling the O₂ and CO₂ and water vapor flowing in and out of the product. It can be tailored to the individual respiration rates of different fruit and vegetable varieties.	Currently available for avocado, cantaloupe, mangoes and papaya. Use on limes, pineapples and bananas is currently under investigation.
Nature-Seal^TM , AgriCoat (Mantrose Bradshaw Zinsser Group)	Composite polysaccharide-based coating using cellulose derivatives as film formers.	Sliced apples, carrots, peppers, onions, lettuce, pears, avocados, sliced bananas
Intelligent Systems
Activated Earth Films	Typically polyethylene bags with powdered clay material made of powdered aluminum silicates, incorporated into the film matrix. Possibly reduces ethylene concentration by facilitating its diffusion out of the bag.	Variable
Temperature Responsive Films (Landec Labs)	Films increase their gas permeabilities in response to temperature increases as well as increases in respiration. Stabilizes the modified atmosphere so it remains the same under various temperatures.	Specific for each product
CO₂ Scavengers FreshLock (Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co.), Verifrais (Codimer Tournessi, Gujan-Mestras)	Sachet type product which is placed directly in the package and absorbs both carbon dioxide and oxygen.	Fruits and vegetables, coffee
Ethylene absorbents Ethysorb (StayFresh Ltd), Ageless C (Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company), Freshkeep (Kurarey), Acepack (nippon Greener), Peakfresh (Klerk Plastic Industrie, Chantler Packaging Inc.)	Sachet type product which is placed directly in the package and absorbs ethylene. They are composed of a variety of products such as aluminum oxide, potassium permanganate, activated carbon, and silicon dioxide.	Fruits and vegetables
Antimicrobial Films-unsure of commercial availability

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So let’s take a look at what some of these “food safety” MAP products actually are, as listed in the above table:

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Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odour-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. Shellac was once used in electrical applications as it possesses good insulation qualities and it seals out moisture. Phonograph (gramaphone) records were also made of it during the pre-1950s, 78-rpm recording era.

Shellac is one of the few historically appropriate finishes (including casein paint, spar varnishes, boiled linseed oil and lacquer) for early 20th-century hardwood floors, and wooden wall and ceiling paneling.

From the time it replaced oil and wax finishes in the 19th century, shellac was one of the dominant wood finishes in the western world until it was replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1920s and 1930s.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac)

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Morpholine is a common additive, in parts per million concentrations, for pH adjustment in both fossil fuel and nuclear power plant steam systems. Morpholine is used because its volatility is about the same as water, so once it is added to the water, its concentration becomes distributed rather evenly in both the water and steam phases. Its pH adjusting qualities then become distributed throughout the steam plant to provide corrosion protection. Morpholine is often used in conjunction with low concentrations of hydrazine or ammonia to provide a comprehensive all-volatile treatment chemistry for corrosion protection for the steam systems of such plants. Morpholine decomposes reasonably slowly in the absence of oxygen at the high temperatures and pressures in these steam systems.

The European Union has forbidden the use of Morpholine in fruit coating.

Morpholine is widely used in the USA, Canada, Australia and other parts of the world as a food additive for use as a component or coating for fruits and vegetables. However, the use of Morpholine is prohibited in the European Union, those countries where its use is permitted are fully aware of these restrictions. Consequently, they have strict protocols to ensure waxes containing Morpholine are not used for fruit destined for the UK and the EU.

Morpholine is not permitted in Europe because it is known to be a precursor of N-nitrosomorpholine, a carcinogen.

(Source: http://www.salltd.co.uk/news_item.jsp?file=2010-09-29%20Morpholine%20residues%20detected%20in%20apples%20from%20Chile.html)

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpholine)

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Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) or cellulose gum is a synthesized cellulose derivative.

CMC is used in “food science” as a viscosity modifier or thickener, and to stabilize emulsions in various products including ice cream. As a food additive, it has E number E466. It is also a constituent of many non-food products, such as K-Y Jelly, toothpaste, laxatives, diet pills, water-based paints, detergents, textile sizing and various paper products. It is used primarily because it has high viscosity, is non-toxic, and is hypoallergenic. In laundry detergents it is used as a soil suspension polymer designed to deposit onto cotton and other cellulosic fabrics creating a negatively charged barrier to soils in the wash solution. CMC is used as a lubricant in non-volitile eye-drops (artificial tears). Sometimes it is methyl cellulose (MC) which is used, but its non-polar methyl groups (-CH₃) do not add any solubility or chemical reactivity to the base cellulose.

Following the initial reaction the resultant mixture produces approximately 60% CMC plus 40% salts (sodium chloride and sodium glycolate). This product is the so-called Technical CMC which is used in detergents. A further purification process is used to remove these salts to produce pure CMC which is used for food, pharmaceutical and dentifrice (toothpaste) applications. An intermediate “semi-purified” grade is also produced, typically used in paper applications.

CMC is also used in pharmaceuticals as a thickening agent. CMC is also used in the oil drilling industry as an ingredient of drilling mud, where it acts as a viscosity modifier and water retention agent. Poly-anionic cellulose or PAC is derived from CMC and is also used in oilfield practice.

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Paraffin – medicinal liquid paraffin is used to aid bowel movement in persons suffering chronic constipation; it passes through the gastrointestinal tract without itself being taken into the body, but it limits the amount of water removed from the stool. In the food industry, where it may be called “wax”, it can be used as a lubricant in mechanical mixing, applied to baking tins to ensure that loaves are easily released when cooked and as a coating for fruit or other items requiring a “shiny” appearance for sale.

It is often used in infrared spectroscopy, as it has a relatively uncomplicated IR spectrum. When the sample to be tested is made into a mull (a very thick paste), liquid paraffin is added so it can be spread on the transparent (to infrared) mounting plates to be tested.

Mineral oil has also seen widespread use in biotechnology for preventing the evaporation of small volumes of liquid during heating. Polymerase chain-reaction samples may need to be overlaid with a layer of mineral oil to prevent evaporation during the high heat (95 °C) required to denature DNA.

Paraffin wax as a food grade substance is used in:

Shiny coating used in candy-making; although edible, it is non-digestible, passing right through the body without being broken down
Coating for many kinds of hard cheese, like Edam cheese
Sealant for jars, cans, and bottles
Chewing gum additive

It is also used for:

Candle-making
Coatings for waxed paper or cloth
Investment casting
Anti-caking agent, moisture repellent, and dust-binding coatings for fertilizers
Agent for preparation of specimens for histology
Bullet lubricant – with other ingredients, such as olive oil and beeswax
Crayons
Solid propellant for hybrid rocket motors
Component of surf-wax, used for grip on surfboards in surfing
Component of glide wax, used on skies and snowboards
Friction-reducer, for use on handrails and cement ledges, commonly used in skateboarding
Ink. Used as the basis for solid ink different color blocks of wax for thermal printers. The wax is melted and then sprayed on the paper producing images with a shiny surface
Microwax: food additive, a glazing agent with E number E905
Forensics aid: the nitrate test uses paraffin wax to detect nitrates and nitrites on the hand of a shooting suspect
Antiozonant agents: blends of paraffin and micro waxes are used in rubber compounds to prevent cracking of the rubber; the antiozonant waxes can be produced from synthetic waxes, FT wax, and Fischer Tropsch wax
Mechanical thermostats and actuators, as an expansion medium for activating such devices
“Potting” guitar pickups, which reduces microphonic feedback caused from the subtle movements of the pole pieces
“Potting” of local oscillator coils to prevent microphonic frequency modulation in low end FM radios.
Wax baths for beauty and therapy purposes
Thickening agent in many Paintballs, as used by Crayola
An effective, although comedogenic, moisturizer in toiletries and cosmetics such as Vaseline
Prevents oxidation on the surface of polished steel and iron

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin)

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N(6)-Carboxymethyllysine (CML), also known as N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl)lysine, is an advanced glycation endproduct (AGE). CML has been the most used marker for AGEs in food analysis.

An advanced glycation end-product (AGE) is the result of a chain of chemical reactions after an initial glycation reaction. Side products generated in intermediate steps may be oxidizing agents (such as hydrogen peroxide), or not (such as beta amyloid proteins). “Glycosylation” is sometimes used for “glycation” in the literature, usually as ‘non-enzymatic glycosylation.’

AGEs may be formed external to the body (exogenously) by heating (e.g., cooking);or inside the body (endogenously) through normal metabolism and aging. Under certain pathologic conditions (e.g., oxidative stress due to hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes), AGE formation can be increased beyond normal levels. AGEs are now known to play a role as proinflammatory mediators in gestational diabetes as well.

The formation and accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) has been implicated in the progression of age-related diseases. AGEs have been implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease,cardiovascular disease,and stroke.The mechanism by which AGEs induce damage is through a process called cross-linking that causes intracellular damage and apoptosis.They form photosensitizers in the crystalline lens, which has implications for cataract development.Reduced muscle function is also associated with AGEs.

AGEs may be less, or more, reactive than the initial sugars they were formed from. They are absorbed by the body during digestion with about 30% efficiency. Many cells in the body (for example, endothelial cells, smooth muscle, and cells of the immune system)from tissue such as lung, liver, kidney, and peripheral blood bear the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products (RAGE) that, when binding AGEs, contributes to age- and diabetes-related chronic inflammatory diseases such atherosclerosis, asthma, arthritis, myocardial infarction, nephropathy, retinopathy, periodontis, and neuropathy.. There may be some chemicals, such as aminoguanidine, that limit the formation of AGEs by reacting with 3-deoxyglucosone.

The total state of oxidative and peroxidative stress on the healthy body, and the accumulation of AGE-related damage is proportional to the dietary intake of exogenous (preformed) AGEs, the consumption of sugars with a propensity towards glycation such as fructose and galactose. (So naturally, this AGE is used to coat fructose engorged fruit!!! Real safe…)

AGEs affect nearly every type of cell and molecule in the body, and are thought to be one factor in aging and some age-related chronic diseases.They are also believed to play a causative role in the vascular complications of diabetes mellitus.

They have a range of pathological effects, including increasing vascular permeability, inhibition of vascular dilation by interfering with nitric oxide, oxidising LDL, binding cells including macrophage, endothelial, and mesangial cells to induce the secretion of a variety of cytokines and enhancing oxidative stress.

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Gelatin (or gelatine) is a translucent, colorless, brittle (when dry), flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals’ skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning in a similar way are called gelatinous. Gelatin is an irreversibly hydrolyzed form of collagen, and is classified as a foodstuff and therefore carries no E Number. It is found in some gummy candies as well as other products such as marshmallows, gelatin dessert, and some low-fat yogurt. Household gelatin comes in the form of sheets, granules, or powder. Instant types can be added to the food as they are; others need to be soaked in water beforehand.

Gelatin is a mixture of peptides and proteins produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the boiled crushed bones, connective tissues, organs and some intestines of animals such as domesticated cattle, chicken, and pigs. The natural molecular bonds between individual collagen strands are broken down into a form that rearranges more easily. Gelatin melts to a liquid when heated and solidifies when cooled again. Together with water, it forms a semi-solid colloid gel.

The worldwide production amount of gelatin is about 300,000 tons per year (roughly 600 million lb).On a commercial scale, gelatin is made from by-products of the meat and leather industry.Gelatin is derived mainly from pork skins, pork and cattle bones, or split cattle hides; contrary to popular belief, horns and hooves are not used.The raw materials are prepared by different curing, acid, and alkali processes which are employed to extract the dried collagen hydrolysate. These processesmay take up to several weeks, and differences in such processes have great effects on the properties of the final gelatin products.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin)

Authors note… And so the practical joke of the century from the villainous FDA? Vegetarians and vegans have all this time been eating organic fruit and veggies covered in pig, beef, and chicken byproducts. Oh, they must get a kick out of themselves!

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Could this food safety practice actually be causing harm and promoting disease and harmful pathogens?

Oh, most certainly, according to the FDA report.

In fact, it after reading this report, I am very suspicious that the recent outbreaks of food-borne illness caused from produce may X have ironically been caused by this scientific process of food safety.

Remember the great spinach scare of the 2006, when almost all prepackaged washed and ready to eat spinich was recalled due to the strain of E. coli called 0157:H7? Several of those infected during that outbreak were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious form of kidney failure (remember, the kidneys are your renal system, a side effect of which is mentioned above).

How about the recent February 2011 recall of broccoli, where a number of broccoli products sold under the Signature Café, TFarms and Raley’s labels were recalled due to the risk of Listeria food poisoning?

It seems most if not all of these recalls have to do with “fresh cut” or “washed and ready to eat” produce, as well as whole produce.

So let’s take a look at the report to see what this Map film can do for our little pathogenic food poisoning friends…

3.2. Pathogenic organisms

…MAP produce is vulnerable from a safety standpoint because modified atmospheres may inhibit organisms that usually warn consumers of spoilage, while the growth of pathogens may be encouraged. Also, slow growing pathogens may further increase in numbers due to the extension of shelf life. Currently, there is concern with the psychrotrophic foodborne pathogens such as L. monocytogenes, Yersinia entercolitica and Aeromonas hydrophila, as well as non-proteolytic C. botulinum, although clearly a number of other microorganisms, especially Salmonella spp., E. coli O157:H7 and Shigella spp., can be potential health risks.

3.3. Clostridium botulinum (botulism)

…there is some concern about the use of MAP with respect to this organism (Zagory 1995). Depending on the product in a MA package, the level of O₂ can decrease rapidly if the product is temperature abused and product respiration increases, leaving a highly anaerobic environment ideal for the growth and toxin production of C. botulinum (Francis and others 1999)…

…in 1987, four circus performers in Sarasota, FL became ill with symptoms of botulism after consuming coleslaw prepared from packaged shredded cabbage purchased three weeks earlier in New Orleans (Solomon and others 1990). Researchers suspected that the cabbage had been packaged using MAP and that contaminated cabbage further contaminated the dressing, leading to the recovery of C. botulinum type A toxin and spores from the dressing.

…Lilly and others (1996) found that only 0.3% (1 of 337) of sampled shredded cabbage obtained from retail suppliers in the United States contained C. botulinum. However, the products tested had all been stored at 4°C (39.2°F), below the minimum for growth of proteolytic C. botulinum…

Growth and toxin production of C. botulinum before obvious product spoilage has also been observed on Agaricus bisporus mushrooms (Sugiyama and Yang 1975) and potato slices (Dignan 1985). As well, Austin and others (1998) performed challenge studies using both nonproteolytic and proteolytic strains of C. botulinum on MAP fresh-cut vegetables and found that samples of butternut squash (5°C [41°F], 21 d) and onion (25°C [77°F], 6 d) appeared organoleptically acceptable when toxin was detected. It was also demonstrated that toxin production by C. botulinumvaried with the vegetables tested. Only nonproteolytic strains growing on butternut squash were capable of producing neurotoxin at temperatures as low as 5°C (41°F ) in 21 d, whereas proteolytic strains were able to produce toxin on all vegetables tested (onion, butternut squash, rutabaga, romaine lettuce, stir-fry and mixed salad), except coleslaw at 15°C (59°F) and higher (Austin and others 1998)…

Fresh mushrooms and tomatoes have also been shown to contain spores of Clostridium spp., and therefore the possibility of botulism associated with these MAP products must not be ignored (Zagory 1995).

3.4. Listeria monocytogenes

Recently, concerns about possible pathogen contamination in MAP produce have focused on L. monocytogenes due to its ability to grow at refrigeration temperatures (NACMCF 1999). Numerous researchers have reported that this organism can remain largely unaffected by MAP, while the normal microflora is inhibited (Amatanidou and others 1999; Francis and O’Bierne 1997, 1998). Thus, although MAP produce can remain organoleptically acceptable, L. monocytogenes, with a reduced microflora and, especially if low levels of lactic acid bacteria are present, can grow at low temperatures to potentially harmful levels during the extended storage life of a MAP produce product…

Early studies showed that L. monocytogenes inoculated onto broccoli, asparagus and cauliflower was unaffected by a modified atmosphere of 3% CO₂, 18% O₂ and 79% N₂ for 10 d at 10°C (Berrang and others 1989a). Further studies by Beuchat and Brackett (1990a) clearly demonstrated that L. monocytogenes increased significantly in number on lettuce stored in a modified atmosphere of 3% O₂ and 97% N₂…

…Francis and O’Beirne (1997) also reported that the growth of L. monocytogenes was stimulated by nitrogen flushing at 8°C (46.4°F). In addition, increasing CO₂levels from 10 to 20% has been reported to stimulate the growth of L. monocytogenes in a surface model system (Amanatidou and others 1999).

Challenge studies conducted by Farber and others (1998) focused on commercially available packaged vegetables and salads, as well as vegetables processed to mimic foodservice conditions. The importance of refrigeration was clearly demonstrated as L. monocytogenes population levels remained constant on all fresh-cut, processed and packaged vegetables stored at 4°C (39.2°F), with the exception of butternut squash and carrots on which the levels increased and decreased, respectively. At 10°C (50°F), the growth of L. monocytogenes was supported on all vegetables tested with the exception of chopped carrots, where the population decreased by 2 log units over 9 d. The inhibitory properties of raw, uncooked carrots and carrot juice on the growth of L. monocytogenes have been previously reported (Beuchat and Brackett 1990b). As well, Jacxsens and others (1999) reported a decline in L. monocytogenes on both Brussels sprouts and carrots packaged under a modified atmosphere (2 to 3% O₂, 2 to 3% CO₂, and 94 to 96% N₂) and stored at 7°C (44.6°F)…

…and the authors concluded that these conditions might allow L. monocytogenes to reach potentially hazardous levels during the shelf life of the product…

The effects of competition between the indigenous microflora and pathogens on MAP produce have not been studied extensively. However, in a recent study, Francis and O’Beirne (1998) used a surface model agar system to examine the effects of storage atmosphere on L. monocytogenes and the competing microflora (Pseudomonas fluorescens, P. aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae,Enterobacter agglomerans and Leuconostoc citreum). The findings suggested that MAP conditions (5-20% CO₂, balance N₂ and 3% O₂) might increase the growth rate of L. monocytogenes…

…Liao and Sapers (1999) also reported that P. fluorescensstrains inhibited the growth of L. monocytogenes on endive leaves and spinach, possibly due to the production of a fluorescent siderophore by the pseudomonads. In general, at 3% O₂, a level often reached in commercial MAP packages, it appeared that growth of the inoculated mixed natural population was decreased, whereas L. monocytogenesproliferated.

Reports of L. monocytogenes growing on sliced apples in controlled atmosphere (Conway and others 1998) and peeled potatoes in vacuum-packages (Juneja and others 1998) at abusive temperatures provide further evidence that this organism may pose a safety risk with respect to certain MAP fruit and vegetable products, and reiterates the importance of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and HACCP for produce post-harvest handling and processing.

More research needs to be done to examine the influence of different atmospheres, background microflora and storage temperatures on the survival and growth of L. monocytogenes on MAP fresh-cut produce.

3.5. Aeromonas hydrophila

Aeromonas spp. can be found on a wide variety of foods, as well as in most aquatic environments and most often causesgastroenteritis, and occasionally septicemia (Kirov 1997)… A. hydrophila can grow at refrigeration temperatures, and several studies have shown that growth is not affected by low O₂ levels (1.5%) and CO₂ levels up to 50% (Francis and others 1999). A survey of 97 prepared salads found A. hydrophila to be present in 21.6% of them, significantly lower than in meat products tested (Fricker and Tompsett 1989). Hudson and De Lacy (1991) also did a small survey of 30 salads and found A. hydrophilain only one salad package not containing mayonnaise. They surmised that the mayonnaise lowered the pH of the food, thereby inhibiting the growth of or inactivating the aeromonads present…

Berrang and others (1989b) determined that although at both 4°C (39.2°F) and 15°C (59°F), the shelf life of broccoli, asparagus and cauliflower was prolonged by MAP (that is, 11-18% O₂, 3-10% CO₂, 97% N₂), it did not negatively affect the growth of resident or inoculated A. hydrophila. Interestingly, the organism was detected on most lots obtained from the commercial producer. Therefore, for storage periods of 8-21 d, depending on the product, A. hydrophila increased from roughly 10⁴ to 10⁸ or 10⁹ CFU/g, and product that appeared suitable for consumption was heavily contaminated with the pathogen. As with L. monocytogenes, the CO₂ levels that were inhibitory to A. hydrophila (that is, >50%) also damaged the product (Bennik and others 1995)…

3.6. Other pathogens of concern with respect to MAP produce

Organisms such as Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli, and various enteric viruses, such as hepatitis A, have been implicated in produce outbreaks, and, therefore, there is concern about their behavior under modified atmosphere conditions (Zagory 1995; Amanatidou and others 1999). A 1986 outbreak of shigellosis was traced back to commercially distributed MAP shredded lettuce; 347 people were affected in two west Texas counties (Davis and others 1988). Fernandez-Escartin and others (1989) tested the ability of three strains of Shigella to grow on the surface of fresh-cut papaya, jicama, and watermelon and reported that populations increased significantly when the inoculated product was left at room temperature for 4-6 h. Shigella is not part of the normal flora associated with produce, but can be passed on as contaminants by infected food handlers and contaminated manure and irrigation water.

More recently, an outbreak of Salmonella Newport was reported in the U.K., associated with the consumption of ready-to-eat salad vegetables (PHLS 2001). To date, nine human cases have been identified with the isolated strain from the implicated salad vegetables having an identical PFGE pattern to three of the human isolates.

Salmonella Typhimurium and L. monocytogenesactually had an increased growth rate at these concentrations; growth increased from 0.011 and 0.031µ/h to 0.023 and 0.041 µ/h for S. Typhimurium and L. monocytogenes, respectively. In general, E. coli O157:H7, S. Hadar and S. Typhimurium were only inhibited by CO₂ levels that caused damage and spoilage to the produce (Piagentini and others 1997; Amanatidou and others 1999; Francis and others 1999). A modified atmosphere of 3% O₂ and 97% N₂ also had no significant effect on E. coli O157:H7 inoculated onto shredded lettuce, sliced cucumber, and shredded carrot and incubated at 12 and 21°C (21.6 and 69.8°F) (Abdul-Raouf and others 1993). At 5°C (41°F), populations of viable E. coli O157:H7 declined on stored vegetables; however, at 12 and 21°C (53.6 and 69.8°F), populations increased, demonstrating the importance of refrigeration temperatures in maintaining product safety. Richert and others (2000) who, although not studying MAP, reported that E. coli O157:H7 could survive on produce (broccoli, cucumbers and green peppers) stored at 4°C (39.2°F) and proliferate rapidly when stored at 15°C (59°F). In 1993, there were two foodborne outbreaks of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) linked to carrots in a tabouleh salad served in New Hampshire and to an airline salad on a flight from North Carolina to Rhode Island (CDC 1994). Although these carrots were of U.S. origin, ETEC is a common cause of diarrheal illness in Mexico and developing countries that import fresh product to North America.Research on the behavior of this pathogen on fresh and fresh-cut product, both under MAP and without MAP, seems warranted…

…A more recent study, investigating the survival of C. jejunion MAP fresh-cut cilantro and lettuce, found thatrefrigeration temperatures in combination with a modified atmosphere of 2% O₂, 18% CO₂ and 80% N₂can be favorable for bacteria (Tran and others 2000). Due to the microaerophilic nature of Campylobacter spp., which require 5% O₂, 10% CO₂ and 85% N₂ for optimal growth, the investigators suspected that a low O₂ modified atmosphere may provide an environment conducive to survival of the pathogen…

-=-

Table VI-2: Polymers, film types and permeability available for packaging of MAP produce:

Edible Films	O₂ permeability (mL.mm/m².d.atm)	-	CO₂ permeability (mL.mm/m².d.atm)	Relative Humidity
Pectin	57.5	-	-	87
Chitosan	91.4	-	1553	93
Wheat (gluten)	190/250	-	4750/7100	91/94.5
Na caseinate	77	-	462	77
Gluten-DATEM	153	-	1705	94.5
Gluten-beeswax	133	-	1282	91
Na casenate/Myvacet	83	-	154	48
MC/MPMC/fatty acids	46.6	-	180	52
MC and beeswax	4	-	27	42
Gluten-DATEM and beeswax	<3	-	15	56
Gluten-Beeswax and beeswax	<3	-	13	56
Methylcellulose-palmitic acid	78.8	-	-	100
Zein	0.36²	-	2.67²	0.116³
Cozeen	0.89²	-	5.25²	0.407³
Polyethylene	8.3²	-	26.1²	-
Polypropylene	0.55²	-	-	0.00065³
Sucrose polyester	2.10²	-	-	0.00042³
Smart Films O₂scavengers with O₂indicators antibody based detection systems for detection of microbial pathogen
Antimicrobial filmsi) Edible Chlorinated phenoxy compound with biocide incorporated into the polymer layer (that is, nisin, lysozyme) Chlorine dioxide with biocide incorporated into polymer layer Edible films with sorbic acid, sodium benzoate, benzoic acid and potassium sorbate Pine based volatiles added to edible film Horseradish extract added to edible film ii) Non-edible films/products Propyl paraben dispersed in a polymer emulsion (Permax 801 or Carboset) LDPE with Imazalil LDPE with grapefruit seed extract Gas, as produced by sachets or other materials to produce sodium metabisulfite to obtain the production of sulfite

This list of ingredients includes substances that many people have high allergic reactions to, including wheat (gluten) and milk (caseinate), and ones that are just downright bad for your health, including Chlorine, corn byproducts, and other animal fatty acid byproducts.

-=-

So now at least you know. That shiny, healthy looking high-pro glow that is emanating from your fresh store-bought produce is more than likely this MAP – a film consisting of any number of inorganic, unhealthy compounds, including pork rinds and chicken bones!

The most important factor here is to understand that in an attempt prolong shelf life and reduce natural spoilage of our produce, these film covers are also creating an environment for bad pathogens to grow. And since the produce shows no signs of spoilage or contamination, the consumer may never know what is actually thriving thanks to that prolonged life allowed by modern, yet impossibly dangerous and deceiving food science.

And so once again, this is your Federal Food and Drug Administration at work.

When will we learn that the FDA is in the business of making its government owned corporations lives easier, by deregulating the rules that govern the food and drug industries and by allowing just about anything to be called “edible” and “food”, while simultaneously destroying the lives of anyone who tries to heal or cure disease without the FDA’s permission… and stealing their patents to boot? And now arresting farmers who transport raw milk across state borders as if milk is a illicit drug?

What is it going to take to make you stand up to this beast… this tyrant?

Less fluoride, perhaps…

–Clint Richardson (realitybloger.wordpress.com)
–Sunday, January 8, 2012

Processed Foods Damage the Brain

2012-01-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

It is actually no surprise that junkj foods cause brain damage. Since the brain is the most metabolically active part of the body, it is effected first by the diet. That means its reacts first to a good diet and changes for the better. But it also reacts first to a bad diet and changes for the worse. Obviously after a while the brain damaged by bad food can become permanent.

Fatty Processed Foods Trigger Addiction, Brain Damage

101

NaturalSociety
January 7, 201

Although there are many surprising culprits behind obesity and weight gain, recent research may reveals some shocking information every overweight person should know about. A recent study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation shows that junk food has a brain-altering effect which makes you eat it more of it. High-fat food processed food consumption causes damage to the hypothalmus part of your brain – an area responsible for levels of hunger, thirst, and the body’s natural rhythms and cycles.

The researchers not only found evidence that further supports processed foods and sugary drinks as being highly addictive, but also that once someone falls into the trap of consuming these foods and becomes obese, their bodies want to stay that way. As a natural fuel storage regulator, your body uses a process called energy homeostasis to keep weight normalized. But once obesity hits, that process is thrown off and your body wants to stay in that new state. This makes it very difficult for obese individuals to keep the weight off after successfully shedding the pounds. Needless to say, avoiding obesity altogether would definitely be the wise choice.

While the information helps you to realize why losing weight may have been difficult, this kind of research is vulnerable to being used as a free-pass excuse for those already overweight. Increasing obesity rates are not a result of unintentional weight gain and difficulty with losing weight but rather an unhealthy lifestyle being manifested for years. The average American diet is made up of chemically-laced fast food and a great deal of calories are obtained purely from soda or snack foods.

There are many reasons for the decline in national and international health; junk food, a sedentary lifestyle, and psychological influence ignited by mega-corporations are just a few. But even with all of these outside influences, it is ultimately up to you to be thin or fat. You are the decision maker and captain of your own life. Choosing to live the unhealthy or healthy life you live is a decision made by you, and can be changed at any point in time. Just as you have the power through thoughts and beliefs to cause self-healing, you also have the power to choose how you will present yourself to others each and every day.

Explore More:

Do Chem Trails Create Vitamin D Deficiency?

2012-01-09T10:53:00.001-05:00

No greater mystery exists, visible in plain sight, then the chem trails that right this moment are more than likely right above your head no matter where you are on the planet. You would think that there would be some mention of them on the evening news, in the presidential debates, or a question about it in high level press conferences or high level security briefings... but you would be wrong. Apparently chem trail compounds reflect a portion of the solar spectrum that have to do with vitamin D production in our skin leading to pervasive vitamin D deficiency throughout the population, the result of which is skyrocketing health problems, disease and death. Is someone trying to kill you and me? Something tells me that that is exactly the agenda. Do you have the will to act to save your own life? Do you know what to do? Start by taking vitamin D...

Mushrooms Stop Cancer (article and video)

2012-01-04T12:28:00.001-05:00

Could it be that the cure to cancer is in edible mushrooms? Much scientific research points in that direction. In one sense, mushrooms have already saved the world many times over, being the source of many vital anti-biotics in wide usage all over the world. Some mushrooms, such as maitaki and shitaki are well known and revered for their benefits to the immune system. Now research seems to back up the claim that edible mushrooms are a major way to prevent and even cure cancer.

Edible Mushrooms: Nature's Most Researched Anti-Cancer Agent

Post date:

Sun, January 1st 2012 at 8:15 am by Sayer Ji

by Sayer Ji

Over the course of the past few years we have uncovered a remarkable body of research on the medicinal properties of mushrooms. In fact, when it comes to natural cancer research, no other category has been the subject of more human clinical research than AHCC and Lentinan, both unique preparations of shiitake mushroom.
AHCC stands for active hexose correlated compound, and is classified as a functional food made from hybridized mycelia of shiitake (and sometimes other mushrooms) in rice bran. It contains both alpha- andbeta-glucan polysaccharides, well-known modulators of host immunity. Lentinan, also from shiitake (Lentinula edodes), is exclusively beta-glucan. What is so unique about these compounds is that they are "host-mediated" anti-cancer agents, helping the cancer-afflicted body combat cancer by boosting immune function. This is a radically different approach versus conventional chemotherapy, which poisons rapidly dividing cells, indiscriminately, killing both cancer and immune cells (among other healthy cell types).
How can edible mushrooms like shiitake protect us against cancer, perhaps the most widely feared disease that presently afflicts our species? Could the reason be that we co-evolved with fungi, and that the essential polysaccharides they contain were present in our diet for so long that the genetic/epigenetic infrastructure of our bodies now depends on them? Beta-glucan, after all, is found widely distributed in whole grains, nutritional yeast, as well as fungi. The friendly bacteria, in and outside of our gut, produce the beta-glucan fraction through the biotransformative processes of digestive fermentation and, in the case of food, culturing. Could it be that, failing to consume (or produce) adequate quantities, our body fails in its cancer immunosurveillance -- not unlike the well-established role that vitamin D deficiency has in maintaining proper immune function, and therefore reducing cancer risk.
But perhaps there is an even deeper reason to why fungi keep us alive and well, even when faced with the most terrible of health challenges: we share a common, unique evolutionary origin, and our fates may still be intimately interwoven.
The microbiologist Mitchell Sogin was interviewed back in 2004 on the topic:
"Animals and sponges share a common evolutionary history from fungi...
...we thought fungi were related to plants or somehow were just colorless plants. Plants had seeds, fungi had spores, and so on. Scientists used to publish fungi articles in plant journals. But the work does not support that. We've shown that fungi and plants are very different from each other, and fungi are actually more closely related to animals."
When asked the question: "Does all this mean humans are just highly evolved mushrooms?" Sogrin answered: "I'd say we share a common, unique evolutionary history with fungi. There was a single ancestral group of organisms, and some split off to become fungi and some split off to become animals."
Could medicinal/edible mushrooms "lend us their power"? In certain traditions of herbalism, there is an acknowledgment of the sacred bond between patient and herb, where the plant lends its power to (s)he who is suffering, as a "plant ally." Beyond nutritional and caloric content, biochemical make-up, pharmacology, etc., certain fungi may embody the biological equivalent of compassion, and exude an abundance or superfluity of life energy that we may harness to correct imbalances within ourselves. First, we must be willing to acknowledge that power in a source outside of ourselves, which is difficult for egocentric, anthropocentric humans to do. Second, we must consider ourselves worthy of the miracle of being healed, of life regenerating itself through us.
To learn more about the sacred bond between fungi and humanity, as well as how "mushrooms may save the world," please watch Paul Stamet's amazing video on the topic below...

FBI: Are You a 'Food Terrorist'?

2011-12-31T09:01:00.000-05:00

The ultimate control of the expression of human creative potential is in the regulation of the diet. To improve human potential you must improve the quality of the food. Lower the food quality and you lower possible human creativity. Now the FBI wants to know if you are interested in food and if you are you may be classified as a food terrorist and subject to prosecution.

Open Up and Say “Ahh”

By Michael Kindt | December 23rd, 2011 | 5 Comments

A recent Freedom of Information Act request has revealed that the FBI wants what it calls “food activists” prosecuted as terrorists, perhaps because nothing could more terrifying than exposing where our so-called food comes from and how it is manufactured.

Most Americans don’t really care where their food comes from or how it is made. All that matters is that it’s cheap and tastes good. Unfortunately for the food industry, not everyone is that stupid anymore. There is a growing desire to eat food that is healthy and produced in a cruel-free, sustainable way, stemming in part from the efforts of the food activists who have revealed the brutal, unnatural way our food is manufactured.

Joe Heller / Green Bay Press-Gazette (click to view more cartoons by Heller)

Thus, the FBI wants them classified as terrorists.

In the the brave new world of 21st century America, terrorism has evolved to mean anything that threatens the status quo or challenges the standings or profits of the corporate entities that have reduced our government agencies to the status of a pawns.

Think about it for a second: if you take a picture of a chicken suffering in tiny, filthy cage, the FBI wants you considered a terrorist, especially if your picture causes ‘economic loss’. Nothing terrifies a corporation more than economic loss. Why, people may see that photo, have a crisis of conscience, and spend their dollars elsewhere, thereby reducing the power of animal-torturing corporations. Such a thing should only happen in a free market, not in America.

The Freedom of Information request comes just as the Center for Constitutional Rights has filed a lawsuit challenging the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). The AETA is a law designed to to suppress activism and speech regarding the industries which brutalize animals with horrific conditions and/or pump them full of chemicals and drugs. Activists who expose such things very likely would cause economic loss due to the fact that many people would not eat what they eat if they actually knew what they were eating. Therefore, it is vitally important that they never find out.

Similar repressive laws are being introduced throughout the emerging fascist state that is America in the 21st century. In Florida for example, an ‘Ag Gag’ law has been introduced that would define taking pictures of the way corporations manufacture food as ‘terrorism’. Nothing says “We have something to hide” like saying “You are a terrorist if you take pictures of it.”

Anyway, Merry Christmas and have another slice of corporate ham.

—–

Michael Kindt is writer living in South Dakota whose work has appeared in College Times, Midwest Lit Review and in the poetry anthology “It’s Dark & Scary In Here.” He’s the author of “Early Onset of Night, Volume One” and blogs at Early-Onset-of-Night.tumblr.com. Twitter: @MichaelKindt

Should the Government Control Food?

2011-12-30T18:50:00.001-05:00

Do you and I have an individual right to eat the food we want to eat? Maybe not, or at least not any more in certain countries where the governent seems to think it knows best. You may be surprised at how far this trend has gone...

« New Zealand law mirrors US and Canada, fake food safety bills

Government to government plan to seize control of all foods

December 29, 2011 by ppjg

____________________________________________________

Shortly after “Dirty Harry” Reid passed the fake food safety bill in here in the US, with his one unanimous vote, C-36 passed two weeks later in Canada. Both bills were an outright attack on individual rights and property rights as both governments claim they now have the authority to unilaterally decide who can grow, process and sell foods and under what conditions. And, just as here in the US, those lawmakers responsible for this attack on liberty claimed they did so because that was what the public demanded and was begging for.

Actually, in both countries just the opposite was true; the public was demanding that these bills not be passed. Dirty Harry claimed that more than 10,000 people had begged him to pass the bill while never mentioning that more than a million had objected. But in neither case was food safety and security the real intent of the legislation. Both the US and Canada were handing agricultural production in all its forms, over to international organizations and multi-national corporations.

A sample of the unconstitutional restrictions included in bill C-36 include:

- abolishing protection from trespass, a court-ordered warrant, and the need for court-supervised search and seizure;

- on ONLY suspicion, health inspectors with the aid of police can invade any location in the country, seize and confiscate goods deemed unsafe (i.e. health supplements) and violate all constitutional rights of all parties involved

- it bypasses existing laws on privacy and confidentiality and explicitly exempts the Minister of Health and government inspectors from any kind of third-party oversight and accountability;

**Note: In the US the Secretary of Health & Human Services and any of her delegates were given the same immunity, and US citizens were denied their right to access the courts for redress.

- the need to publish regulations governing the activities of the inspectors is abolished, too;

- accused individuals have their access to the courts seriously limited, even the assumption of innocence is gone as violators are considered guilty until proven innocent with no recourse to any court of law.

- astronomical fines are to be handed out for crimes committed on the Minister’s assumption of guilt which requires no supporting evidence for independent examination;

- even the corporate shield would disappear, because corporate directors would be legally liable for the actions of their employees -; which actions would be deemed criminal solely on the opinion of the Minister, not by the courts;

Note: The US fake food safety bill differs in that it intentionally relieves corporations and most especially their employees and officers of any liability, allowing them to hide behind the corporate entity.

-this bill allows foreign governments and institutions, like CODEX and the World Trade Organization, to have the same powers over Canadians in all these matters outlined above, as if they were part of our own government.

Here in the US, with our government officials openly advocating and soliciting for multi-national corporate takeover of food production and supply and with opposition to this takeover marginalized and ignored, we have little chance of effectively thwarting the assault on agricultural production that is looming in the future. Canada appears to be following suit and is subjecting its citizens to World Trade Organization rules and regulations and openly advocating the takeover of food production in all its forms by industrialized operations which are more than willing to keep HSD and its corrupt partnering agencies awash in contracted funding.

Money talks and in our government agencies and offices it is virtually the only voice that is listened to.

Homeland Security, that bastion of domestic spies, paranoid fanatics and otherwise unemployable misfits has now come out with what it terms “natural security”. Under this umbrella of a newly created faux security system, food is now determined to be “at risk” and must be protected by arbitrary rules, regulations and oppressive enforcement because otherwise agricultural terrorists from parts unknown, neither identified nor identifiable, might somehow contaminate our food. Never mind that our food is constantly contaminated by bio-piracy outfits in their efforts to seize and control through highly suspect patented ownership of virtually anything and everything we might wish to eat.

Natural Security is a fictionally created model meant to do nothing other than to make HSD interference and meddling in food production seem to be somehow plausible.

The US fake food safety bill also added in its last pages the admonishment that nothing in the bill would interfere with World Trade Organization demands or agreements nor could it interfere with any free trade agreements present or future and also makes clear that WTO demands would supersede our laws and sovereignty.

With Canada now in line with US laws facilitating the takeover and control of food supply and production, it comes as no surprise that New Zealand, a highly productive agricultural economy, is next in line.

_________________________________________________

http://preventdisease.com/news/10/121510_Canada_passes_bill_c-36.shtml

http://nzfoodsecurity.org/updates/

Big Corn and Big Sugar- Gog and Magog!

2011-12-26T15:26:00.000-05:00

Big Corn and Big Sugar in a bitter fight over who's sweeter. Like Gog and Magog, cast them both down...

Big Corn, Big Sugar in bitter US row on sweetener

By Rob Lever | AFP – Sat, Dec 17, 2011

Big Corn and Big Sugar are locked in a legal and public relations fight in the US over a plan to change the name of a corn-based sweetener that has gotten a bad name.

The fight began last year when Corn Refiners Association, a trade association, proposed changing the name of high-fructose corn syrup to merely "corn sugar."

The group said the new name "more accurately describes this sweetener and helps clarify food products labeling for manufacturers and consumers alike."

But the sugar industry argued this change would be a bitter pill for US consumers and would only add to the confusion about a sweetener that has drawn criticism by some health advocates.

Sugar producers have filed suit alleging the corn industry has spent $50 million in "a mass media rebranding campaign that misleads the consuming public by asserting falsely that HFCS is natural and is indistinguishable from the sugar extracted from sugar cane and sugar beets."

The lawsuit, which seeks an end to the ads using the term "corn sugar," states that use of the corn syrup increased over 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990 and that this rise "bears a strong temporal relationship to the growth in American obesity."

Sugar makers say the corn industry is making a desperate effort to salvage the product which consumers are increasingly avoiding.

Sugar Association lawyer Adam Fox told AFP the group is seeking to stop the ads because "it is absolutely false for them to characterize this as a natural product."

In its response, the corn industry says the sugar industry is trying "to stifle free speech" and seeking to vilify its corn products.

"The sugar industry is wrongfully alleging that high fructose corn syrup (a sugar made from corn) causes health issues that do not arise from consuming cane and beet sugar," said Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Association.

"We believe that the sugar industry's views are misleading American consumers. The CRA will continue its work to educate consumers about high fructose corn syrup and will vigorously oppose the sugar industry's attempt to stifle public discussion of this important health issue."

The corn industry last year petitioned the Food and Drug Administration for permission to use the term "corn sugar" instead of high fructose corn syrup. But in the meantime it has launched television and print ads hoping to gain public support.

The campaign cites experts saying there is no difference between various sugars in terms of metabolism, calories or other nutritional values.

"Whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference. Sugar is sugar," one ad says.

Among the studies cited is a 2008 report by the American Medical Association which concludes "it appears unlikely that HFCS contributes more to obesity or other conditions than sucrose."

But a 2011 study cited by the sugar industry from the journal Metabolism concludes the fructose corn syrup leads to "significantly different acute metabolic effects" than plain sugar.

Some have linked the obesity epidemic to consumption of processed foods and soft drinks which use corn syrup in place of costlier cane or beet sugar.

Alternative medicine guru and author Andrew Weill writes that the corn product "is a marker for low-quality food and has no place in a healthy diet."

"The most widely used kind of HFCS may have disruptive effects on metabolism, as the body doesn't utilize fructose well. In fact, regular consumption of HFCS may contribute to obesity."

The National Consumers League has sent a letter urging the FDA to reject the renaming petition and noted that the corn sweetener in question "has received much negative publicity over the last several years."

"Questions have been raised concerning potential links to obesity and a variety of obesity-related health conditions including diabetes and heart disease," the letter said.

"Some consumers are concerned about emerging science regarding nutrition and health effects of HFCS, while others simply want to avoid highly processed sweeteners in favor of more natural substances."

Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, said both sides are missing the point, which is that Americans consume too much sugar.

"Changing the name of HFCS to corn sugar is about marketing, not public health," she said.

"If the FDA decides to approve the change, it will not alter the fact that about 60 pounds each of HFCS and table sugar are available per capita per year, and that Americans would be a lot healthier consuming a lot less of either one."

Life Abundantly

Nutt in Charge of Magic Mushroom Study

Can psychedelic mushrooms be a treatment for depression and other psychological illnesses? Dr Nutt of the Imperial C0llege is leading a study to see if the mushrooms can benefit severely depressed patients.

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Bald Head Cancer Barbie Doll Unveiled

In an apparent attempt to normalize cancer, Mattel has produced what some are calling, A Cancer Barbie Doll! It's Barbie, minus the big hair, after chemo therapy! Just what your daughter needs to play with right?

Cancer Barbie: Backers seeking bald doll to help sick kids come to terms with hair loss

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Thursday, January 12 2012, 7:02 PM

VIA FACEBOOK

Bald Barbie from the “Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let’s see if we can get it made” Facebook fan page. Below, Barbie with short-cropped, chemo hair.

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Photo of a photo composite showing a bald barbie called "Hope Barbie". JT Sherrard claims to have created the photo using an image of the 1998 Holiday Barbie.

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Open Up and Say “Ahh”

Should the Government Control Food?

Government to government plan to seize control of all foods

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