Petition to remove food dyes

Click HERE to sign a petition to KRAFT Foods to remove all artificial food dyes from their products. 

From the petition site:

"In kitchens across the country, artificial food dyes can be found in everything from packaged macaroni and cheese to breakfast cereal to practically every piece of candy your child has ever put in her mouth.

Artificial food dyes have been linked to hyperactivity in kids (ADHD), cancer and serious food allergies, and GUESS WHAT? Due to enormous consumer pressure, large manufacturers like Kraft Foods voluntarily removed these artificial food dyes from products they sell in other countries, but not from the same products they sell in the US!
If they can make that cheesy mac your kids love without using these artificial petroleum-derived dyes for other countries, then why not for our kids?
Kraft Foods is the largest confectionery, food, and beverage corporation headquartered in the United States and they own dozens of other brands including Jell-O, Nabisco and Oscar Mayer. If we can get Kraft Foods to change its practices - we can change the entire food industry!
Let's demand that Kraft Foods clean up its US act, and remove risky artificial food dyes from their products."

(http://www.change.org/petitions/hey-kraft-get-rid-of-risky-artificial-dyes-3) 


Click HERE to sign a petition to KRAFT Foods to remove all artificial food dyes from their products.

Is Sugar Toxic??

We all know sugar is not good for us...but one man is now bringing evidence that sugar is a toxic substance that is responsible for many behavioral and physical diseases. Obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and many cancers are listed among the problems with consuming too much sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

From the article about sugar consumption and its effect on cancer cells:

"As it was explained to me by Craig Thompson, who has done much of this research and is now president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the cells of many human cancers come to depend on insulin to provide the fuel (blood sugar) and materials they need to grow and multiply. Insulin and insulin-like growth factor (and related growth factors) also provide the signal, in effect, to do it. The more insulin, the better they do. Some cancers develop mutations that serve the purpose of increasing the influence of insulin on the cell; others take advantage of the elevated insulin levels that are common to metabolic syndrome, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Some do both. Thompson believes that many pre-cancerous cells would never acquire the mutations that turn them into malignant tumors if they weren’t being driven by insulin to take up more and more blood sugar and metabolize it."
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=8&_r=1&hpw)



Take a few minutes to read the entire article from the NY Times...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?_r=1&hpw

Dye in the News

There have been many developments in the news lately regarding dyes. 


The people at Healthy Child, Healthy World have put together a review of each of these stories on their website. 

"All Things Dye In The News"

"Necessary News

Thursday, April 07, 2011

•  

French Consumer Reports identifies the safest and most effective hair dye. Using the standards of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (CSSC) of the European Union (a much more stringent system than our own regulators use), each product was evaluated for: potential irritation, sensitization, mutagenic risks, and carcinogen and reproductive toxins. A natural product was not only judged fully acceptable for long-lasting natural color – it was the only one that received an acceptable safety rating. (Good news – it’s a product made in the US!) Read more.


The Art of Making Egg Dye. A seasonal tradition for many families, this year opt for DIY dye made from foods instead of artificial commercial dyes.


Learn more about artificial food dyes during a live chat. Research is mixed over whether synthetic food dyes can affect some children’s behavior. Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) won't be putting labels on foods containing the dyes any time soon, more research is warranted, according to a federal advisory panel. But is this the end of the story? Why did the FDA hold the recent hearing? And why has Europe required warnings on some foods that contain dyes? Join the LA Times at noon CT (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, April 12, for an hour-long chat about the food dye and hyperactivity controversy, with Chicago Tribune health reporter Julie Deardorff and panelists Michael Jacobson and Dr. Keith-Thomas Ayoob.
Worried About Food Dyes? Here are 4 Tips to Avoid Them."

Read more: http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/all_things_dye_in_the_news/#ixzz1IzjpvJVR

Click HERE to read about each issue in more detail

FDA to review safety of food colorings

Citing growing concerns over the safety of some food colorings added to most processed foods, the FDA is now looking into the issue.

I wrote a post about this very topic not too long ago and the evidence is strong that food additives and preservative contribute to behavior problems in children. 


check out this story from NBC's Nightly News on the subject:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news/#42329129

From Yahoo.com

"10 dirty fruits and veggies"

"by Health.com, on Tue Feb 8, 2011 10:27am PST

By Ashley Macha

Are the fruits and vegetables you buy clean enough to eat?

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) studied 100,000 produce pesticide reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to create a list of 49 of the dirtiest and cleanest produce.

So before you hit the grocery store, see how some of your favorite fruits and veggies measured up.

Did one of your favorites make the list? Don't worry, the EWG recommends purchasing organic or locally grown varieties, which can lower pesticide intake by 80% versus conventionally grown produce.

Celery
This stalky vegetable tops the dirty list. Research showed that a single celery stalk had 13 pesticides, while, on the whole, celery contained as many as 67 pesticides.

Chemicals fester on this vegetable as it has no protective skin and its stems cup inward, making it difficult to wash the entire surface of the stalk. It’s not easy to find locally grown celery, so if you like this crunchy veggie, go organic.

Peaches
Peaches are laced with 67 different chemicals, placing it second on the list of most contaminated fruits and vegetables. They have soft fuzzy skin, a delicate structure, and high susceptibility to most pests, causing them to sprayed more frequently.


Strawberries
This red, juicy fruit has a soft, seedy skin, allowing easier absorption of pesticides. Research showed that strawberries contained 53 pesticides. Try to buy strawberries at a local farmer’s market for a sweet dessert.

Apples
Apples are high-maintenance fruit, needing many pesticides to stave off mold, pests, and diseases. The EWG found 47 different kinds of pesticides on apples, and while produce washes can help remove some of the residue, they’re not 100% effective.

Blueberries (domestic)
These antioxidant-rich berries have a thin layer of skin that allows chemicals to more easily contaminate the fruit. Domestic blueberries were loaded with 13 pesticides on a single sample, according to the EWG. Imported blueberries also made the list at No. 14 for the dirtiest produce.


Sweet bell pepper
This crunchy, yet thin-skinned, vegetable is highly susceptible to pesticides. According to the EWG, sweet bell peppers showed traces of 63 types of pesticides. While some pesticides can be washed away, many still remain.

Spinach, kale, collard greens
These leafy green vegetables are on the list, with spinach loaded with 45 different kinds of pesticides and kale 57.

In 2006, Dole recalled bagged baby spinach after multiple E. coli illnesses associated with the vegetable made their way across the country.

Grapes (imported)
These tiny fruit have extremely thin skins, allowing for easy absorption of pesticides. And think twice before buying imported wine. The grapes that go into the wine could be coming from vineyards that use too many pesticides.

Potatoes
Have you ever indulged in a potato skin at your favorite restaurant? You might want to think twice before eating the skin. This spud was highly laced with pesticides—36, according to the EWG—that are needed to prevent pests and diseases.


Cherries
Cherries, like blueberries, strawberries, and peaches, have a thin coating of skin—often not enough to protect the fruit from harmful pesticides.

Research showed cherries grown in the U.S. had three times the amount of pesticides as imported cherries. Because cherries contain ellagic acid, an antioxidant that neutralizes carcinogens, it’s worthwhile to buy organic or seek imported ones."

(http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/10-dirty-fruits-and-veggies-2451593/)