Activist Post
February 23, 2013
Two powerful dairy organizations, The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), are petitioning the Food and Drug Administration to allow aspartame and other artificial sweeteners to be added milk and other dairy products without a label.
The FDA currently allows the dairy industry to use “nutritive sweeteners” including sugar and high fructose corn syrup in many of their products. Nutritive sweeteners are defined as sweeteners with calories.
This petition officially seeks to amend the standard of identification for milk, cream, and 17 other dairy products like yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, and others to provide for the use of any “safe and suitable sweetener” on the market.
They claim that aspartame and other artificial sweeteners would promote healthy eating and is good for school children.
According to the FDA notice issued this week:
IDFA and NMPF state that the proposed amendments would promote more healthful eating practices and reduce childhood obesity by providing for lower-calorie flavored milk products. They state that lower-calorie flavored milk would particularly benefit school children who, according to IDFA and NMPF, are more inclined to drink flavored milk than unflavored milk at school.
Although the FDA considers aspartame to be a “safe and suitable” sweetener, a recent Yale University study appears to directly challenge the claim that aspartame would reduce obesity. In fact, the study concluded just the opposite, that artificial sweeteners actually contributed to obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
The IDFA and NMPF argue “that the proposed amendments to the milk standard of identity would promote honesty and fair dealing in the marketplace” yet they don’t want changes to the labels on dairy products.
Accordingly, the petitioners state that milk flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners should be labeled as milk without further claims so that consumers can “more easily identify its overall nutritional value.”
It’s unclear how consumers can more easily identify the overall nutritional value of milk products that are flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners without labels.
Quoting Section 130.10 of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, the dairy giants claim a new label is not required because sugar is added to milk without labeling it, and “the modified food is not inferior in performance” and “‘reduced calorie’ (labels) are not attractive to children” so marketing as such is of no benefit or detriment.
The FDA has opened public comments until May 21 for anyone interested to “submit comments, data, and information concerning the need for, and the appropriateness of, amending the standard of identity for milk and the additional dairy standards.”
To submit a formal comment or send data to the FDA concerning adding aspartame and other artificial sweeteners to milk products CLICK HERE.
Read other articles from Activist Post Here.
February 23, 2013 | Categories: action alerts / announcements / solutions, health, news, science, studies, tyranny | 1 Comment
by Elizabeth Renter
Natural Society
February 22, 2013
When the industry found consumers getting hip to BPA and its hormone disrupting qualities, they started looking at alternatives. While that was nice and all, the alternatives aren’t much better. In fact, some research found that mot plastics, even those that are BPA-free, still leach hormone-mimicking chemicals when exposed to normal conditions. While the research took play a couple years ago, it reminds us to think twice when using and purchasing plastics.
Despite that the industry would like you to think “BPA-Free” labels make foods safe from hormone disrupters, researchers say that simply isn’t the case. They tested more than 450 different plastic containers from stores like Walmart and Whole Foods. More than 70% of them released estrogen-like chemicals.
The containers they tested included those most likely to come in contact with food. Plastic bags, baby bottles, deli containers, and reusable plastic food containers were all tested. Because they knew BPA-containers would emit hormone-disrupters, they focused on those plastics that claimed to be “BPA-free”.
When exposed to saltwater and alcohol, the majority of the plastics released hormone disrupting chemicals. The number increased when they were put in the dishwasher, exposed to sunlight, or used in the microwave. These exposures are just the type that these plastics would undergo if used in your home.
Related: What do plastic recycling symbols mean? Find out which plastics are safest and which you should not use.
“Then, you greatly increase the probability that you’re going to get chemicals having estrogenic activity released,” said Professor of Biology George Bittner, adding that they increased the number of containers emitting hormone disrupters to 90%.
The study didn’t focus on health effects as much as the chemicals that the containers produced. Some scientists would argue that these disrupters aren’t proven to do any damage to humans, only mice and rats. Others say Bittner’s research isn’t completely reliable. But iIf a chemical causes infertility and cancer in rats, I don’t want to touch it.
However, those that have questioned BPA-effects before are welcoming the study.
“This is really helpful because they took a look at very common products,” says Sonya Lunder of the Environmental Working Group.
It seems when the scientific world is presented with studies like this, we are encouraged to continue on with business as usual until they know, without a doubt, that something is 100% likely to cause cancer, illness, death, or the like. While they may be convinced our retail habits are more important than our health, I’d like to think our informed readers know otherwise.
Additional Sources:
ScienceDaily
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/
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February 23, 2013 | Categories: health, news, science, studies | Leave a comment
The Weed Blog
February 22, 2013
By Keith Mansur, Oregon Cannabis Connection
“Weed Country”, a new reality series about a famous marijuana region in California, premiered Wednesday February 20th on Discovery Channel. In this newest take on the marijuana trade, Discovery Channel takes viewers on a journey through the old “Emerald Triangle” of North West California and its new regions, which stretch clear into Southern Oregon’s southern counties where I reside.
After only one episode, it is obviously a typical “non-reality” reality show similar to both Moonshiners and Cops (fair notice: I hate reality TV). Not only does it put a bad light on medical marijuana, it sensationalizes the cops, the growers, and the distributors into a prime example of bad “reality” television.
A major focus of the first episode was on law enforcement officers in the “Triangle” area, and certain Sheriffs to be exact. Some have launched a crusade against marijuana, medical or otherwise.
They also focus on a couple of growers in Northern California who grow and supply medical marijuana to locations south of the “Triangle” and the many issues they face.
In the episode, only six minutes is spent on patients, and only one of them spoke about the difficulty of access to medical marijuana. The two patients were sincere, but hardly typical. One is a Mom who was treating her epileptic son, and the other is an ex-cop from New York City, now living in California, who’s condition is helped greatly by cannabis.
Utilizing creative editing, the Discovery Channel went to great lengths insuring an exciting first show. They filmed a “staged” assault by the Jackson County Oregon’s SWAT team on an imaginary grow site, supposedly for training purposes. They filmed numerous aerial shots of Oregon grow sites, many of which were clearly legal grows with just 24 plants in some gardens. All the while, officers, including Sheriff Winters of Jackson County Oregon, comment on the size and scale of the grows.
Their editing went overboard when one of the growers starring in the show, Mike Boutin, was headed to Redondo Beach California to deliver a parcel of medicine, a trip the show called a “drug run” down the coast. The narrator explains during the drive that “bandits”, as well as police, are problems for couriers on that highway, and of course a suspicious car begins to follow Boutin. He pulls over to the side of the road to let the car pass with a look of concern of his face….The next sound you hear is the sound of a gun cocking, like Boutin is “prepared” for anything! Cut to commercial!
Of course, the car drove right on by.
“That’s Bullshit!”, I screamed out loud. I don’t think he would be carrying a gun, and I’m damn sure he wouldn’t cock it unless there was a serious threat, not just a passing car! That was creative editing, for sure.
As it turns out, I was right, as the producers actually exposed themselves later on in the episode.
When Boutin returned home, and his German Shepard did not meet him at the driveway, he displayed extreme concerned. He had left his wife alone with the dog for two days. Boutin explained that if his dog was not there to greet him upon his return, he would get very suspicious. In fact, he was so suspicious, he went to the wood pile…by the house…and grabbed a loaded handgun…from the wood pile…not his car…where he was supposedly “cocking” a hand gun earlier in the trip!
That makes no sense, at all! He would have brandished the gun already in the truck from the moment he stepped out to look around.
Sheriff Mike Winters Loves Prohibition
The most ridiculous law enforcement statements came from Sheriff Mike Winters, who hates marijuana and thinks it is the downfall of America. He seems to believe he can end the war on drugs, even if he does it alone.
In reference to those who believe in marijuana legalization and controlling it like alcohol, Winters said, “I don’t believe it. I’ve seen a decline, in my opinion, of America from great to good. I don’t want to see it decline.”
“Drugs are going to be the downfall of this country, and I’m going to stop it,” Winters further exclaimed to the camera.
Discovery Channel even edited a segment together with images of Mexican cartel busts, a body on gurney, and images of weapons. It made it appear the medical marijuana grows were creating the problems. In the scene, Sheriff Winters even implied “people” are using MS13 gang members to protect their gardens and that there had been “officer involved” shootings.
MS13 gangs protecting OMMP grows? That’s just ridiculous. I know a lot of medical growers, none have heard of such a thing.
As for “officer involved” shootings, From what I found in the past five years in Jackson County, only two marijuana grows that were raided and had shots fired. In both cases, only the police fired their weapons.
In one instance from August 2010, a man, who was believed to be from a Mexican cartel and growing illegally on BLM land, was shot dead by police after they spotted him near the grow. According to reports, the man never fired a shot at police.
The other was a raid on a legal Oregon medical marijuana garden last fall in Gold Hill, Oregon. The only shot fired was, again, by the police, and fired accidentally. The OCC reported on the raid last Aug/Sep 2011 (see it at http://www.oregoncannabisconnection.com). During the raid, an officer accidentally discharged his weapon into the ground, leaving the bullet behind as a souvenir for the raid victim.
Arguably the most disturbing comments from Winters came the very same day the episode aired on Discovery Channel. On the afternoon before his big network TV debut, he handed pink slips to 66 employees of the Sheriff’s department, citing both cutbacks from Federal sources and an unforeseen increase in PERS (Public Employee Retirement System) funding as the problems.
Of course, all of this is due to budget cuts and increased PERS funding he saw coming almost nine months ago. Dave Crosley of PERS said to KTVL TV, “We let employees know in October of 2012, what the rates would be beginning July of this year.”
Winters avoids responsibility for the department, and the budget, he has run for 10 years, including their new headquarters which opened last spring in Central Point, Oregon, or their new construction project on the Sheriff’s old office in Downtown Medford. Not to mention, catering to Discovery Channel’s producers and cameramen, flying helicopters around to locate medical grows, and wasting the departments budget filing lawsuits and appeals to stop legal Oregon marijuana patients from possessing a Concealed Handgun License. (See the OCC Aug/Sep 2011 issue for the story at www.oregoncannabisconnection.com)
Instead, he proposed layoffs during a televised press conference. He warned county residents that there will be fewer rural patrols and an increased response time on calls in some areas. Messing with peoples lives inside the sheriff’s department and out seems to make Winters feel powerful. He may call it leadership, but those who understand call it hubris.
With five more episodes to go, and another show filling the time slot in April called “Pot Cops”, we can be assured that the law enforcement will get their message across. How can they miss when Discovery Channel sensationalizes everything and makes them out to be heroes that are fighting a battle, and a “winning” battle according to Sheriff Mike Winters.
Weed Country is terrible, and does not favors for the marijuana industry, especially in Oregon. All those wanting to end marijuana prohibition should let them know at Discovery Channel. Visit the “Weed Country” Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/weedcountrydc) and Discovery Channels website (http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/weed-country) to see the show and to let them know how you feel.
The Oregon Cannabis Connection is a bi-monthly publication focused on the Oregon cannabis community. For subscription or location information, visit their website.
February 23, 2013 | Categories: drug war, health, marijuana, news, tyranny, US | Leave a comment
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