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As if fish didn’t have enough to worry about, now those near coastal areas are threatened by an unprecedented number of dead zones, says a study published Friday in the journal Science. The number of dead zones — oxygen-deprived areas that can no longer support marine life — has doubled every decade since the 1960s, and the zones have been getting bigger and badder. Researchers counted over 400 dead zones worldwide, the combined area of which is bigger than the state of Oregon. “We can say that human activities really screwed up oxygen conditions in our coastal areas,” said Robert J. Diaz, the study’s lead author. Up where they spray all day in the sun, chemical fertilizers from farms send nitrogen-rich runoff downstream and out to sea, where it spurs the production of algae; as the algae sink to the bottom and decompose, huge amounts of oxygen are sucked up. The resulting dead zones in turn kill huge amounts of sea life. The researchers say fertilizer pollution needs to be reined in.

Source: www.grist.org

The FDA has no intention to define the term “natural” for food products any time in the near future, saying that it has other priorities.

In 2007, the agency received two petitions for a clear definition of the term in order to avoid consumer confusion. One petition came from the Sugar Association, which wants FDA backing for claiming that sugar is a natural sweetener, while the second came from baked goods manufacturer Sara Lee. According to Sara Lee, a formal definition is needed to provide consistency for manufacturers and consumers.

This lack of consistency has led to a wide range of products being claimed as “natural,” claims that have even sparked some lawsuits.

While the FDA has not responded to either petition yet, Geraldine June of the FDA Food Labeling and Standards department, says that the agency has not seen enough evidence that consumers are being misled by “natural” labels for the issue to become a priority. June said that the FDA has a limited budget and must prioritize issues that have an impact on health and safety, including health and nutrient claims, allergen declarations and irradiation labeling.

“Even if people interpret [“natural”] in different ways, it doesn’t mean there is confusion out there,” June said. “If there was, then we would definitely raise it as a priority”.

In 1993, the FDA said that it would consider defining the term, “because of the widespread use of this term, and the evidence that consumers regard many uses of this term as noninformative.” At that time, the agency also cited insufficient resource as a reason for the lack of a definition.

FDA rules currently allow the term “natural” to be used on food products as long as such use “is truthful and not misleading.” The term natural may not be used on any food product that contains artificial colors or flavors or “synthetic substances.” Specific ingredients are also prohibited from being labeled “natural,” except for “natural flavors.”

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/023850.html

When Adam D. Haddad says painting at his Worcester auto body shop has gone green, it does not mean cars are done in the 40 shades of Ireland.

It means Accurate Collision at 1051 Millbury St. has switched to water-based paints from petroleum-based paints, making it one of the first shops in Massachusetts to be in compliance with new federal laws to cut down on air pollutants from auto painting and stripping.

“Paint is dangerous,” Mr. Haddad said. “This is just better for the environment and better for the health of my employees - and it’s what consumers want.”

With a $150,000 investment in a spray-paint booth called the Nova Verta, along with a full supply of Environbase water-based paint, and a system to remove dust from repair bays and painting booths, Mr. Haddad is well ahead of the January 2011 deadline set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It shows. The shop does not have grease stains on the floor and is noticeably lacking in loud noise from air compressors. The air seems free of dust.

Less electricity is used with the new technology, Mr. Haddad said, but most of all he is pleased because his employees feel healthier and happier.

Emerging from finishing up a car in the paint booth, Julio Zuniga said his daily headaches have disappeared since he started working with the new paints about four months ago.

“It’s easier to use. It’s much cleaner and does not dry the skin out,” he said extending a palm that did not look or feel like the usual auto mechanic’s rough and grimy skin.

Jose M. Padin, an Accurate Collision auto technician, agreed. The new system, he said, has made a big difference in his work environment and his health.

“It’s so much cleaner. Before, I always had coughing and breathing irritations. When you painted with the old stuff, you almost got a head rush. This is better, it hardly has any smell,” he said.

Mr. Haddad said using the new paint, which is cleaned off with soap and water - he actually stuck the tip of a paintbrush in his mouth - eliminates the need to add thinners or other solvents, and the paint has no hazardous waste products.

It is pretty much applied the same way as the old system, but with modified spray-paint guns.

“It’s not a big change, but it’s a slightly different process. And it’s an expensive change,” he said.

Because 85 percent of U.S.-made cars are manufactured with water-based paints, the new technology actually makes for a better match on damaged vehicles, he said.

Source: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14023.cfm

Most mothers know that breast milk is best for baby, but there are some people who, perhaps for health reasons, need to find a safe alternative. In many instances, these moms look for an organic infant formula and are willing to pay top dollar to give their babies the best possible nutrition. Sadly, just because an infant formula is given the “organic” label doesn’t necessarily mean that it is healthy.

For example, a recent article in The New York Times revealed that the organic version of Similac infant formula is sweetened with cane sugar (sucrose) and is much sweeter than other infant formulas. While all infant formulas have some added sugars to aid in the digestion of proteins, other organic products use sugars like organic lactose, which is presumably a better match for what’s found in breast milk and doesn’t have the sweetness of sucrose. Most health-conscious readers are probably shaking their heads and thinking that it is nothing short of insanity to be adding sugar to baby formula when the U.S. is in the middle of an obesity epidemic. Were pediatricians actually consulted about what was put into this formula? Or was the product designed primarily by food chemists like the ones that create fast food strawberry milkshakes?

According to a list of frequently asked questions on the FDA website, the FDA currently does not approve infant formula before it can be marketed. The FDA does require that infant formula contain minimum amounts of certain nutrients, and it does provide upper limits for some nutrients. Certain nutrients that are required to be included in any infant formula are protein, fat, linoleic acid, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin B6, vitamin B12, niacin, folic acid, pantothenic acid, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, iodine, sodium, potassium and chloride. If cow’s milk is not used for the formula, then biotin, choline and inositol must be included.

Any substance that is generally recognized as safe may be used in infant formula in the United States. For now, that means that sugar can be used in baby formula in the U.S., and there is absolutely no upper limit to the amount of sugar that can be dumped into it. Europe, on the other hand, in light of the childhood obesity epidemic, has banned all sucrose from baby formula products beginning in 2009.

According to the The New York Times article, Dr. Benjamin Caballero, director of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, doesn’t think sucrose belongs in infant formula, either. Dr. Caballero believes that feeding children sweet things encourages them to eat more. He explains that babies and children generally prefer sweeter foods and will eat more of them than foods that aren’t as sweet.

While having babies eat more might be of interest to food corporations, parents need to be concerned with the health of their children. Concerns about obesity aren’t the only problem with putting sugar in baby formula. If a baby’s teeth are constantly exposed to sugar, this could result in tooth decay.

Clearly, finding a safe infant formula is a daunting task. According to The Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles, there are many risks associated with using infant formula instead of breast milk. For example, formula feeding is responsible for up to 26% of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in children. Middle-ear infections are three to four times more common in children who are fed infant formula, and children who are fed infant formula are also much more likely to be hospitalized due to bacterial infections. In addition to the health risks, some studies have shown that formula-fed babies don’t do as well on intelligence tests as breast-fed babies.

Moreover, sugar isn’t the only undesirable thing turning up in infant formula. An NPR report indicates that certain formulas enhanced with omega-3 fatty acids may actually pose a health risk. Other reports warn about Bisphenol-A turning up in infant formulations. What is a new mother to do?

Maybe new moms should take a lesson from the animal kingdom. What other mammals feed their babies the milk of other creatures? Do dogs try to feed their puppies cat milk? Of course not. Even small children know that cat milk is for kittens, just like cow’s milk is for baby cows. Perhaps the perfect formula for a baby just isn’t something that can be found in a can.

About the author
Joanne Waldron is a computer scientist with a passion for writing and sharing health-related news and information with others. She runs the Naked Wellness: The Gentle Health Revolution forum, which is devoted to achieving radiant health, well-being, and longevity.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/023796.html

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (NOP) announced this week that 15 of the 30 accredited organic certifiers they recently inspected failed the USDA audit and will have 12 months to make corrections or lose their accreditation with the NOP. Although the USDA euphemistically calls their enforcement actions “renewal pending subsequent audit,” it is clear that there are numerous violations of organic standards taking place in the U.S. and across the world. A number of the violations noted in the several hundred page audit related to Chinese imports certified by the French-based organic certifier Ecocert and other certifiers.

Strangely enough, Quality Assurance International (QAI), the largest organic certifier in the world, is not cited by the USDA, even though the OCA has recently reviewed documents that indicate that QAI is indeed under investigation by the NOP. QAI has recently been in the news for sourcing ginger, contaminated with a dangerous and banned pesticide, Aldicarb, from its Chinese certification sub-contractors and then labeling it as “USDA Organic.” QAI is also under public fire, along with other certifiers, for certifying factory farm feedlot dairies supplying milk to Horizon and Aurora Organic Dairy, who in turn supply Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway, and other organic private label organic milk.

Learn more and take action: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_13943.cfm

The Los Angeles City Council has approved a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a low-income area of the city.

The moratorium unanimously approved Tuesday is a bid to attract restaurants that offer healthier food choices to residents in a 32-square-mile area of South Los Angeles.

Councilwoman Jan Perry says residents at five public meetings expressed concern with the proliferation of fast-food outlets in the community plagued by above-average rates of obesity.

Nearly three-quarters of the restaurants in South L.A. are fast-food outlets. That’s a higher percentage than other parts of the city but the restaurant industry says the moratorium won’t help bring in alternatives.

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The Los Angeles City Council has approved a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a low-income area of the city.

The moratorium unanimously approved Tuesday is a bid to attract restaurants that offer healthier food choices to residents in a 32-square-mile area of South Los Angeles.

Councilwoman Jan Perry says residents at five public meetings expressed concern with the proliferation of fast-food outlets in the community plagued by above-average rates of obesity.

Nearly three-quarters of the restaurants in South L.A. are fast-food outlets. That’s a higher percentage than other parts of the city but the restaurant industry says the moratorium won’t help bring in alternatives.

“Our communities have an extreme shortage of quality foods,” City Councilman Bernard Parks said.

The aim of the yearlong moratorium is to give the city time to try to attract restaurants that serve healthier food.

The California Restaurant Association says the moratorium, which could be extended up to two years, is misguided.

Fast food “is the only industry that wants to be in South LA,” said association spokesman Andrew Casana. “Sit-down restaurants don’t want to go in. If they did, they’d be there. This moratorium isn’t going to help them relocate.”

The ban comes at a time when governments of all levels are increasingly viewing menus as a matter of public health. Last Friday, California became the first state in the nation to bar trans fats, which lowers levels of good cholesterol and increases bad cholesterol.

It also comes as the Los Angeles City Council tackles issues beyond safety, schools and streets. The council last week decided to outlaw plastic bags.

Fast-food restaurants have found themselves in the frying pan in a number of cities. Some places, including Carmel-by-the Sea and Calistoga, have barred “formula” restaurants altogether; others have placed a cap on them - Arcata allows a maximum of nine fast-food eateries; others have prohibited the restaurants in certain areas, such as Port Jefferson, N.Y., in its waterfront area.

Most initiatives were designed to preserve a city’s historic character. The Los Angeles bid is one of few that cite residents’ health.

The mounting pressure has caused chains to insert healthier food choices in their menus. McDonalds offers salads and low-fat dressings; Burger King stocks Kids Meals with milk and apple pieces.

That’s why the restaurant industry says it’s unfair to blame them for fat people.

“What’s next - security guards at the door saying ‘You’re overweight, you can’t have a cheeseburger’?” Casana said.

But public health officials say obesity has reached epidemic proportions in low-income areas such as South Los Angeles and diet is the key reason.

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 30 percent of adults in South Los Angeles area are obese, compared to 19.1 percent for the metropolitan area and 14.1 percent for the affluent westside. Minorities are particularly affected: 28.7 percent of Latinos and 27.7 percent of blacks are obese, compared to 16.6 percent of whites.

Councilwoman Jan Perry, who proposed the measure and represents much of South Los Angeles in her 9th District, says that’s no accident. South LA residents lack healthy food options, including grocery stores, fresh produce markets - and full-service restaurants with wait staff and food prepared to order.

A report by the Community Health Councils found 73 percent of South L.A. restaurants were fast food, compared to 42 percent in West Los Angeles.

If the moratorium is passed, Perry wants to lure restaurateurs and grocery retailers to area.

Rebeca Torres, a South Los Angeles mother of four, said she would welcome more dining choices, even if she had to pay a little more. “They should have better things for children,” she said. “This fast-food really fattens them up.”

Source: www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_13834.cfm

Zen Habits has organized a list of all their best money articles as a resource for anyone trying to live more frugally, get out of debt, save money, or just create a better financial system in their lives. You’re bound to find something useful in these supremely informative articles!

Top Picks

• 20 Money Hacks: Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Finances
• Financial Zen: How to Get Financial Peace of Mind
• How to Make Your Finances Automagical
• 10 Habits to Develop for Financial Stability and Success

Frugality

• The Cheapskate Guide: 50 Tips for Frugal Living
• 50 Tips for Grocery Shopping
• Top 25 Life-Improving Christmas Gifts for Under $10
• 30 Frugal Gift Ideas to Show You Appreciate Someone
• The Cheapskate’s Bible: The Complete Tightwad Gazette
• Monitor Your Impulse Spending Urges
• Cheap but great dates
• Simple Way to Save $3,000 a Year: Brown Bag It
• 50 Ways to Be Romantic on the Cheap
• Enjoy Life Now, AND Save for Later; or, Why Delayed Gratification is a False Dichotomy
• 106 Money-Saving Tips for a Frugal Lifestyle

Debt Reduction

• The 10 Key Actions That Finally Got Me Out of Debt; or, Why Living Frugally is Only Part of the Solution
• 73 Great Debt Elimination Tips
• The 12-Step Get-Out-of-Debt Program
• Fiscal Fitness: Eliminate Debt with 10 Successful Diet Principles
• 10 Ideas for Living a Life Without Credit or Debt
• How I Ended My Love Affair With the Credit Card (and Why I Use Cash)
• Eliminate Debt with the Snowball
• How to get your credit score up, and how not to care

Budgets

• Simple Finances: How and Why to Build Up a Cushion in the Bank
• How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck
• 10 Ways to Simplify Your Budget
• 21 Strategies for Creating an Emergency Fund, and Why It’s Critical

Miscellaneous

• The Six Key Steps to Healthy Finances in Your Relationship
• 10 Ways To Improve Your Financial Situation In Just 15 Minutes
• 10 Lessons to Teach Your Kids About Money
• 7 Things You Can Do Today to Prepare for Retirement
• 6 Great Free Alternatives to Quicken & MS Money
• Automate Your Income to Simplify Your Life

Sources: www.mercola.com

New Zealand beverage manufacturer Phoenix Organics has launched an anti-aspartame campaign called “Think Before You Drink,” to inform people about what it says are serious health risks from the artificial sweetener.

Aspartame is a common zero-calorie sweetener, marketed under brand names including Equal, NutraSweet, Canderel and Tropicana Slim and used in more than 6,000 products worldwide.

As part of the new campaign, Phoenix Organics has labeled 20,000 bottles of Phoenix Organic Cola with information about the potential health risks of aspartame, and plans to give out those bottles for free over the next few months. The company has also created a section on its Web site linking to information about the chemical and “the 92 different symptoms noted in over 10,000 complaints received by the FDA.”

“Having read the Bressler Report of the FDA and other reports on the effects of aspartame, we had the living daylights scared out of all of us,” said company directors Stefan Lepionka and Marc Ellis. “We cannot believe that the New Zealand government has declared this safe in the face of such evidence.”

The Bressler Report was a 1977 FDA report on the inadequacies of aspartame maker GD Searle’s trials into the safety of the chemical. In 1981, Searle Chief Operating Officer Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense for Gerald Ford and later serving the same position for George W. Bush, reapplied for FDA authorization. Aspartame was approved for dry goods in 1981 and for beverages in 1983.

Numerous studies have linked aspartame to brain damage and cancer, while others have shown that it breaks down in the body into toxic byproducts such as formaldehyde.

Lepionka and Ellis expressed concern that in the face of increasing efforts to remove sugary soft drinks from school grounds, beverage companies have suggested aspartame-containing diet soda as a good alternative.

“Phoenix Organics has contacted a number of groups that have been fighting to raise awareness of the health concerns surrounding aspartame and said the company will do whatever it can to support the overall aim to have the government restrict and ban aspartame,” they said.

www.naturalnews.com