Cart is empty In Brief (click on the links to read more)
- International PFAS definitions shouldn’t be changed
- Alarmingly high levels of PFAS found in cereal products
- FDA waves lab-grown ‘salmon’ through approval
- Agrifood companies accused of greenwashing
- ‘New’ GM crops – the hype belies the truth
- New UK GM regulation prevents regulators from finding out if New GMos are harmful
- Regenerative farming is superior to conventional farming
- Pro-fluoride study supports water fluoridation
- Missouri rejects Bayer/Monsanto immunity bill
- New rat study finds glyphosate related cancer risk
- Post-Covid related news
Natural News
- A group of scientists publishing in Environmental Science & Technology Letters are warning that some individuals and organisations are seeking to change the current, internationally accepted, definitions of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances (known as ‘forever chemicals’) as set out by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), to align with narrower definitions endorsed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). They argue this politically and economically driven move could mislead regulators into covering only a fraction of the thousands of PFAS substances in existence. Such a change would give manufacturers carte blanche to continue production of highly toxic chemicals that are now persistent, not just in the environment, but in humans too
- Alarmingly high levels of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a PFAS pesticide byproduct, have been found in everyday cereals. A Global 2000 analysis (report in German / English) of 48 cereal products sold in Austria—both conventional and organic—found TFA in all samples, ranging from 13 to 420 µg/kg. Conventional cereals had over three times more contamination than organic ones. Compared to a decade ago, contamination levels have tripled.
>>> PFAS: The unfolding chemical disaster
- Lab-grown ‘salmon’ has been waved through the approval process in the US. The FDA has proclaimed the ‘salmon’, grown in a liquid suspension culture, is “as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods.” The safety claims however, are based solely on the manufacturer, Wildtype’s, safety assessment. This is the fourth company producing lab-grown ‘meat’ to be given approval to sell its products in the US as efforts to move people away from natural food systems continue apace.
>>> Nourishment or Novelty: Help Us Avoid Becoming a Frankenfood Nation
- Five of the biggest agrifood companies have been accused of greenwashing their climate strategies. A new report from the New Climate Institute accuses the companies of failing to implement meaningful changes to their production processes to cut emissions preferring instead to rely on climate credit systems and carbon removal schemes. All of which allows a business as usual model rather a genuine focus on reducing their impact on the environment and planet.
>>> Biodiversity credits: profiting from nature’s last frontier
- The agritech industry continues to push for deregulation of crops produced using ‘new genomic techniques’ (still GMO!). The lobbying efforts became clear with the publication of a new report from the European Non-GMO Industry Association (ENGA) and the Non-GMO Project in North America. The report finds that only three of these ‘New GMO’ crops are being cultivated in two countries and not a single ‘New GMO’ has yet contributed to sustainability goals. However the extent of the lobbying would indicate that there may be many more waiting for deregulation.
- Secondary legislation used to usher in “precision bred” genetically modified (PB-GMO) plants and animals in the UK effectively bans regulators from ever finding out if a PB-GMO poses more risk than conventionally bred organisms. GM Watch has the full story
- True regenerative farming systems aren’t just viable but are superior to conventional farming in terms of yield, resilience and supporting planetary health. Those are the conclusions of a new study from the farmer-led European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA). Using a new index called ‘Regenerating Full Productivity’ (RFP), the report measures how productive farmers can be with minimal synthetic inputs, which knocks for six the assumption that Europe’s food security depends on chemically-laden conventional farming.
>>> The Sixth Mass Extinction: Can You Survive It?
- Countering mounting evidence of the harms of water fluoridation, a new modelling paper has been published in JAMA Health Forum by researchers with links to pro-fluoridation lobbying groups. The paper estimates that eliminating water fluoridation would result in a 7.5% increase in tooth decay in children in the US and cost nearly $10 billion over 5 years. The paper doesn’t consider dietary and lifestyle factors that impact the development of tooth decay, particularly where children’s diets are high in sugars and highly processed foods or alternative strategies to mitigate such issues.
- Bayer’s battle to stem the tide of lawsuits against its subsidiary Monsanto, has taken a knock as the Missouri legislature rejected a bill that would have given it immunity against prosecution. It’s unlikely to be the end of the matter though as there is a high likelihood that the bill will be presented again next year, sponsored by those with the most to lose from the ongoing lawsuits without care for those harmed by glyphosate
- The case against glyphosate just got stronger with the publication of a new rat study from the Ramazzini Institute. Published in Environmental Health, the study found that even at low exposure levels considered safe by regulators, glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides increased the incidence of benign and malignant tumours in rats. The new findings give yet more support to the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) classification of glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.
Post-Covid related news
- Robert F Kennedy Jr has moved to allay criticisms sparked by continued vaccine approvals by the FDA, pushed through without appropriate supporting science. In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal he announced the sacking of all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) in order to remove conflicts of interest that have afflicted the Committee for decades. In a tweet this week RFK Jr announced the names of eight new members of the Committee who will attend the June meeting of the ACIP as he moves his mission to restore “public faith in vaccines” forward.
>>> Visit covidzone.org for our complete curated covid content of the coronavirus crisis
