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In Brief (click on the links to read more)
- San Francisco sues UPF manufacturers
- Reformulating UPFs is little more than ‘ health-washing’
- US FDA tightens restriction on fluoride drugs for kids
- Warning sounded over soaring rates of cancer
- The latest edition of Caduceus Magazine has landed
- The healing effects of Reiki
- ANH-USA Update
- Free Speech Threats
- Post-Covid related
Natural News
- A first-of-its-kind lawsuit has been filed by San Francisco’s city attorney against some of the largest manufacturers of ultra-processed foods in the US. The companies named include Kraft Heinz, Kellanova, Kellogg, Mars, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Mondelez and ConAgra. City Attorney, David Chiu, said the lawsuit has been brought to hold food companies accountable for the health crisis created by such foods, which has led to a massive increase in chronic disease rates and threatens to collapse healthcare systems globally.
>>> Give the gift of vibrant health and wellbeing this Christmas with a copy of Reset Eating, Revised 1st Edition
- Simply reformulating ultra-processed foods (UPFs) to reduce sugar, salt or fat isn’t enough to mitigate their harm, because it fails to address fundamental issues like disrupted food structure, additive use and overstimulation of appetite according to a paper published as part of a series discussing UPFs in The Lancet. The series warns that reformulation can be used to “health-wash” products and calls for broader policy action that targets ultra-processed foods themselves, not just their nutrient profiles.
- The harms of fluoride to kids has been highlighted by the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) tightening of rules on ingestible fluoride supplements for children. The updated rules restrict their use to kids over three at high risk of tooth decay and warn companies not to market unapproved products, amid concerns about potential impacts on the gut microbiome and child development. This shift in oral health policy reflects growing scrutiny of the harms of systemic fluoride exposure.
- An op-ed in The Conversation warns that without major prevention programmes and health system reforms, annual cancer cases globally could soar from about 18.5 million today to over 30 million by 2050, with the heaviest burden falling on low‑ and middle‑ income countries. The author highlights a recent study published in The Lancet warning this looming crisis reflects widening health inequalities and underscores the urgent need for coordinated action on modifiable environmental, lifestyle and diet related risk factors to tackle a preventable disease that’s impacting more and more people and their families across the globe.
- The latest copy of Caduceus magazine has hit the shelves and landed in the ANH office. For those who’re not familiar with the publication, Caduceus has been a leading magazine for the health conscious amongst us since 1987 due to its focus on psychological, emotional, spiritual, ecological and environmental health, therapy and growth, including natural, holistic, energy and complementary medicine. Issue 115 includes features on DMSO, the metaphysics of consciousness and ANH founder, Rob Verkerk PhD’s, recent interview with Patrick Holford discussing the Food for the Brain’s research grant to promote dementia detection and prevention.
>>> Join the conversation with Rob Verkerk and Patrick Holford to find out more
- A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology explores the effects of brief, community-based Reiki healing sessions on perceived stress and pain in high-stress populations. In this exploratory research involving over 1,700 participants, self-reported stress and pain levels decreased significantly after a single ten-minute session, suggesting potential value for non-clinical, low-cost stress-reduction interventions, though more rigorous trials are needed to confirm efficacy.
ANH-USA Update
- A new proposal to overhaul the GRAS pathway poses a direct threat to safe natural products and consumer access. Rep. Pallone’s bill would abolish self-affirmed GRAS and replace it with a full FDA pre-approval system—driving up costs, shrinking innovation, and giving the agency sweeping authority to retroactively challenge long-standing ingredients or restrict nutrients without considering dose. While greater transparency is warranted, dismantling the self-GRAS process would overwhelm the FDA and harm consumers, all while ignoring the real issue: the agency’s flawed risk-assessment model that continues to permit genuinely harmful additives in the food supply. Find out more and Take Action…
- A sweeping new wireless bill in Congress, HR 2289, risks stripping communities of their right to oppose cell tower installations, while fast-tracking antenna deployments across the country. The proposal would force near-automatic approval of wireless infrastructure—including sites directly adjacent to homes and schools—while exempting many projects from essential environmental, tribal, and historic-preservation reviews. With strict federal deadlines and broad pre-emptions, localities would be left unable to address health, safety, or environmental concerns as wireless expansion accelerates unopposed. Find out more and Take Action…
Free Speech Threats
- Under the guise of “updated ESTA security,” every tourist, family member, or business traveller wanting to enter the US from Visa Waiver countries, could soon be forced to surrender years of social media history, personal identifiers, and even relatives’ information. The announcement by the US government represents a troubling expansion of government scrutiny that further reduces free speech online. By normalising deep digital vetting in the name of security, the policy edges toward ongoing surveillance of lawful speech and online activity. Critics fear it sets a dangerous precedent in which expressing an opinion that’s counter to the expected narrative online becomes a tool to restrict people’s ability to travel and speak freely.
- OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, has been ordered to handover 20 million ChatGPT conversations by a US federal court as part of a copyright lawsuit—even though most have no clear relevance to the copyright case. The order raises serious privacy concerns and sets a troubling precedent for digital speech. By allowing such expansive discovery of private AI interactions without users’ consent or meaningful relevance limits, the decision could erode expectations of confidentiality and open the door for similar demands in future litigation. Many in the tech and civil-liberties communities warn this blurs the line between necessary accountability and indiscriminate surveillance of lawful speech.
Post-covid related
- UK scientists that advised the government during covid, failed to disclose conflicts of interest that potentially affected their impartiality. A new report from UsForThem reveals 26 members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) failed to disclose at least £200 million in grants from the Wellcome Trust, £175 million of which was given during 2020-2021.
- A Telegraph report reveals that UK Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty effectively sidelined and “silenced” a key government ethics advisory group, the Moral and Ethical Advisory Group (MEAG), during the COVID-19 pandemic after it raised concerns about lockdowns, vaccine rollout and vaccine passports, including suppressing a memo on ethical issues around vaccinating healthy children. Critics say this suggests ethical scrutiny was undermined in favour of political imperatives.
- A recent US Rasmussen Reports survey found around 1 in 10 adults in the US who received a COVID-19 vaccine experienced “major” side effects, with another third reporting minor reactions. The report also includes personal accounts from individuals alleging they’ve suffered serious injury from Pfizer’s shot. The piece frames the survey results as evidence that vaccine-related harms are widespread and underacknowledged, calling for more honest recognition and investigation of adverse events. The Defender has the full story.
>>> Visit covidzone.org for our complete curated covid content of the coronavirus crisis
