food

Australian Open: Tennis stars in Melbourne quarantine complain about changing rules and their food

By Isaias A. Mott 4 weeks ago

International tennis stars have blasted their living conditions after being forced into hotel quarantine in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open. 

Several top tier athletes including Carreno Busta and Fabio Fognini have critiqued the food they’ve received since arriving last week, while French player Alize Cornet described the situation as ‘insane’ in a since deleted post.

The 30-year-old shared her frustration at the Australian government’s decision to quarantine 47 players after two cases of Covid were imported on a plane from Los Angeles.

Returning Australians have to self-isolate in designated hotels upon arrival for two weeks, but Victoria made arrangements to allow Australian Open participants five hours’ daily training during the quarantine period.

Given the two new Covid cases, the government ordered every other passenger on board into a hard two week quarantine, scrapping the agreed training periods. 

French player Alize Cornet described the situation as ‘insane’ in a since

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Congressional report: Toxic metals found in baby food brands | Top Stories

By Isaias A. Mott 4 weeks ago

(WAND) – Levels of arsenic, lead, and other toxic metals that can harm brain development were found in many popular baby foods, including organic brands. That is according to a congressional investigation. 

A U.S. House Subcommittee said in a report released Thursday it requested internal data from seven companies, including Walmart, in 2019 after a nonprofit called Healthy Babies Bright Futures published results of testing it did on baby foods.

Four of the companies, Beech-Nut, Gerber, Earth’s Best Organics maker Hain Celestial and Happy Family Organics maker Nurture Inc., shared documents. The subcommittee said Walmart, Sprout Foods and Campbell Soup Co., which makes Plum Organics baby food, did not cooperate with the investigation.

Lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium are all metals the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers harmful to human health. 

Those toxins can stay in the environment for decades from past herbicide and pesticide use. 

Officials said toxic

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How should the food industry respond?

By Isaias A. Mott 4 weeks ago

FoodNavigator-USA caught up with Jackie Bowen (JB), executive director at nonprofit The Clean Label Project​​, who says regulators are great at dealing with health issues caused by immediate acute exposure to foods (E.coli, salmonella, listeria), but don’t do so well when it comes to long-term exposure to low levels of environmental and industrial contaminants.

Bowen – who previously held technical, standards development and leadership roles at the WHO Collaborating Centre, NSF International, and domestic USDA organic certifier Quality Assurance International – has been accused by some industry stakeholders of ​​scaremongering,​​ but says she is trying to effect change by pushing brands to think more carefully about how they source raw materials.

Click HERE​​ to read our recent coverage of the report​​ ​​just released by the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy in the House of Representatives exploring heavy metals in baby foods, which has

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What Parents Should Know About Heavy Metals in Baby Food Report

By Isaias A. Mott 4 weeks ago

Arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury – those are among the toxic heavy metals a congressional subcommittee found in leading brands of baby food, including some sold to parents believing organic foods were best for their babies.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight’s subcommittee on economic and consumer policy unveiled its findings on Feb. 4 of its investigation of seven companies, some of which refused to cooperate with the subcommittee.

The World Health Organization has declared the heavy metals dangerous to human health, particularly to babies and children, suggesting that even low levels can cause serious damage to brain development, the report said.

Nurture, Beech-Nut, Hain, and Gerber complied with the subcommittee, while Walmart, Campbell, and Sprout Organic Foods did not, the report said.

“The Subcommittee is greatly concerned that their lack of cooperation might obscure the presence of even higher levels of toxic heavy metals in their baby

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