Newport, Oregon voters rejected fluoridation 64% to 36%, and Albuquerque's Water Utility Authority voted 4-2 to cut fluoridation funding from its 2017 budget. Newport stopped fluoridating in 2005 over worker safety; Albuquerque suspended the practice in 2011.
Food Consumer
Herbs
Dandelion root extract fights cancer
University of Windsor researchers led by Siyaram Pandey report that dandelion root extract kills drug-resistant human melanoma cells without apparent harm to healthy cells, and that a water extract was active against leukemia, pancreatic and colon cancer cells.
Legal Actions
FAN Investigation Reveals Pharmacies are Breaking Federal & State Laws
The Fluoride Action Network says 6,700 people signed its petition in 48 hours and asks for 10,000, backing a citizen petition that the FDA bar sales of unapproved fluoride supplements, which it says the largest pharmacies still sell in violation of federal and 17 states' laws.
Politics
May 21 Call to Action: Rally against Monsanto!
The Organic Consumers Association asks readers to join or organize a March Against Monsanto on May 21 and to publicize the October 15-16 International Monsanto Tribunal, pointing to falling Monsanto profits and the first drop in GMO acreage in 20 years.
Politics
URGENT! Tell Congress: Stop Protecting Organic’s Rotten Eggs!
The Organic Consumers Association urges readers to tell Congress not to block the National Organic Program's proposed hen-housing rules. It cites a Cornucopia Institute report that some “organic” producers keep 150,000 to 200,000 hens in single buildings with little outdoor access.
Diet
Mediterranean diet lowers risk of hip fractures
A study in JAMA Internal Medicine found postmenopausal women who ate a Mediterranean diet were 20 percent less likely to suffer hip fractures than women who did not follow it.
Drug
Radiotherapy for breast cancer increases death risk from heart disease
An Oxford-led meta-analysis of 75 breast cancer radiotherapy trials found women treated with radiotherapy were 30 percent more likely to die of heart disease and 23 percent more likely to develop a second cancer than those who were not. Higher radiation doses tracked with higher heart mortality.
Advisories
Xylitol containing foods dangerous for dogs
Sugarless gum, mints, baked goods, cough syrup and some chewable vitamins may contain xylitol, which FDA has received reports of poisoning dogs. Unlike in people, xylitol is absorbed quickly in dogs and can trigger a potent insulin release and a sharp drop in blood sugar.
Chemical
Downright Dangerous - newsletter 051216 from Organic Consumers Association
OCA's newsletter contrasts traditional food preservation with modern ultra-processing, noting close to 5,000 additives are allowed in food and 10,000 counting packaging, most untested. An alert tracks Senate talks on a bill to preempt Vermont's labeling law.
Food
Cranberry Juice Can Boost Heart Health
Over eight weeks, 56 volunteers drinking low-calorie cranberry juice twice a day ended with lower levels of 5 of 22 cardiometabolic risk indicators than volunteers given a flavor-matched placebo. Ocean Spray funded the study and supplied the juice but did not run or analyse it.
Healthy Recipes from AICR
Healthy Recipes: Creamy Cucumber Fennel Salad
Thinly sliced English cucumber and fennel tossed in low-fat Greek yogurt whisked with apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper, then garnished with fennel fronds. It makes four servings at 44 calories each, with no fat and 5 g protein.
Chemical
Inorganic arsenic may increase prostate cancer risk
An ecologic study of Illinois counties found prostate cancer incidence up to 10% higher where drinking water arsenic is high, with a significant linear dose-response. The authors used state EPA water data and cancer registry records from 2007 to 2011.
Chemical
Antibiotics Use by Livestock Producers is Not Improving
Martha Rosenberg asks Consumers Union scientist Michael Hansen how FDA's 2013 voluntary guidance is working out. Hansen says drug companies dropped growth promotion from labels, but livestock antibiotics are still routinely given for disease prevention.
Chemical
BREAKING: Urgent Action: Don't Let EPA Re-Up Monsanto's Roundup
The Organic Consumers Association urges readers to petition the EPA before it closes its once-every-15-year glyphosate review, after the agency posted and then pulled a cancer committee report concluding glyphosate is “not likely” carcinogenic to humans.
Chemical
Tell the EPA: Ban Monsanto’s Cancer-Causing Roundup Herbicide
The Organic Consumers Association asks readers to petition the EPA to ban glyphosate, citing the WHO cancer panel's March 20, 2015 review concluding it probably causes cancer in humans. The EPA is reviewing the herbicide; Monsanto has attacked the report.
Politics
Join the Food Revolution!
A notice promoting the Food Revolution Summit, where John Robbins interviews 25 speakers from April 30 to May 8, including a May 6 session on how food choices affect life on Earth with Vandana Shiva and Gene Bauer.
Politics
What Happens When 'Organic' Baby Formula Isn't Organic? -- newsletter from Organic Consumers Association
An Organic Consumers Association newsletter tracks the run-up to Vermont's July 1 GMO labeling deadline: no court ruling, no federal preemption bill, companies labeling or dropping GMO ingredients, and a Roberts-Stabenow push still alive. It also questions "organic" infant formula.
Politics
Big Ag attacks organics - from EWG
EWG says more than 30,000 people signed its petition this month urging Congress to invest more in organic agriculture, which it notes covers less than one percent of American farmland. The group is answering the Alliance for Food and Farming's charge that it is 'anti-fruits and veggies.'
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