"Frankenstein Food" - Could Lower Fertility

Well, I have not find the time to write for a while because the cold season started earlier this year and with kids you feel like it never ends...

Here is a very interesting article worth sharing: it is saying that genetically modified (GM) food could lower a women's fertility. Infertility became such a big problem and I was always thinking (even there are not enough studies to prove it) that it is caused mainly by all our "modern" way of leaving (GM foods, the pesticides from the food; the chemicals found everywhere around and so on). Every time I read news like this I become so upset and sad...

The Phthalates-Now in the Glass Jars

After stop buying canned food because of the Bisphenol A found in can liners, I switched completely on food packed in glass jars – thinking that the glass should be the safest of all but ignoring the fact that the lids may contain chemicals. Now, the new study made by CHOICE - that tested 25 food products in glass jars has found that many are contaminated with plastic softening materials exceeding safety limits set by the European Union. The foods that are vulnerable to contamination have high oil content to soak up chemicals and are liquid enough to slop against the inside of the lid.

They tested 25 food products in glass jars with a total fat content more than 4% (bought from Sydney supermarkets and organic food specialists) that were:
"Runny enough for some of the food to slop against the inside of the lid during transport and distribution.
Fatty enough to dissolve plasticiser from the gasket."

They found significant levels of Epoxidised soybean oil (ESBO) and the three phthalates, Di-ethyl-hexyl phthalate (DEHP), Di-iso-octyl phthalate (DIOP), and Di-isononyl phthalate (DINP). This is a summary of the results:

• Nine of the 25 foods contained ESBO at levels well above the EU limit of 60 ppm — one of them, a pesto sauce with 26% fat, contained 840 ppm.

• Twelve of the foods contained phthalates at levels above their respective EU limits. One, a tandoori dip imported from India, contained 350 ppm of DEHP — that’s about 230 times the EU limit.

• Five products contained excessive levels of all four plasticisers. Interestingly, three of them were imported from Italy, a member country of the EU.

• Three of the foods tested were labeled ‘organic’. While one of them (imported from New Zealand) contained only a trace of ESBO, the other two (from Italy and Turkey) contained excessive levels of all four plasticisers. Biological Farmers of Australia told us PVC isn’t permitted in packaging for organic foods produced in Australia.

Choice did not release the list of products they tested, but they have suggested to avoid food in jars that contains more than 4% fat (or 4 grams of fat per 100 grams of food). It is frustrating, we have to avoid so many things already; soon we will most likely have to avoid everything in order to be fine. The only thing left to do is probably to wait for government and the industry to release standards for chemical safety. I hope it will happen in my lifetime though!

Wise Word: Food Labeling

Many of the food products are labeled as organic, vegan, natural, etc., but what do they really mean; is there a certification of their claim? As I said in a previous post, most of the time many of these labels, not only that are confusing the customer but they are the product of marketing without adding real value to the product. I made a list with labels I have been found on food products and described them in the table bellow.

Label	Where?	What it means?	Is it verified?	Is it meaningful?
Certified Organic	Meat, fruits, vegetables, grains, diary.	Free of pesticides and fertilizers, and all antibiotics, genetic engineering, irradiation and sewage sludge. Organic animals must eat 100% organic feed and must have access to the outdoors.	Yes, it is regulated by USDA.	Yes. 95% of the ingredients must be organically grown and the remaining 5% must come from non-organic ingredients that have been approved on the National List. These products display the USDA organic logo and/or the certifier’s logo.
100% Organic	Meat, fruits, vegetables, grains, diary.	All ingredients are 100% free of pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, genetic engineering, irradiation and sewage sludge.	Yes, it is regulated by USDA.	Yes. 100% of the ingredients must be organically grown. These products display the USDA organic logo and/or the certifier’s logo.
Made with Organic Ingredients	Meat, fruits, vegetables, grains, diary.	Contains at least 70% organic ingredients, three of which must be listed on the back of the package and again, the remaining 30% of the non-organic ingredients must approved on the National List.	Yes, it is regulated by USDA.	Yes.
Certified Vegan	Snacks, candies, condiments, frozen food, soups, soy products, cookies, cakes, nuts, grains, veggie burger, beverages.	Contain no animal ingredients or by-products, use no animal ingredients or by-products in the manufacturing process, and not tested on animals by any company or independent contractor.	Yes, the Vegan Awareness Foundation.	Yes. These products should have the logo of the Vegan Awareness Foundation.
Fair Trade Certified	Chocolate bars, bananas, grapes, pineapples, mangoes, sugar, rice, cocoa powder, tea, coffee	Ensure that farmers in developing nations receive a fair price for their product; have direct trade relations with buyers and access to credit; and encourage sustainable farming methods, without the use of a dozen of the most harmful pesticides, and forced child labor. The buyer must also be willing to pay up to 60% of the purchase in advance for some products, including coffee, tea and cocoa.	Yes, TransFair USA (the only certifier of Fair Trade goods in the U.S.), a member of Fair Trade Labelling Organizations International (FLO).	Yes.
Fresh Poultry	Chicken.	Any raw poultry product should not be cooled below 24 degrees Fahrenheit.	Yes, it is regulated by USDA.	Somewhat. It is not clear for how long the product can be stored in the freezer.
100% Vegan	Bread, candy, cereals, baby food, soups, condiments, processed food, snacks, beverages.	Does not contain any animal-derived ingredients.	No.	No.
100% Vegetarian Ingredients	Processed food, condiments.	Avoids animal products for food.	No.	No.
Antibiotic Free	Meat (lamb, beef, chicken, pork) and diary products (eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, cream).	No antibiotics were used in the production of a food product.	No.	No. The USDA has banned the use of the term "antibiotic free" but allowed the use the claims "no antibiotics administered" or "raised without antibiotics."
Hormone free	Meat (lamb, beef, chicken, pork) and diary products (eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, cream).	No hormones were used in the production of a food product.	No.	No. The USDA has banned the use of the term "hormone free". The USDA has banned the use of hormones on pork and poultry.
Natural and All Natural	Meat (poultry, beef, chicken, pork), cookies, candies, diary products (cheese, cream), processed food, frozen food, beverages, snacks.	No standard definition; the only exception is applied to meat and poultry products - defined by USDA as “not containing any artificial flavoring, colors, chemical preservatives, or synthetic ingredients”	No.	Somewhat. It is not regulated therefore, is up to the manufacturer.
Free Range	Eggs, chicken and other meat labels as free-range	Suggests that an animal has spent a good part of its life outdoors.	No.	No. The time spent outdoor is not regulated. It can be as less as 5 minutes regardless the animals went outside or not.
Cage Free	Eggs, chicken.	Suggest a high quality of life for hens	No.	No.

• Always look for the certification of the claimed label. If there is no certification associated with the label there is no assurance that the product is actually what is claiming to be.

• For products having a label that is not regulated, look for ingredients. It is possible to find ingredients that are contradicting the claim (e.g., for 100% Vegan)

Pesticides and Organic: A Review of the Most and Least Contaminated Produce

Pesticides are found everywhere - in our food, in the water, and in the air. There is no more doubt that they are posing health risks especially during pregnancy and childhood. Fortunately, the FDA regulates the amount of pesticides in food, but even at small quantities there is a health risk with long lasting effects. The problem with some produce is not only that they have pesticides at the highest limit allowed by the FDA, but there are many pesticides in each produce. For example, on an apple there can be up to 9 kinds of pesticides, or on a sweet bell pepper there can be up to 11 pesticides, and so on. The results of the studies are controversial and in some cases partly considered. Some pesticides (e.g., lindane, atrazine and many others) are used heavily in U.S. while they are banned in Europe due to health problems. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) developed a list of the most contaminated fruits and vegetables based on a study of 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2005.

“An EWG simulation of thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets shows that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead. Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 14 pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 12 least contaminated will expose a person to less than 2 pesticides per day.”

I listed the first 12 most contaminated and last 12 least contaminated produce below but for a complete list go here: Test Results: Complete Data Set.

The most contaminated:

Peaches (the most contaminated)
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Lettuce
Grapes - Imported
Pears
Spinach
Potatoes

The least contaminated:

Eggplant
Broccoli
Cabbage
Bananas
Kiwi
Asparagus
Sweet Peas-Frozen
Mango
Pineapples
Sweet Corn-Frozen
Avocado
Onions (the least contaminated)

Most of these fruits and vegetables are already affordable to buy. The best solution would be to buy local; in this way you can support an organic farm next to you and more important, you can eat fresh every week (directly from the garden). I subscribe to a local farm and I just love it; I get fresh fruits and vegetables every week, they are diverse (so, I don’t get bored) and, last but not at least, I stay healthy by eating more greens and organic. If interested, check at Local Harvest to find a farm next to you.

Meat and Milk from Animal Clones – Safe?

FDA released a new report on the Safety of Food from Animal Clones where it says that the meat and milk from cloned animals are safe to eat and will be introduced on the market in the future. I just imagined myself looking at my steak and thinking at a crowd of cows all looking the same, having the same look, etc. I am losing my appetite completely. Moreover, the FDA will not require labeling milk and meat derived from cloned animals because the agency determined safety concerns are no different than traditional food. This will made me either starting to buy organic meat or become a vegetarian. USDA did not specify anything about the cloned animals when they established the standards for organic meat but I hope in the future will do and disqualify it (they currently have a "no GMOs" policy for plants(see Organic production), it's likely it will be extended to meat).

What organic label means?

What really means the organic label when we refer to food? Many people are spending a quite substantial amount of money just to buy organic. Just having the word organic written on the label and suddenly that product becomes attractive. But not always, the organic label means that the product is organic. Organic means that food producers must meet very strict standards. To assure that a particular label is correctly placed and the product is organic it has to have the USDA organic seal on it.

What labels to look for:

Organic: the product is at least 95 percent organic. The word "organic" and a small sticker version of the USDA Organic seal appears on vegetables or pieces of fruit, on packages of meat, cartons of milk or eggs, cheese, and other single-ingredient foods. Exception: The seafood is not regulated by USDA, therefore an organic label placed on these products is meaningless.

100% Organic: the product is 100% organic which means is free of chemical ingredients and the production of them has to meet federal standards.

Made with organic ingredients: at least 70% of the ingredients are organic.

Contains organic ingredients: less than 70% of the ingredients are organic.

Attention! Only 100% Organic and Organic foods are allowed to use the USDA Organic Seal.

Misleading labels:

Natural and All Natural: This label is not identical with Organic. There is no standard definition for this term which means that it is not regulated by any federal institution. The only exception is applied to meat and poultry products - defined by USDA as “not containing any artificial flavoring, colors, chemical preservatives, or synthetic ingredients”. However, the claim is not verified and the producer alone decides whether to use it.

Free-range: Eggs, chicken, and other meat labeled as free-range suggest that an animal has spent a good part of its life outdoors. But the U.S. government rule for the use of this label is stating that the outdoor access should be made available for “an undetermined period each day”. But the rule is weak because it refers to the outdoor access not the actual time spent outside. Let’s say that the coop door was open for just 10 minutes a day, the meat and eggs could legally be labeled “free-range”, regardless of whether the chickens went outside.

Also cage-free, hormone-free does not mean organic and the U.S. government rule for the use of these labels is weak.

For more information visit Organic Food Standards and Labels: The Facts.