Sharp Rise In MERS Cases May Mean The Virus Is Evolving NPR

OSTERHOLM MichaelMERS should be on the front pages, lead every news report… (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome)

Total cases jumped 100%+ in two weeks… mortality 42% or worse, no vaccine (though 5 major pharmas are working on one)

“It took us over a year to get the first hundred cases of this viral infection,” Dr. Michael Osterholm tells NPR. “Now in just the last two weeks, we’ve had a hundred cases. … There’s a major change occurring that cannot just be attributed to better case detection. Something’s happening…

“When humans readily transmit [a virus] to humans, that’s what will cause a worldwide outbreak,” Osterholm says. “We are very concerned that … with what we’ve seen over the last two weeks … we may be at that point now.”

“It’s time for the world to wake up and demand that the Middle East do the kind of job that we need done to stop this transmission [of MERS],” he says, “and to protect the rest of the world.”

The spike in cases, especially among health care workers, could be a signal that the virus has reached a tipping point and could be ready to spread out of the region, says Osterholm, who directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota (CIDRAP).

LINK TO NPR STORY

H5N1 tweaks that boost airborne spread could kill half the planet

(Ed note: CIDRAP buried the lead – if modified h5n1 escaped the result could well be catastrophic. And my alarmist headline doesn’t do justice to just how horrendous the event could be. There are better ways to do this work and ways that don’t involve creating Frankenstein variants.)

From CIDRAP News Study: H5N1 tweaks that boost airborne spread

Filed Under: Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) Biosecurity Issues Dual-Use Research Robert Roos | News Editor | CIDRAP News

Apr 14, 2014

Influenza Virion CDC 1

Image: Transmission electron micrograph shows the ultrastructural details of an influenza virus particle. CDC / Erskine Palmer, PhD, & M.L. Martin

In a controversial study published 2 years ago Dutch scientists described a lab-modified strain of H5N1 influenza virus that was capable of airborne transmission among ferrets. Now the same researchers say they have identified five specific mutations that gave the virus this ability, a claim that is renewing debate about the risks of conducting and publishing such experiments.

Writing in Cell, the scientists said they identified two combinations of five mutations that affected specific characteristics of the virus and collectively enabled it to spread by air. They assert that the findings will help in the effort to detect early warning signs of flu strains that could cause a pandemic.

But other experts question the scientific value of the findings and argue that they are not worth the risks involved in conducting such experiments and publishing the full details. They assert that the research poses a risk of either accidental or intentional release of dangerous viruses.

Building on 2012 study

The new study builds on a US-government funded study that was published in June 2012 in Science. In that case, Ron Fouchier, PhD, of Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands and colleagues described how they used a combination of genetic engineering and serial infection of ferrets to create a mutant H5N1 virus that could spread among the animals without direct contact. Continue reading

Science Matters – We can’t just geoengineer our way out of climate change

David Suzuki Foundation

We can’t just geoengineer our way out of climate change

sky
Photo Credit: Paul Bica

Because nature doesn’t always behave the same in a lab, test tube or computer program as it does in the real world, scientists and engineers have come up with ideas that didn’t turn out as expected.

DDT was considered a panacea for a range of insect pest issues, from controlling disease to helping farmers. But we didn’t understand bioaccumulation back then – toxins concentrating up the food chain, risking the health and survival of animals from birds to humans. Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, seemed so terrific we put them in everything from aerosol cans to refrigerators. Then we learned they damage the ozone layer, which protects us from harmful solar radiation.

These unintended consequences come partly from our tendency to view things in isolation, without understanding how all nature is interconnected. We’re now facing the most serious unintended consequence ever: climate change from burning fossil fuels. Some proposed solutions may also result in unforeseen outcomes.

Oil, gas and coal are miraculous substances – energy absorbed from the sun by plants and animals hundreds of millions of years ago, retained after they died and concentrated as the decaying life became buried deeper into the earth. Burning them to harness and release this energy opened up possibilities unimaginable to our ancestors. We could create machines and technologies to reduce our toil, heat and light our homes, build modern cities for growing populations and provide accessible transport for greater mobility and freedom. And because the stuff seemed so plentiful and easy to obtain, we could build vehicles and roads for everyone – big cars that used lots of gas – so that enormous profits would fuel prosperous, consumer-driven societies.

We knew fairly early that pollution affected human health, but that didn’t seem insurmountable. We just needed to improve fuel efficiency and create better pollution-control standards. That reduced rather than eliminated the problem and only partly addressed an issue that appears to have caught us off-guard: the limited availability of these fuels. But the trade-offs seemed worthwhile.

Then, for the past few decades, a catastrophic consequence of our profligate use of fossil fuels has loomed. Burning them has released excessive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, creating a thick, heat-trapping blanket. Along with our destruction of natural carbon-storing environments, such as forests and wetlands, this has steadily increased global average temperatures, causing climate change.

We’re now faced with ever-increasing extreme weather-related events and phenomena such as ocean acidification, which affects myriad marine life, from shellfish to corals to plankton. The latter produce oxygen and are at the very foundation of the food chain.

Had we addressed the problem from the outset, we could have solutions in place. We could have found ways to burn less fossil fuel without massively disrupting our economies and ways of life. But we’ve become addicted to the lavish benefits that fossil fuels have offered, and the wealth and power they’ve provided to industrialists and governments. And so there’s been a concerted effort to stall or avoid corrective action, with industry paying front groups, “experts” and governments to deny or downplay the problem.

Now that climate change has become undeniable, with consequences getting worse daily, many experts are eyeing solutions. Some are touting massive technological fixes, such as dumping large amounts of iron filings into the seas to facilitate carbon absorption, pumping nutrient-rich cold waters from the ocean depths to the surface, building giant reflectors to bounce sunlight back into space and irrigating vast deserts.

But we’re still running up against those pesky unintended consequences. Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany, studied five geoengineering schemes and concluded they’re “either relatively ineffective with limited warming reductions, or they have potentially severe side effects and cannot be stopped without causing rapid climate change.” That’s partly because we don’t fully understand climate and weather systems and their interactions.

That doesn’t mean we should rule out geoengineering. Climate change is so serious that we’ll need to marshal everything we have to confront it, and some methods appear to be more benign than others. But geoengineering isn’t the solution. And it’s no excuse to go on wastefully burning fossil fuels. We must conserve energy and find ways to quickly shift to cleaner sources.

By David Suzuki with contributions from Ian Hanington, Senior Editor

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Bon Appétit – Yoga mat poison in 500+ foods… here’s the list…

[from EWG]]If youve planked on a yoga mat, slipped on flip-flops, extracted a cell phone from protective padding or lined an attic with foam insulation, chances are youve had a brush with an industrial chemical called azodicarbonamide, nicknamed ADA. In the plastics industry, ADA is the chemical foaming agent of choice. It is mixed into polymer plastic gel to generate tiny gas bubbles, something like champagne for plastics. The results are materials that are strong, light, spongy and malleable.

As few Americans realized until Vani Hari, creator of FoodBabe.com, spotlighted it earlier this month, youve probably eaten ADA. This industrial plastics chemical shows up in many commercial baked goods as a dough conditioner that renders large batches of dough easier to handle and makes the finished products puffier and tough enough to withstand shipping and storage. According to the new EWG Food Database of ingredients in 80,000 foods, now under development, ADA turns up in nearly 500 items and in more than 130 brands of bread, bread stuffing and snacks, including many advertised as healthy.

EWG researchers who are constructing the database found that ADA is listed as an ingredient on the labels of many well-known brands of bread, croutons, pre-made sandwiches and snacks, including Ball Park, Butternut, Country Hearth, Fleischmans, Food Club, Harvest Pride, Healthy Life, Jimmy Dean, Joseph Campione, Kroger, Little Debbie, Marianos, Marie Callendars, Martins, Mothers, Natures Own, Pillsbury, Roman Meal, Sara Lee, Schmidt, Shoprite, Safeway, Smuckers, Sunbeam, Turano, Tyson, Village Hearth and Wonder.

This synthetic additive has been largely overlooked because it is not known to be toxic to people in the concentration approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration 45 parts per million. According to the World Health Organization, workers handling large volumes have reported respiratory symptoms and skin sensitization, but ADA has not undergone extensive testing of its potential to harm human health.

One thing is clear: ADA is not food, as food has been defined for most of human history. It is an industrial chemical added to bread for the convenience of industrial bakers. In centuries past, flour fresh from the mill had to age several months before it could be kneaded into dough and popped into the oven. But in 1956, a New Jersey chemical, pharmaceuticals and engineering firm called Wallace & Tiernan, best known for inventing a mass water chlorination process, discovered that ADA caused flour to achiev[e] maturing action without long storage. The result, the firms patent application stated, was commercial bread that was light, soft and suitably moist, yet suitably firm or resilient, and that [had] crusts and internal properties of a pleasing and palatable nature. The FDA approved ADA as a food additive in 1962. It is not approved for use in either Australia or the European Union.

In the early 1990s, ADA became the preferred dough conditioner of many American commercial bakers as a result of Californias Proposition 65, which went into effect in 1987. This law required California authorities to list certain chemicals in food as possibly dangerous to human health. Potassium bromate, then a common dough conditioner, was found to be carcinogenic in test animals and made the Prop 65 list in 1991. ADA was widely adopted as a safer substitute.

Over the years, health activists concerned about synthetic chemicals in food have attacked the widespread use of ADA, but it did not attract nationwide headlines until Hari of Food Babe circulated a petition demanding that Subway, among the nations biggest fast-food outlets, stop using the chemical in its loaves. Subway responded that ADA was safe, but even so, it had quietly been seeking a substitute over the past year. The company pointed out that ADA is found in the breads of most chains such as Starbucks, Wendys, McDonalds, Arbys, Burger King, and Dunkin Donuts. Those other fast food giants joined Subway on the defensive.

EWG’s Food Database, which is now being tested but is still under development, shows that ADA is widespread in supermarket items as well as fast food. The EWG project is being built on data gathered by FoodEssentials, a company that compiles details about the ingredients in foods sold in American supermarkets. To this data, EWG is adding layers drawn from its research on hazard concerns such as pesticide residues, food additives, and contaminants such as mercury. EWGs Food Database will be the first of its kind looking deeply at the nutritional value of foods sold in supermarkets as well as their potential health hazards and degree of processing. The full interactive version is scheduled to be made available to the public in coming months.

The database has two purposes: to empower consumers with the information they need to make healthier shopping choices and to put pressure on food manufacturers to clean up the nation’s food supply. It draws on EWGs expertise and experience gained in developing online databases that have dramatically affected policy debates and consumer awareness on topics including farm subsidies, tap water contaminants, pesticides in produce, hazardous ingredients in personal care products and home cleaners, and the damage done to public land by oil, gas and uranium extraction.

The information detailed in this report on ADA, gathered from FoodEssentials on Feb. 11, represents a snapshot of food market on that date. EWG recognizes that the marketplace is constantly changing as food processors reformulate, discontinue and introduce products. The list of products in this report represents an extensive look at the ingredients in food recently available in stores, but it may not be comprehensive. Shoppers must read product labels to know for certain whether ADA and other chemical additives are in items theyre contemplating buying.

The consumers search for healthier food may get easier as the clean label trend in food manufacturing gains momentum. Last month, the trade journal Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery reported that commercial bakers and snack food manufacturers are seeking new, better ingredients mostly due to consumer demand for better-for-you products with clean labels and no genetically modified organisms (GM0s).

Clean label, like natural, has no precise legal definition. Food manufacturers often use the term to mean wholesome, without synthetic and unpronounceable ingredients notably azodicarbonamide.

EWG recommends that consumers take steps to avoid the industrial additive ADA in their food. It is an unnecessary ingredient, its use has raised concerns about occupational exposure, and questions remain about its potential risk to consumers.

EWG also calls on all manufacturers to immediately end its use in food.

Nearly 500 foods containing azodicarbonamide

Brand Name* Product
Aladdin Bakers Jumbo Bagels Cinnamon Raisin
America’s Choice Muffin Sandwiches Turkey, Sausage, Egg & Cheese
Amigos Tortillas
Archer Farms Simply Balanced 100% Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
Arnold Bakery Light 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Sandwich Rolls, Wheat
Artichoke Basilles Pizza Co. Margherita Pizza
Artisan Fresh Jumbo Wheat Hoagie
Aunt Hattie’s Onion Buns
Potato Hamburger Enriched Buns
Aunt Millie’s Honey & Hamburger Buns
Whole Grain Bread
Bagel-Fuls Bagel Filled With Cream Cheese, Original
Baker’s Treat Big Texas Cheese Roll Pastries
Ball Park Flame Grilled Barbeque Chicken Slider
Flame Grilled Beef Sliders
Flame Grilled Cheese Burger Silders
Hot Dog Buns
Bell’s Traditional Stuffing
Betty Crocker Pasta Caesar Salad
Suddenly Pasta Salad, Caesar
Big Az Cheeseburger
Bimbo Bread Crumbs
Double Fiber Bread
Large Wheat Bread
Sabor Chocolate
Toasted Bread
Toasted Bread, Original
Bon Appetit Apple Danish
Blueberry Cream Pastry
Cheese & Berries Danish
Cheese Croissant
Super Cinnamon Roll
Bridgford Cinnamon Pull-Apart Monkey Bread
Ready-Dough Frozen White Bread Dough
Brownberry Chicago Hot Dog Rolls
Kaiser Sandwich Buns
Sandwich Buns, Onion
Sausage Rolls, Original
Bunny Hot Dog Buns
Butternut 1/2 Loaf White Enriced Bread
All Whole Grain 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Brown’ N Serve Enriched Rolls
Deluxe Buns
Enriched Burger Buns, Sliced
Enriched Hot Dog Buns, Sliced
Hearty Rye Bread
Honey Wheat Bread
Italian Bread
Large Enriched Bread
Sliced Buns, Seeded
Whole Grain White Bread
Whole Wheat Bread
Castillo Castillo Croissants
Centrella Hot Dog Buns, Enriched
Restaurant Style Caesar Crotons
Chef M.J. Brando Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Cheddar
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Swiss
Clear Value White Bread
Cloverhill Apple Danish
Cole’s Cheesesticks
Garlic Mini Loaf
Connella Bread Crumbs
Corfu Foods Inc. Hand Made Pita
Country Hearth Dakota Style 12 Grain Bread
Hearty Homestyle 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Hearty Homestyle Honey Grain ‘n Oat Bread
Split Top Wheat Bread
Split Top White Bread
D’italiano Italian Bread
Day’n Night Bites Country Sausge Muffin With Egg’n Cheese
Drake’s Danish Pastries Cheese
Earthgrains Honey Wheat Berry Bread
Sliced French Premium Bread
Wheat Rolls
Entenmann’s Raspberry Danish
Essential Everyday 5 Cheese Texas Toast
Garlic Bread
Garlic Bread Sticks
Garlic Texas Toast
European Bakers Onion Rolls
White Sub Rolls
Farm Rich French Toast Sticks, Cinnamon Sprinkle
French Toast Sticks, Original
Fiber One Hamburger Buns
Hot Dog Buns
Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade Baking Mix, Pretzel Creations
Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix, Country White
Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix, Italian Herb
Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix, Multi-Grain
Food Club Caesar Restaurant Style Croutons
Garlic Cheesesticks
Garlic Dinner Rolls
Seasoned Restaurant Style Croutons
Strawberry Strudel
Stuffing Classics Cornbread Stuffing Mix
Texas Toast, 3 Cheese
Texas Toast, Garlic
French Toast Sticks
Garlic Bread Sticks
Texas Toast, 3 Cheese
Freihofer’s White Bread
Fresh Gourmet Premium Croutons, Butter & Garlic
Premium Croutons, Cheese & Garlic
Premium Croutons, Classic Caesar
Premium Croutons, Garden Herb
Premium Croutons, Italian Seasoned
Premium Croutons, Parmesan Ranch
Furlani Garlic Bread
Multi Grain Garlic Toast
Parmesan Garlic Toast
Texas Toast, Garlic
Texas Toast, Pizza
Texas Toast, Three Cheese
Gateway Soft Rye Bread
Gimbo Conchas Fine Pastry
Gollo Galletas De Huevo (Eggs Crackers)
Gonnella Sandwich Rolls
Great Value Honey Buns
Hot Dog Buns
Wheat Sandwhich Bread
Grissom’s Hot Dog Sliced Enriched Buns
Harvest Pride Awesome Rolls
Seeded Italian Bread
Texas Toast Bread
Wheat Bread
White Enriched Bread
Hauswald’s Enriched Bread
Split Top Wheat Bread
Healthy Life 100% Whole Grain Wheat Bread, Flaxseed
100% Whole Grain Wheat Bread, Sugar Free
100% Whole Wheat English Muffins
100% Whole Wheat Whole Grain Bread
High Fiber White Bread
Hot Dog Buns, Whole Grain
Italian Bread
Light English Muffins
Light Multigrain English Muffins
Soft Style 100% Whole Grain Bread
Hearth Of Texas Bread Company 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Enriched Large White Bread
Extra Thin White Bread
Split Top Wheat Bread
Whole Grain White Bread
Honey Hot Dog Buns
Hormel Country Crock Homestyle Stuffing
Hungry-Man Roasted Carved White Meat Turkey
Ihop French Toast Breakfast Sandwich, Egg, Canadian Bacon & Cheese
French Toast Breakfast Sandwich, Maple Sausage, Egg & Cheese
J. Skinner Cinnamon Craver’s Roll
J.C. Potter Sausage On A Bun
J.J. Cassone 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Rolls
Enriched Vienna Rolls
Italian Bread
Sliced Hero Rolls
Sliced Sandwich Rolls
Wheat Bran Sandwich Rolls
Jimmy Dean Delights Honey Wheat Flatbread, Bacon, Egg & Cheese
Delights Honey Wheat Flatbread, Turkey Sausage, Egg & Cheese
French Toast Griddlers
Muffin, Sausage, Egg & Cheese
Sausage, Egg & Cheese On A Muffin
Turkey Sausages Egg White & Cheese Whole Grain Bagel
Joseph Campione Authentic Hearth Baked Garlic Bread
Bread Sticks, Garlic
Cheese Stuffed Bread Sticks
Dinner Rolls, Parmesan Garlic
Garlic Bread, Authentic Hearth Baked
Garlic Mini Loaf
Texas Toast, 5 Cheese
Texas Toast, Garlic
Texas Toast, Parmesan
Key Food Seeded Rye European Hearth Bread, Deli Style
Seedless Rye European Hearth Bread, Deli Style
Kid Cuisine Kc’s Campfire Hot Dog
Kroger White Enriched Bread
White Hamburger Enriched Buns
L’oven Fresh Split Top Wheat Bread
Lakeland Hot Dog Buns Enriched
White Enriched Sandwich Bread
Lewis Healthy Life Wheat Hot Dog Buns
Whole Wheat Sandwich Buns
Liberty Hearth New York Deli Kaiser Rolls, Poppy
Little Debbie Cheese Danish Classic Pastry
Cinnamon Rolls With Icing
Cream Cheese Danish Pastry
Danish Pastry, Cherry Cheese
Honey Buns
Maglio Stromboli, Philly Style Steak & Cheese
Manischewitz Pumpernickel Bread
Mariano’s 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Asiago Cheese Focaccia
Bell Pepper Focaccia Muffins
Breadstics
Butterflake Rolls
Cheese Pizza Bread
Chefs Collection Italian Focaccia Half
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Club Rolls
Egg And Onion Brat Bun
Egg Dinner Rolls
English Muffin Bread
Fresh Tomato Focaccia
Garlic Bread
Ham Swiss Sub
Hamburger Buns
Hard Rolls
Hot Dog Buns
Italian Bread
Italian Specialty Bread By The Pound
Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia
Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia Muffins
Kaiser Rolls
Large Kaiser Rolls
Marble Rye Bread
Olive And Parmesan Chop Block Bread
Onion Rye Specialty Bread
Paisano Italiano Sandwich
Parisian Chocolate Croissant
Roast Beef & Cheddar Croissant
Rotisserie Chicken Salad Croissant
Rye Specialty Bread By The Pound
Salami And Provolone Chop Block Bread
Tomato Basil Chop Block Bread
Walnut Raisin Specialty Bread
Wheat Bread
Wheat Club Rolls
Wheat Dinner Rolls
Wheat Hamburger Buns
Wheat Hot Dog Buns
White Bread
Whole Wheat Specialty Bread
Marie Callender’s Flaky Croissant With Ham & Swiss
Flaky Croissant With Sausage, Egg & Monterey Jack
Spaghetti With Meat Sauce
Market Street Butterflake Rolls
Martin’s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Potato Bread
Hoagie Rolls, Unseeded
Long Roll, Potato Rolls
Potato Bread, 100% Whole Wheat
Potato Bread, Sandwich
Potato Rolls
Potatobred Soft Cubed Stuffing
Marty’s Large Rolls
Master Hamburger Enriched Buns
Hot Dog Enriched Buns
Mckee Cheese Danish With Icing
Cinnamon Rolls
Mediterranean Pita Bread
Met Foodmarkets Giant White Enriched Bread
Hamburgers Enriched Buns
Hot Dogs Enriched Buns
Mother’s Giant Enriched White Bread
Split Top Wheat Bread
Mrs Baird’s Pastry Kitchen Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon Rolls, Cherry
Cinnamon Rolls, Original
Mrs. Cubbison’s Butter & Garlic Croutons
Corn Bread Stuffing, Seasoned
Seasoned Croutons
Mrs. Freshley’s Honey Buns
Murry’s French Toast Bites, Cinnamon Blase
Nature’s Own 100% Whole Grain
100% Whole Wheat Bread
100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Rolls
100% Whole Wheat Thin Sliced Bagels
Butterbread
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
Double Fiber Wheat Bread
Honey Wheat Bread
Hot Dog Rolls
Sandwich Rounds, Multi-Grain
Thin Sliced Bagels, Plain
White Wheat Bread
Whole Grain Bread
New York Bread Sticks With Real Garlic
Hand-Tied Garlic Knots With Real Garlic
Texas Toast, 5 Cheese
Texas Toast, Garlic
New York Deli Kaiser Rolls, Plain
Kaiser Rolls, Sesame
Old Style Cottage Potato Bread
One Republic Skinny Buns
Oroweat Raisin Cinnamon Bread
Palagonia 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Rolls
French Bread
Italian Bread
Mini Heros
Panino Italiano
Rolls
Sliced Italina Bread
Patriotic Honey Buns
Pelmen Blueberry Perogies Peroguis Aux Bleuets
Mushrooms Champigons
Perogies, Cherry
Perogies, Potato With Cheddar Cheese
Perogies, Potato With Cottage Cheese
Perogies, Potato With Spinach & Feta
Perogies, Sauerkraut
Perogies, Sauerkraut Mushrooms
Perogies, Sweet Cottage Cheese
Pillsbury Artisan Dinner Rolls
Artisan Pizza Crust With Whole Grain
Breadsticks, Original
Crusty French Loaf
Italian Bread
Pizza Crust, Thin Crust
Toaster Scrambles, Cheese Sauce, Egg & Bacon
Toaster Scrambles, Cheese Sauce, Egg & Sausage
Toaster Strudel Pastries, Apple
Toaster Strudel Pastries, Apple Cream Danish
Toaster Strudel Pastries, Blueberry
Toaster Strudel Pastries, Boston Cream Pie
Toaster Strudel Pastries, Cinnamon With Brown Sugar
Toaster Strudel Pastries, Cream Cheese & Strawberry
Toaster Strudel Pastries, Danish Style Cream Cheese
Toaster Strudel Pastries, Strawberry
Potmann’s Select Seasoned Croutons
Rainbo Thin Sliced White Bread
Raybern’s New York Deli Style Raybern’s New York Deli Style Philly Cheesesteak
Roast Beef Cheddar Melt
Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls, Cream Cheese Frosting
Roman Meal 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Rosa Bianca Garlic Bread
Rosen’s Sweet Hawaiian Rolls
Roundy’s 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Blueberry Bagels
Bratwurst Enriched Buns, Sliced
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bagel
Croissant Sandwiches
Croutons, Cheese & Garlic
Croutons, Seasoned
Deli Rye Bread, Seedless
Enriched Hot Dog Buns
Everything Bagels
French Bread
Garlic Bread, Original
Garlic Bread, Parmesan
Hamburger Enriched Buns
Italian Sausage Tortelloni
Meat & Fine Herbs Ravioli
Muffin Sandwiches, Ham Egg And Cheese
Muffin Sandwiches, Sausage, Egg & Cheese
Plain Bagels
Presliced Everything Bagels
Quarter Pound Chicken Sandwich
Select 9 Grain Bread
Texas Toast, Garlic
Texas Toast, Three Cheese
Wheat Bread, Split Top
Wheat Muffin Sandwiches, Turkey Sausage, Egg White & Cheese
White Enriched Bread
White Enriched Sandwich Bread
S.Rosen’s Black Bavarian Rye Bread
Bohemian Style Rye Bread
Brat & Sausage Rolls
Enriched Hot Dog Buns
French Rolls, Italian Beef Rolls
Hawaiian Bread, Pineapple
Kaiser Buns
Marble Rye Swirled
Multi Grain Bread
Rye Bread
Rye Bread, Caraway Seeds
Rye Bread, Unseeded
Wheat With Oat Bran Buns
Safeway Cornbread Stuffing Mix
Five Cheese Garlic Toast
Sara Lee Blueberry Crumble Breakfast Bread
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
Center Split Deli Rolls, White
Cinnamon Breakfast Bread With Raisins
Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
Cinnamon Rolls
Classic Dinner Rolls
Deluxe Bagels, Blueberry
Deluxe Bagels, Cinnamon Raisin
Deluxe Bagels, Plain
Hearty & Delicious 100% Whole Wheat Deli Rolls
Hearty & Delicious Center Split Deli Rolls, White
Honey Wheat Bread
Soft & Smooth 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Soft & Smooth 100% Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns
Soft & Smooth Hamburger Buns, White
Soft & Smooth Hot Dog Buns, White
Soft & Smooth Wheat Hamburger Buns
White Bread
Schmidt Enriched Bread
Enriched Hamburger Rolls, Sliced
Rye Bread
Wheat Rolls
Whole Grain White Bread
Select Signatures Spicy Chicken Sliders
Shoprite Bangles Whole Wheat
Cinnamon Bread
Country White Bread
Enriched Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Enriched Honey Wheat Bread
Enriched Light Hot Dog Rolls
Enriched Light Wheat Bread
Enriched Round Top White Bread
Garlic Bread Sticks
Garlic Dinner Rolls
Hot Dog Rolls
Italian Bread
Onion Bagels
Poppy Bagels
Potato Hamburger Rolls
Premium Bread
Premium Bread With 100% Stone Ground Wheat
Sandwich White Bread
Sesame Bagels
Sliced Hearth Baked Plain Bagels
Split Top White Bread
Swirl Rye Bread
Texas Toast Garlic
Wheat Bread
Simplyaddwater Premium Challah Bread Mix
Smucker’s Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Grape Jelly Sandwich
Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Grape Spread Sandwich, Reduced Sugar
Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Rasperry Spread Sandwich
Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Sandwich
Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Strawberry Spread Sandwich, Reduced Sugar
Snacks Iced Honey Buns
Storehmann Split Top Wheat Bread
White Bread
Sun-Maid Raisin Bread, Cinnamon Swirl
Sunbeam Enriched Buns
Grill’n Griddle Bread
Hot Dog Buns
Large, Enriched Bread
Texas Toast Enriched Bread, Thick Sliced
Super Bread Giant White Enriched Bread
Hamburger Enriched Buns
Honey Wheat Bread
Hot Dog Enriched Buns
Raisin Bread
Tastykake Glazed Honey Buns
Honey Bun
Iced Honey Buns
The Bakery At Walmart Glazed Yeast Donuts
Jumbo Croissant
Toufayan Bakeries Bagels Blueberry
Cinnamon Raisin
Everything Bagels
Mini Bagels, Cinnamon Raisin
Mini Bagels, Plain
Pre-Sliced Bagels, Whole Wheat
Pre-Sliced Mini Bagels, Whole Wheat
Turano Brat & Sausage Rolls
Extra Long French Bread
French Rolls
Gourmet Sandwich Rolls
Italian Bread
Kaiser Rolls
Old Fashioned Italian Bread
Soft Sub Rolls
Wheat French Rolls
Wheat Rolls
Tuscan Garden Caesar Gourmet Restaurant Style Croutons
Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches
Mini Chicken Sandwiches With Cheddar Cheese
Mini Grilled Chicken Sandwiches
Unger’s Puff Pastry Shells
Vachon Carrot Cakes
Valu Time Wheat Bread White Enriched Bread
Van De Kamp’s Enriched Hot Dog Buns Sliced
Village Hearth 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Cottage Bread, Wheat
Honey Wheat Bread
Light 12 Grain Bread
Light Italian Bread
Light Wheat Bread
White Brat Buns
Weight Watchers Smart Ones English Muffin Sandwich, Canadian Style Bacon
English Muffin Sandwich, Egg Whites & Cheese
Homestyle Turkey Breast With Stuffing
White Castle Cheeseburgers
Microwavable Hamburgers
White Rose Stuffing Mix
Wonder Light Wheat Bread
Potato Hot Dog Buns
Texas Toast Bread

Source: Data provided by FoodEssentials as of 2/27/2014.

* Disclaimer. The conclusions and findings that appear on this page reflect EWG’s research at the time of publication stated above. In light of evolving market conditions, subsequent product reformulations, and other factors, they may no longer be current. EWG makes no representations or warranties about any of the products that may appear on this page. EWG hereby disclaims all warranties with regard to any of the products that may appear on this page, including express, statutory, implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use.

Science Matters – Trading water for fuel is fracking crazy

David Suzuki Foundation

Trading water for fuel is fracking crazy

drought
Photo Credit: Merinda Brayfield

It would be difficult to live without oil and gas. But it would be impossible to live without water. Yet, in our mad rush to extract and sell every drop of gas and oil as quickly as possible, we’re trading precious water for fossil fuels.

A recent report, “Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress”,shows the severity of the problem. Alberta and B.C. are among eight North American regions examined in the study by Ceres, a U.S.-based nonprofit advocating for sustainability leadership.

One of the most disturbing findings is that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is using enormous amounts of water in areas that can scarcely afford it. The report notes that close to half the oil and gas wells recently fracked in the U.S. “are in regions with high or extremely high water stress” and more than 55 per cent are in areas experiencing drought. In Colorado and California, almost all wells – 97 and 96 per cent, respectively – are in regions with high or extremely high water stress, meaning more than 80 per cent of available surface and groundwater has already been allocated for municipalities, industry and agriculture. A quarter of Alberta wells are in areas with medium to high water stress.

Drought and fracking have already caused some small communities in Texas to run out of water altogether, and parts of California are headed for the same fate. As we continue to extract and burn ever greater amounts of oil, gas and coal, climate change is getting worse, which will likely lead to more droughts in some areas and flooding in others. California’s drought may be the worst in 500 years, according to B. Lynn Ingram, an earth and planetary sciences professor at the University of California, Berkeley. That’s causing a shortage of water for drinking and agriculture, and for salmon and other fish that spawn in streams and rivers. With no rain to scrub the air, pollution in the Los Angeles area has returned to dangerous levels of decades past.

Because of lack of information from industry and inconsistencies in water volume reporting, Ceres’ Western Canada data analysis “represents a very small proportion of the overall activity taking place.” Researchers determined, though, that Alberta fracking operations have started using more “brackish/saline” groundwater instead of freshwater. The report cautions that this practice needs more study “given the potential for brackish water to be used in the future for drinking water” and the fact that withdrawing salty groundwater “can also adversely impact interconnected freshwater resources.”

Although B.C. fracking operations are now mainly in low water stress regions, reduced precipitation and snowpack, low river levels and even drought conditions in some areas – likely because of climate change – raise concerns about the government’s plan to rapidly expand the industry. The report cites a “lack of regulation around groundwater withdrawals” and cumulative impacts on First Nations lands as issues with current fracking.

Ceres’ study only looks at fracking impacts on freshwater supplies, and offers recommendations to reduce those, including recycling water, using brackish or wastewater, strengthening regulations and finding better ways to dispose of fracking wastewater. But the drilling method comes with other environmental problems, from groundwater contamination to massive ecosystem and habitat disruption – even small earth tremors – all done in the name of short-term gain.

It’s important to heed the conclusions and recommendations of this study and others, but given the problems with fracking, and other forms of extraction, we must find ways to control our insatiable fossil fuel demand. That burning these – often wastefully – contributes to climate change, and our methods of extraction exacerbate the problems, should make us take a good look at how we’re treating this planet and everything on it, including ourselves and generations to come. It’s a reminder that we need to conserve energy in every way possible.

In the short term, we must realize that we have better ways to create jobs and build the economy than holding an “everything must go” sale on our precious resources. In the longer term, we must rethink our outdated economic systems, which were devised for times when resources were plentiful and infrastructure was scarce. Our highest priorities must be the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil that provides food and the biodiversity that keeps us alive and healthy.

By David Suzuki with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Editor Ian Hanington

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Canada vastly underestimated the tar sands’ cancer-causing toxins

“Our study shows that emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons estimated in environmental impact assessments conducted to approve developments in the Athabasca oil sands region are likely too low. This finding implies that environmental concentrations in exposure-relevant media, such as air, water, and food, estimated using those emissions may also be too low. The potential therefore exists that estimation of future risk to humans and wildlife because of surface mining activity in the Athabasca oil sands region has been underestimated.”
PNAS [Proceedings of
the National Academy of Science
s]

The way Canadian Harper government has behaved one could fairly assume the underestimation was deliberate and that the authors of this research exposing the danger will face retaliation. It takes guts to be a scientist.

Winter ice season is now 24 days shorter than it was in 1950, study finds | Science Recorder

http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/winter-ice-season-is-now-24-days-shorter-than-it-was-in-1950-researchers-say/

Oh, tell us what you REALLY think… MoA Comment Classic…

“If it is still not apparent to the rest of the world, the US is run by a collection of out-of-control psychopathic Zionist war criminals that have to be treated as such if there is going to be any semblance of peace. Sure, we here can discuss how their actions conform to this or that plan – e.g., the Yinon Plan – etc but taken as a whole and with an large unforgiving eye to the needless murder/maiming/displacement/destruction of millions that the US has been directly responsible for for decades there is in my mind just no sense in even pretending that any rational and humanistic leader/people should countenance much less negotiate/partner with the US and its depraved and sickening representatives as it continues apace on its campaign of terror.

“Everyone should reflexively know that The Global War on Terror is very real but in an – oh so amusing I’m sure to TPTB – twist it’s not AQ or any of the other chimerical villains that are perpetrating it but the US itself and it’s grotesque assortment of hideous war criminals.

“With a massive propaganda battery at their disposal to take the “edge” off of the murder and mayhem until the next round begins, there is no hell hole deep enough for these monsters. I know that bevin and others may disagree but when does the world move beyond the realpolitik and start talking about such quaint terms as justice for those millions of people who have had their lives needlessly destroyed by these subhumans?

“In an amazing Dorian Gray moment at the SOTU address Peace Laureate Obama looked into the shattered monstrous visage of his own soul in regards to the GWOT and everyone in attendance clapped like the bloodthirsty murderers they are without a thought to the millions of people we’ve wrecked beyond the point of being stitched back together. Such spectacles should be enough to signal to the world what type of people are leading the United States of America and they should begin to act/plan accordingly.”

Posted by: JSorrentine | Feb 1, 2014 10:57:18 AM
Moon of Alabama re West sponsoring fascists in Ukraine. Wait for the Sochi games to end cuz Putin’s gonna have a Valentine to deliver…
http://www.moonofalabama.org/

things that make you go incandescent… from The Pump Handle

[[WHAT COULD GO WRONG… those pushing this
are evil fools…]

Reality check on USDAs claims about its plan to privatize poultry inspection

Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 28, 2014

Several recent newspaper editorials have gotten under USDAs skin. Editors at the Charlotte Observer, , Bellingham (WA) Herald and are skeptical that the USDAs plan to modernize the poultry slaughter inspection process is a wise move.

In Feds proposed shift in poultry rules troubling, the Charlotte Observers editorial board wrote this on January 20:

Warning horns should blast full force around the Obama administration approving a change in federal law to replace most federal inspectors on poultry processing lines with company workers who would watch for problems. Worker advocates concerns that such a change would be a risk to both food and worker safety have considerable merit. A 2008 Observer series about working conditions in the poultry industry highlighted the problems of allowing companies to self-report on injuries at their plants. Our series found employers failing to report injuries that they should, and workers afraid theyd be fired if they reported such injuries. This change could have both following the same pattern with troubling consequences for all of us.

On Janaury 24 in Dont let poultry-processing industry police itself, Bellinghams editors wrote:

Somewhere in that proposal is a joke about letting foxes guard henhouses. Well leave that to the Jon Stewarts of the world, but theres nothing funny about what the proposed changes could mean for American consumers. Many workers in the industry suffer from repetitive-motion conditions and other work-related injuries but often are reluctant to report them because they need the job so badly. Speeding up processing lines is likely to exacerbate that problem.

The acting Under Secretary for Food Safety, Brian Ronholm, quickly responded with a letter to the editor. Each of his statements appear below, broken up by my offering of a reality check.

Ronholm: The Observer falsely asserts that USDAs proposal to modernize poultry inspection would reduce federal oversight of food safety at the expense of consumers and workers.

Reality check: For the last several years, the Obama Administrations proposed budget for USDA would eliminate 800 poultry inspectors. How does that not reduce federal oversight of food safety?

Ronholm: A 15-year pilot program demonstrates that the proposal would enhance oversight, prevent at least 5,000 food-borne illnesses per year, and not adversely impact worker safety.

Reality check: In August 2013, the Government Accountability Office chastised USDA for asserting that its pilot project demonstrates its proposed changes will be more effective than the current system. GAO found that USDA didnt even collect and analyze its data to draw such a conclusion. GAO launched the same criticism at USDA in a 2001 report.

And,

Reality check: USDA ignores the evidence about the harsh and dangerous conditions experienced by poultry plant workers. Musculoskeletal disorders, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, plague poultry workers, and line speeds in the plants are a key contributor for these injuries. USDAs proposal will allow production line speeds to increase from 140 to 175 birds per minute.

Ronholm: It would require industry to prevent contamination and conduct testing at two points to ensure pathogens such as Salmonella are being controlled; currently there are no such requirements.

Reality check: USDAs plan is for the poultry industry to come up with its own standards for testing pathogens. The industry will even make the decision on how much salmonella is acceptable. On top of that because the standards will be voluntaryUSDA would have no authority to enforce them.

Ronholm: This enhanced inspection process would allow USDA inspectors to focus on critical food safety tasks that would result in lower prevalence of contamination and greater compliance with sanitation requirements.

Reality check: USDA still has not explained how this enhanced inspection process is going to occur. How many more sanitation checks will occur per eight hour shift? How many more samples will be taken for food borne pathogens? How many USDA inspectors will be assigned in each plant per shift to perform these additional tasks? Will USDA have the authority to take action against the plant for violating voluntary food safety and wholesomeness standards?

I know the views of newspaper editors may not sway the White House into telling the USDA to ditch its plan. But perhaps the Obama Administration will be convinced by such calls from the Congressional Black Caucus. The groups chair, Marcia Fudge (D-OH), made clear their position on USDAs plan. Quoted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Fudge said:

Most of the people who work in these plants are women, and they are primarily women of color. We care most about the health of the employees. Right now, it is bad. It will just get worse if they increase the line speed.

 

GEN | Insight & Intelligence A Conversation with J. Craig Venter

There are revolutionary insights to be had here…

GEN Exclusives

More »

Jan 24, 2014

A Conversation with J. Craig Venter, Ph.D.

The biotech pioneer and entrepreneur speaks on digitizing life and bioteleportation.

A Conversation with J. Craig Venter, Ph.D.Dr. Venter is founder, chairman, and CEO of the J. Craig Venter Institute, and founder and CEO of Synthetic Genomics, La Jolla, CA.

INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY: Dr. Venter, in the short time that has elapsed since you created the first synthetic genome and new organism, what are the main things this discovery has taught us?

CRAIG VENTER: It has taught and proved that life is a DNA software system and that the information contained within that DNA code contains all the information necessary for life.

IB: Did anything in particular about the process or the findings surprise you?

CRAIG VENTER: The fact that the process works by being able to transplant genomes gave us a lot of clues concerning how evolution occurred, which is actually quite different than what people had thought. The prevailing theories being that just a lot of point mutations collected over billions of years. The fact that we can actually find evidence in the environment for entire genomes being transferred at one time–such as chloroplasts and mitochondria–suggests that evolution is more punctate than a lot of people think, adding perhaps thousands of changes in one event instead of just a selection of minor changes.

IB: What do you see as the main R&D challenges for synthetic biology within the industrial biotechnology community?

CRAIG VENTER: The work to create a new life form was a pilot, proof-of-principle study to show that we could take digital information into a computer, make the chemical version of that information in DNA, boot up that synthetic DNA, and make cells that are driven by the synthetic DNA. In practice, to affect the future of biotechnology and industrial biotechnology we will have to apply those tools in a comprehensive fashion to solve some of the biggest problems out there. At Synthetic Genomics that is what we’re doing. We are working on engineered cells to produce new sources of food and chemicals, and potentially fuel in the long run. We are working on new ways to manufacture vaccines and make antimicrobials. This technology will affect everything in industrial biotechnology; it’s just a matter of how fast that happens. I argue in my book, Life at the Speed of Light, that this could be the start of a new Industrial Revolution.

more at the link…
http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligence/a-conversation-with-j-craig-venter-ph-d/77900020/