Monday, July 18, 2005
Food News 7/18
THE CANDY DRUG
The candy industry is setting its sights on fitness buffs and kids. At this summer's largest candy trade show, several new lines of "energy enhancing" candies were released in an effort to capture a piece of the $3 billion/year consumers spend on performance boosters. New product lines included jelly beans packed with 120 milligrams of electrolytes and taffy pieces containing the equivalent of one coffee cup worth of caffeine in each bite. "I don't think that the new products belong in the candy aisle," said Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "The use of stimulants is an even greater concern because they can cause dangerous increases in a person's heart rate and blood pressure." Larry Graham, president of the National Confectioners Association, disagrees, saying the candy industry has every right to "build healthful benefits into their candy." http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/candy.cfm
Corporations against Democracy
Consumers and farmers in California and New England have been taking action over the past year to protect their local communities from genetic pollution by passing local, city, and county ordinances banning genetically engineered (GE) crops. Cities, counties and townships that have passed such laws say this regulatory need stems from the fact that organic farmers and non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) farmers have been increasingly losing money every year as GMO pollen from neighboring fields contaminates their crops. In response to these ordinances, the biotech industry and corporate agribusiness are striking back with a vengeance. At least 12 states have recently passed "Monsanto laws" taking away the rights of cities and counties to ban GE crops. Now legislators in California, the nation's most important agricultural producer, are responding to the lobbying power of the biotech industry and are threatening to pass a controversial law that would take away local rights to regulate GMOs. The OCA is actively involved in trying to stop these "Monsanto Laws" from being passed . Get involved: http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge-free.htm
The candy industry is setting its sights on fitness buffs and kids. At this summer's largest candy trade show, several new lines of "energy enhancing" candies were released in an effort to capture a piece of the $3 billion/year consumers spend on performance boosters. New product lines included jelly beans packed with 120 milligrams of electrolytes and taffy pieces containing the equivalent of one coffee cup worth of caffeine in each bite. "I don't think that the new products belong in the candy aisle," said Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "The use of stimulants is an even greater concern because they can cause dangerous increases in a person's heart rate and blood pressure." Larry Graham, president of the National Confectioners Association, disagrees, saying the candy industry has every right to "build healthful benefits into their candy." http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/candy.cfm
Corporations against Democracy
Consumers and farmers in California and New England have been taking action over the past year to protect their local communities from genetic pollution by passing local, city, and county ordinances banning genetically engineered (GE) crops. Cities, counties and townships that have passed such laws say this regulatory need stems from the fact that organic farmers and non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) farmers have been increasingly losing money every year as GMO pollen from neighboring fields contaminates their crops. In response to these ordinances, the biotech industry and corporate agribusiness are striking back with a vengeance. At least 12 states have recently passed "Monsanto laws" taking away the rights of cities and counties to ban GE crops. Now legislators in California, the nation's most important agricultural producer, are responding to the lobbying power of the biotech industry and are threatening to pass a controversial law that would take away local rights to regulate GMOs. The OCA is actively involved in trying to stop these "Monsanto Laws" from being passed . Get involved: http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge-free.htm
