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Chinese cities wake up to a new superfood: yak milk
A pioneering Chinese company is to market pasteurised Tibetan yak milk in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, in the hope that it will become a new superfood in the world's most populous country.
At 24 yuan (£2) for a small 250ml carton, Feifan - meaning 'uncommonly good' - costs several times as much as cow's milk. 'It's very natural, green, pure and high-quality. That's our big selling point - we aim at the high-end market,' said Ding Pengcheng of the Treasure of the Plateau Yak Milk Company. Over the next three years, the firm is to spend millions to crack the domestic and international markets, with the help of state investment. Yaks produce fewer than 300 litres of milk a year, while cows yield 35 times as much. The firm pays Tibetan farmers 16 yuan or more per litre; eight times the price of standard milk.
The China Nutrition Society, a Ministry of Health-backed research institute, claims the amino acids, calcium, and vitamin A in yak milk are considerably higher than in cow's milk. Its appeal depends as much on the mystique of its origins as its nutritional qualities. Feifan is undergoing extra safety checks because of China's recent milk contamination scandal. Yet in the long run such concerns could boost the desire for products that combine modern hygiene with unsullied, back-to-the-land imagery. A pioneering Chinese company is to market pasteurised Tibetan yak milk in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, in the hope that it will be... more -
Melamine Contaminated Food List
As this problem continues to roll along, here is a melamine contaminated food list plucked from the latest news results on the subject: This story has links to more in-depth articles.
Powdered baby milk.
HK finds melamine in Chinese-made cheesecake.
Cookies With Melamine Found in Netherlands.
Mr Brown coffee products.
Manufacturing giant Unilever recalls melamine tainted tea.
Melamine Detected in Two More Ritz Snacks.
More Chinese-made sweets recalled in Japan.
White Rabbit brand Chinese candy contaminated: Asian health officials.
Lipton, Glico and Ritz the latest businesses to be affected by milk powder scandal.
Hong Kong finds traces of melamine in Cadbury products.
Recalled Melamine Milk Products include Asian versions of Bairong grape cream crackers, Dove chocolate, Dreyers cake mix, Dutch Lady candy, First Choice crackers, Kraft Oreo wafer sticks, M&Ms, Magnum ice cream, Mentos bottle yoghurt, Snickers funsize, Yili hi-cal milk, Youcan sesame snacks and others. Testing of some of those has already proven negative.
Melamine Found in More China-Made Products, including Heinz DHA+AA baby cereal.
305 Chinese dairy-based products temporarily banned in Korea.
US bloggers have gone so far as to uncover dozens of products recalled in China that were still on the shelves of their local supermarkets.
31 new milk powder brands found tainted. As this problem continues to roll along, here is a melamine contaminated food list plucked from the latest news results on the subject... more -
Contaminated candy still around in US
An industrial chemical blamed for sickening thousands of infants in China was found in candy in four Connecticut stores this week, a state official said Wednesday.
Days after contaminated White Rabbit Creamy Candy was found in California, Connecticut Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. said tests found melamine in bags of the candy sold at two New Haven stores, a West Hartford market and an East Haven store.
Anyone who has the candy should destroy it, Farrell said.
The contamination has been blamed for the deaths of four children and kidney ailments among 54,000 others. More than 13,000 children have been hospitalized and 27 people arrested in connection with the tainting.
Melamine, which is high in nitrogen, is used to make plastics and fertilizers and experts say some amount of the chemical may be transferred from the environment during food processing. But in China's case, suppliers trying to boost output are believed to have diluted their milk, adding melamine because its nitrogen content can fool tests aimed at verifying protein content.
Melamine can cause kidney stones, leading to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.
Melamine has been associated with contaminated infant formula and other Chinese products containing milk protein. An industrial chemical blamed for sickening thousands of infants in China was found in candy in four Connecticut stores this week, a s... more -
China: Contaminated Integrity
BEIJING — China’s leaders scrambled Saturday to contain public dismay over widespread contamination of milk supplies, criticizing local officials for negligence while moving to tamp down criticism of the government’s response.
Officials promised to keep stores supplied with clean milk and set up medical hot lines nationwide to help people cope with one of the worst product safety scandals in years.
Milk and dairy products from 22 companies have been recalled after batches tainted with the industrial chemical melamine sickened more than 6,200 children and left four infants dead from kidney failure.
Trying to shore up public confidence, Premier Wen Jiabao told senior Communist Party members that official misconduct contributed to the milk contamination and earlier product scandals. He demanded they put public safety “at the top of the agenda.”
In a show of concern, Wen’s chief deputy made a highly publicized trip to a dairy region south of Beijing at the center of the scandal, visiting farms, shops and a hospital, where he urged “all-out efforts on medical treatment” for the sick.
The energetic response underscored the deep challenge the crisis poses for the communist leadership. The government has staked its legitimacy in part on competent management of a rapidly developing society, a reputation it hoped would be burnished by last month’s lavish, well-run Beijing Olympics.
But the post-Olympic accolades have been pushed aside, and the scandal is again baring widespread public skepticism about the government’s abilities to get lower level officials to enforce policies and overcome cover-ups of problems.
In the 10 days since the government revealed that Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group sold tainted milk powder and infant formula, sketchy details have exposed one local government cover-up as well as the sale of contaminated milk by China’s biggest dairies, many of them state-owned.
Recalls of Chinese-made dairy products widened Saturday to Japan, which followed the lead of Singapore, while more products were recalled in the self-governing Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau.
Seeking to rein in criticism, propaganda officials ordered newspapers, TV stations and Web sites to mainly use reports from the government’s official Xinhua News Agency, news employees at two publications reported.
Food and product safety scandals have been a feature of Chinese life. Only last year, the government promised to overhaul inspection procedures after exports of medicines, toys and other products that killed and sickend people in the United States.
Also last year, pet food contaminated with melamine killed thousands of pets in North and South America. The dangerous chemical in the pet food was the same as in the milk scandal -- melamine. Used in making plastics, melamine is high in nitrogen, which registers as protein in tests of milk.
Some of the farmers who sell milk to Chinese food companies are thought to have used melamine to disguise watered-down milk. BEIJING — China’s leaders scrambled Saturday to contain public dismay over widespread contamination of milk supplies, criticizing loca... more -
Tons of drugs dumped into wastewater
The AP estimates at least 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals enter our waterways each year.
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Radiation warning for Scots families near firing range
PEOPLE living near a top-secret firing range may be at a higher risk of cancer, scientists have claimed.
Researchers say radioactive particles from weapons could damage the genes, including those of unborn babies, of residents who live near the military site on the Solway Firth.
About 7000 depleted-uranium shells have been fired into the sea from the 30-year-old Dundrennan range at Kirkudbright in the past 20 years.
The MoD have always insisted the tests don't pose a public health risk.
But Dr Chris Busby and Dr Ewald Schnug, of Germany's Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, claim uranium from the shells could leak into the sea and then find its way into food and water supplies.
The uranium absorbs normal background radiation, which causes it to fire out photoelectrons - particles which damage surrounding tissue once inside the body.
Uranium bonds readily to DNA, which increases the chances of genetic damage.
Busby and Schnug's computer modelling results, reported by New Scientist, will be published in detail in a peer-reviewed paper later this month.
According to their calculations, this internal radiation is 1500 times as dangerous as overall radiation levels at the site.
The MoD began testing depleted-uranium shells in 1980.....more
The complete stupidity and audacity of the war machine, 30 years of radiation pollution that has a half life of 4.5 billion years. As well as this stuff being a banned weapon, but still used in Iraq/Afghanistan, thus certain war crimes are being committed and should be enforced, there should also be crimes against the planet taken into account. PEOPLE living near a top-secret firing range may be at a higher risk of cancer, scientists have claimed. ... more -
Pre-washed salad is a dirty trick
Why does anyone buy pre-washed, bagged salad?
Well, obviously, because it looks so fresh and lovely and it's so clean and convenient, it must be good for you, never mind that it costs a fortune. And because ignorance is bliss. Now, a professor from Imperial College London has gone and ruined it by warning that food-poisoning cases are likely to increase as people buy more salad this way. Pre-washed doesn't mean safe to eat, he said. It can just mean "looks clean but actually is contaminated with salmonella or E coli". Buy a bag of pre-washed salad and you need to wash it all over again.
More than four years ago, I deconstructed a ready-to-eat washed salad bag for my book Not on the Label. I pointed out that between 1992 and 2000, the period during which the new phenomenon of bagged salads took off, nearly 6% of food-poisoning outbreaks were associated with prepared vegetables and salads. A study in 1996 of retail samples of bagged salad found 13% contained E coli. ...more Why does anyone buy pre-washed, bagged salad? ... more -
America's Drinking Contaminated with Antibiotics and More
A vast array of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows. A vast array of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in the ... more
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Amazon's Ground Zero
Learn more about the legal battle against Chevron over contamination in the amazon region of Ecuador.
http://www.mofilms.org/justicianow/ Learn more about the legal battle against Chevron over contamination in the amazon region of Ecuador. ... more -
She can light her water on fire!
Jessica Ernst lives in the village of Rosebud, Alberta, East of Calgary. EnCana, a big oil & gas company, is operating close to her house. The photo above speaks for itself. Read on for her story.
Living Next to EnCana
According to Fast Forward Weekly:
"In 2005, Ernst noticed something was happening to the water from her well. At first, her dogs wouldn’t drink it. Then, she saw it was fizzing as if it was carbonated. In December, she couldn’t turn her taps off: there was so much gas in her water, it raised the pressure and forced its way through her pipes.
She also discovered she could light it on fire. When lit, a huge blue flame burns on the surface of the water, before turning orange and escaping upward like a flare. 'It still scares me,' she says. 'You never know what the water is going to do.'
Tests on her water revealed high levels of methane, ethane and several other fossil fuels. It also showed signs of heavy hydrocarbons, like the ones used in drilling fluids.
But of course, according to EnCana, it's not the company's fault. It has denied having contaminated Rosebud’s water supply. Earlier this year, a provincial report on Ernst’s well even concluded that the gas in the well was naturally occurring and had nothing to do with the company.
But, also from Fast Forward Weekly:
"A company report from 2005, for instance, shows that EnCana fraced the underground aquifer where area landowners get their water. A test by University of Alberta water expert Karlis Muehlenbachs also showed strong similarities between the gas in Ernst’s well and the gas EnCana was pumping out of the ground nearby." Jessica Ernst lives in the village of Rosebud, Alberta, East of Calgary. EnCana, a big oil & gas company, is operating close to he... more -
GMO containment?
The CBC's national news takes a look at how GM crops are being monitored in Canada.
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Beef recalled after cases of poisoning
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 9 A hamburger packing plant in Los Angeles has recalled 153,630 pounds of raw beef after as many as 70 people in Virginia have come down with food poisoning, the Pasadena Star-News reported on Saturday. The recalled beef was suspected of being contaminated by E. coli bacteria which might originate from the S & S Foods company, the paper said. Until the exact source was pinned down, the packing plant was voluntarily recalling the ground meat, said the paper. But Virginia health officials have identified the beef as tainted, and said at least 26 Boy Scouts from the Washington D. area have been hospitalized. The meet has not been sold to retail shoppers, but was only wholesaled to institutional customers from some distribution centers in the nation, according to the paper. "We are recalling the product from distribution channels until we can determine whether illnesses in Virginia are connected to our operations or have some other original source or cause," said Jeff Grohs, a vice president at S & S Foods, in an e-mail to the Pasadena Star-News. Virginia health officials said dozens of Boy Scouts have come down with strain 0157:H7 of E. coli bacterial infections. One scout remained hospitalized, and 26 others have needed medical care, some in hospitals. None of the affected ground beef was sold in California, the company said. LOS ANGELES, Aug. 9 A hamburger packing plant in Los Angeles has recalled 153,630 pounds of raw beef after as many as 70 people in Vir... more
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A deadly diet - Laysan albatross & plastics
Monterey Bay Aquarium, 06.01.08
Of 500,000 albatross chicks born each year on Midway Atoll, about 200,000 die of starvation. The awful truth—in their searches of the ocean surface, albatrosses mistake plastic trash for food and end up feeding Lego blocks, clothespins, plastic bag bits and a host of other man-made junk to their chicks. As a result, the large amount of plastic crowding the chick’s stomach leaves little room for food and liquid. The amount of plastic floating in our oceans has grown dramatically over the last fifty years. Anthony L. Andrady, a polymer chemist at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina says that plastic takes decades to break down on land, but even longer at sea because the water keeps the plastic cool and algae blocks ultraviolet rays. “Every little piece of plastic manufactured in the past 50 years that made it into the ocean is still out there somewhere.” Monterey Bay Aquarium, 06.01.08 ... more -
Plastics are Forever
ReusableBags.com
Newsroom: VIDEO CLIP: Plastics are Forever
The Cleanest Line - Patagonia, 08.05.08
Maui native Micah Wolf teams up with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and photographer Ben Moon to create this powerful music video that empowers us to do something about the amount of plastics in our oceans.
http://reusablebags.typepad.com/newsroom/2008/08/video-... ReusableBags.com Newsroom: VIDEO CLIP: Plastics are Forever The Cleanest Line - Patagonia, 08.05.08 ... more -
PIVO 2 The future is electric for Nissan and that future is around the corner
Pivo 2 takes the idea of an environmentally friendly electric urban commuter vehicle and delivers fun, functionality and a unique relationship between the car and driver. Pivo 2 is powered by advanced Compact Lithium-ion Batteries and employs 'by-wire' technologies for braking and steering.
Where the first Pivo, with its fully rotating cabin design, made reversing obsolete, the Pivo 2 takes that easy mobility concept to a new level. Each of the four wheels are powered by Nissan's advanced electric In-wheel 3D Motor and can turn through 90 degrees to allow Pivo 2 to drive sideways as well as forward.
This might be one of the first fully environmentally friendly cars to see the market, rumors says that this car will be available in USA and Japan in 2010 and will open the doors to a new market of environmental conscious customers. Pivo 2 takes the idea of an environmentally friendly electric urban commuter vehicle and delivers fun, functionality and a unique rela... more -
Renault-Nissan Partnership to Develop Electric Cars for Israel
Renault and Nissan are joining forces to develop electric cars that Project Better Place will sell throughout Israel under a government-led campaign to promote alternative fuels.
We've been following the plan by Project Better Place to bring EVs to the masses by creating a network of charging stations and battery exchange depots. The idea, according to founder Shai Agassi, is to sell EVs like cell phones, where a monthly fee gets you access to batteries and the charging infrastructure.
The Isreali government quickly lined up in support of the project, and now Renault and Nissan have signed a deal to mass-produce electric vehicles they'll begin selling in Israel in 2011.
The cars will use lithium-ion batteries and offer a range of 60 miles in the city and 100 miles on the highway. They'll offer performance similar to a 1.6 liter gasoline engine.
Project Better Place says it will install 500,000 charging stations throughout Israel, and Renault is developing battery packs that can be replaced at automated exchange depots.
Renault boss Carols Ghosn told Reuters that Israel is perfect for EVs because 90 percent of Israelis drive less than 45 miles a day. He wants to sell as many as 20,000 EVs a year in Israel. Renault and Nissan are joining forces to develop electric cars that Project Better Place will sell throughout Israel under a governmen... more -
Nissan-Renault to mass-market electric vehicles in Portugal
The Nissan-Renault auto alliance, charged up lately to promote electric vehicles, has formed a partnership with the Portuguese government that includes plans to sell its electric vehicles in Portugal in 2011.
The deal includes studying ways to create a nationwide network of charging stations and raising awareness about electric vehicles, Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of the French and Japanese automakers, and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said Wednesday in making a joint announcement in Lisbon, according to Nissan.
The move is the latest in Nissan's aggressive forging of deals with cities and governments on electric vehicles as soaring gas prices and worries about global warming make the green technology more appealing.
Tokyo-based Nissan Motor Co. and alliance partner Renault SA have previously announced deals with Project Better Place, based in Palo Alto, California, which promotes electric vehicles, to mass market electric vehicles in Israel and Denmark in 2011.
While other car manufacturers are concentrating on fuel cells and hybrids, Nissan is going all out on electric vehicles, promising to sell the emissions-free cars globally in 2012, with the first models arriving in Japan and the U.S. in 2010. The Nissan-Renault auto alliance, charged up lately to promote electric vehicles, has formed a partnership with the Portuguese governm... more -
Nissan set to become an Eco First company
The Japanese Minister of the Environment, Ichiro Kamoshita, has endorsed Nissan’s environmental commitments and will award a special certificate to the car manufacturer at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Environment today (1st July 2008).
Nissan will now be known as an Eco First company. The Eco First Program serves to recognise and promote the environmental actions of companies that are compliant with the Kyoto Protocol.
The Nissan Green Program 2010 has pledged to reduce CO2 emissions while also reducing other emissions to protect water, air and oil resources. Nissan’s commitment does not stop there, the motor company aims to achieve a 100% recycling record for its rate of resource recovery in Japan. Nissan has, as a business, reduced its environmental impact by reducing harmful emissions from its operations and has sought to raise environmental awareness within the local community.
Nissan will systematically report on the advance of its environmental commitments to the Ministry of Environment. Nissan will now be permitted to use the Eco First Logo in all its communications to further promote environmental awareness. The Japanese Minister of the Environment, Ichiro Kamoshita, has endorsed Nissan’s environmental commitments and will award a special c... more -
Nissan to Introduce Electric Car in 2010, Mass-Production in 2012
The Slow Green Conversion of Carlos Ghosn
About 2 years ago, Nissan and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn wasn't too impressed with hybrid cars, saying that they are "a nice story, but they’re not a a good business". Then a few months later, he announced that Nissan would license technology from Toyota for its Altima hybrid, and then develop its own hybrid technology. Now this year, Ghosn was heard saying that we needed "zero emission vehicles" to "prevent the world from exploding" (!), and that his preference was for electric cars.
Nissan Shareholder Meeting
The latest stage of Mr. Ghosn's conversion happened at Nissan's shareholder meeting. Ghosn said that Nissan, along with Renault, "has an opportunity to be a world leader in mass-marketing [zero-emission vehicles].” Ghosn said that he hopes to sell 1 million of electric cars a year globally, although without specifying a date. If this was American politics, he would be called a flip-flopper. Thankfully, in the real-world it's a good thing to be able to change your mind. The Slow Green Conversion of Carlos Ghosn ... more -
Study finds arsenic threats in soil and water in SE Asia
"Myanmar's cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta and Indonesia's Sumatra island face high risks of arsenic contamination in groundwater that could cause cancer and other diseases in residents, according to a new study.
Using a digitalized model that examines geological features and soil chemistry in Southeast Asia, researchers writing in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Geoscience mapped several likely hot spots that had never been assessed for arsenic risks.
"Obviously, there is concern," said Michael Berg, one of the five authors, who is a senior scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology in Dubendor, Switzerland. "If you look at our data, there is risk of arsenic in the ground water."
Arsenic, especially in drinking water, is a global threat to health, affecting more than 70 countries and 137 million people. The country worst affected is Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of people are in danger of dying from cancers of the lung, bladder and skin.
Odorless and tasteless, arsenic enters water supplies from natural deposits in the ground or from agricultural and industrial practices. Arsenic is poisonous when consumed in high doses, but even smaller amounts can cause cancer, skin problems and abnormal heart rhythms ..."
By Michael Casey, Associated Press "Myanmar's cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta and Indonesia's Sumatra island face high risks of arsenic contamination i... more
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Contamination
