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10 years ago, most people didn’t give the chemicals in their personal care products a second thought, believing the government was policing their safety. But as EWG’s reports over the past decade have made clear, that’s not true. The government does not require long-term safety studies or pre-market testing for most of the ingredients in cosmetics or other personal care products.

Since Skin Deep was launched, more chemicals used in cosmetics have been assessed for safety, but it’s still not enough. Dangerous ingredients continue to lurk in everyday products with little to no government regulation. That’s why EWG is here – to continue to fight for cosmetics policy reform at the federal level and to provide you with practical solutions to protect yourself and your family from everyday exposures to hazardous substances.

Link to Skin Deep Database

Submitted by Michael Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog

On Monday, Quartz published an article by Devin Cohen titled, There is a Secret Ingredient in Your Burgers: Wood Pulp. Given the headline and people’s already present suspicion regarding all of the shady and potentially dangerous ingredients hidden in food items, the article gained a lot of traction. In subsequent days, most journalists and bloggers have focused on the dangers of this additive (unclear) and whether or not it is pervasive throughout the food chain as opposed to just fast food (it appears to be). The one angle that has not been explored as much is the overall trend. Let’s go ahead and assume that wood pulp is a safe thing to consume, it certainly seems to have no nutritional value whatsoever.

So why are companies inserting it into food items? To mask inflation and earn more profits most likely. This was a major theme I focused on last year in a series of pieces on stealth inflation and food fraud, a couple of which can be read below:

New Study Shows 59% of “Tuna” Sold in the U.S. Isn’t Tuna

This is the part that really interests me. When did these companies first introduce this substance into their products and what is the growth trend? My guess is that as food costs have risen, the proportion of non-nutritonal fillers has increased substantially. That said, I’d like to see some data and I haven’t yet. My big takeaway here is the same as last year’s when I first started writing about the trend. As the cost of food continues to rise, the cost of not paying attention to what you are eating rises exponentially. Companies will continue to try to mask inflation by shrinking package sizes, and when that is no longer possible, increasingly inserting empty fillers (or worse) into their products. Full Article

By Elizabeth  Rentor, Natural Society

If you indulge in ice cream from time to time or on a daily basis, you likely have a favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor. Whether it’s Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia, this company, known for its out-there and abundantly-packed ice cream cartons, has a flavor for everyone. A recent decision by the company to phase out all GMOs and only source fair trade ingredients means many of these flavors will be changing, but where food transparency and integrity are concerned, these changes will be all positive.

Last year, I reported on Ben & Jerry’s statement that the company would be going GMO-free by 2014. The company already offers food that is 80% GMO-free, though it wants to go the whole 9 yards and build that number up to 100%. Full Article

Monday, June 23, 2014 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer

(NaturalNews) The controversy surrounding one of the world’s most popular artificial sweeteners, aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), continues some 30 years after the chemical was rammed through the regulatory process by pharmaceutical interests, despite its well-documented dangers. And yet to this very day, many people are still unaware of the chemical sweetener’s sordid history, not to mention what aspartame is actually made from and how it affects the body and brain. Learn more: click here

Excerpt from Robbwolf.com and Dr. Tim Jackson

Today, a variety of factors contribute to weakened immunity in the majority of the population

1)      Heavy metals/toxic metals: Mercury, aluminum, lead, etc.

2)      Pesticides, herbicides and other contaminants

3)      Low body temperature

4)      Hormonal imbalances: high cortisol/low DHEA, low cortisol/low DHEA, low thyroid function

5)      Poor digestive health: imbalances in good:bad flora, mal-absorption, etc.

6)      Epigenetic polymorphisms that are expressing: MTHFR, which is related to the production of certain types of immune cells known as T cells and GSTM/GSTP, which affects our levels of glutathione, an anti-oxidant important for immune function.

Addressing #1 and #2 involves optimizing Phase I and Phase II detoxification in the liver, as well as reducing exposure to these harmful compounds. Correcting #3 and #4 must involve a thorough examination of adrenal and thyroid health. An adrenal test known as an adrenal stress index should be performed to measure cortisol 4 times throughout the day, along with 2 measurements of DHEA. This is important for optimal body temperature because cortisol that is too high OR too low will negatively affect thyroid function. The following thyroid markers should be measured: free T3, free T4, TSH, reverse T3, anti-TPO antibodies, and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies. Optimizing digestion (#5) should include a baseline analysis, such as the Metametrix GI Effects Profile, to determine what abnormalities may exist in the beginning. These may include insufficient “good” bacteria, the presence of pathogenic microbes(yeast, bacteria, or parasites), low levels of stomach acid, or poor pancreatic enzyme output. Without optimizing gut health, it is difficult, if not impossible, to have a robust immune system. Lastly, testing for epigenetic polymorphisms can be done through 23andme(www.23andme.com) and putting your raw data through a program such as Genetic Genie, Prometheus, etc. can help you determine if you have any copies of immune-related polymorphisms such as MTHFR, GSTM, etc. Bypassing the MTHFR polymorphism is as simple as taking methylfolate, B12, and co-factors, such as the other B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, etc. full article

Organic fresh fruits and vegetables tested in the past two years contained pesticide residue

By April McCarthy, preventdisease.org

The most common recommendation made by health experts in the area of produce selection is to choose “organic” varieties for maximum health benefits. We trust organic label certifications because they are supposed to comply with organic standards set by national governments and international organizations. Synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers are not allowed in organic practices, but that’s not always the case. Research by a Food Inspection Agency in Canada has found that nearly half the organic fresh fruits and vegetables tested in the past two years contained pesticide residue, violating maximum allowable limits for the presence of pesticides, the data shows. Full article

By Mike Adams, Natural News

Call it consumer fraud! Many of the “fruits” used in popular breakfast cereals are really just fake fruits made out of refined factory ingredients like:

• Artificial coloring chemicals
• GMO corn starch
• GMO soybean oil
• Corn syrup solids

So which breakfast cereals can you really trust to deliver REAL fruits versus FAKE fruits?

In this investigation, we examine nine popular cereals. In each picture below, you’ll see the cereal box image, a microscopy photo of the “fruit” in the cereal, and a snapshot of the ingredients label.

Frosted Mini Wheats Strawberry Delight Cereal
Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Cheats
Don’t trust the cereal box to tell the truth! As you can see on this box of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats, the front of the box shows a picture of fresh strawberries. But the cereal doesn’t contain any strawberries.

Instead, it contains petrochemical-derived food coloring chemicals and soybean oil almost certainly derived from GMOs.

The box claims the cereal is made from “100% Whole Grain” but never mentions the artificial chemical colors, corn syrup, soybean oil or questionable ingredients.

The box imagery also falsely implies that you’re buying and eating real strawberries, and this same deception is repeated across nearly all popular cereals.

In fact, this microscope image shows that the “strawberries” in Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats are really just artificially colored bits containing no real fruit at all!

As you can see from the ingredients label shown on the right, the real ingredients used to fake the strawberries in Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats are:

• Corn syrup
• Artificial flavor
• Soybean oil (most likely from GMOs)
• Gelatin
• Citric acid (most likely from GMOs)
• Red #40 (artificial coloring chemical)
• Blue #2 (artificial coloring chemical)
• Blue #1 (artificial coloring chemical)

That’s not fruit! When you eat Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats, you’re eating a mouth full of chemicals!

That’s why I think the product name should be changed to Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-CHEATS!  More details

California-grown Lundberg rice shows near-zero heavy metals; case closed on ‘naturally occurring’ excuse for lead in rice products

By Mike Adams,  Natural News

Immediately after Natural News shocked the natural products industry by revealing significant levels of heavy metals in rice protein products, several of the smaller manufacturers got together to try to figure out how to counter scientific facts with public relations spin.

Three nights ago, a secret phone meeting was held among several of these smaller companies, and in that meeting they decided to counter my scientific research and laboratory results with a public relations campaign. The tactic of the campaign would be to convince customers that all heavy metals in rice protein products were “naturally occurring” and therefore don’t count. If it’s “natural,” after all, what could be bad about it? (Monsanto, of course, makes the same claim about GMOs.)

So I decided to put that claim to the test. Does all rice show high heavy metals concentrations because these metals are “naturally occurring” in all soils? More details.

Detoxify Your Body and Change Your Life with Dr. Group

I have found this concept to be of utmost importance in pursuit of elite performance in life and sport. Dr. Group lays out the benefits, challenges and why it is important to have a clean water source.

Stephen McCarthy

Additional Sources of Information

1.  The importance of water with Daniel Vitalis

2.  Water and peformance with Stephen McCarthy

3. Non-flouridated water and increase in IQ, says Harvard

4. A clean water source defined by Stephen McCarthy

Military nears holy grail: Pizza that lasts years

NATICK, Mass. (AP) — They call it the holy grail of ready-to-eat meals for soldiers: a pizza that can stay on the shelf for up to three years and still remain good to eat.

Soldiers have been asking for pizza since lightweight individual field rations — known as meals ready to eat, or MREs — replaced canned food in 1981 for soldiers in combat zones or areas where field kitchens cannot be set up.

Researchers at a U.S. military lab in Massachusetts are closing in on a recipe that doesn’t require any refrigeration or freezing.

“You can basically take the pizza, leave it on the counter, packaged, for three years and it’d still be edible,” said Michelle Richardson, a food scientist at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center.

Scientists at the Natick labs also are responsible for developing equipment and clothing that improves soldiers’ combat effectiveness and their survival, but the quest for good pizza has become known as the holy grail there.  More information

By Christina Sarich, Natural Society

Men and women alike have excess ‘belly-fat,’ usually an anthropomorphized representation of a lack of healthy fats in our bodies- like the ones in coconut oil. A peer-reviewed study from Brazil shows how eating just two tablespoons of coconut oil a day can help whittle our middle faster than spending months on the dreaded treadmill.

Coconut oil is full of medium chain triglycerides. (MCTs) The good thing about this type of fat is that it is more likely to be burned as energy than turned into extra blubber. Additionally extra virgin, organic coconut oil is full of lauric acid and caprylic acid, two important fatty acids that contain anti-viral and anti-microbial properties, so while your body can more easily utilize these fats as easy energy, coconut oil also helps to boost immunity and keep you from getting sick. More information

By Elizabeth Renter
Infowars.com, February 11, 2014

It’s the most widely used food color in the world, though few know enough about caramel color to know it should be avoided. Aside from being brown, it bears no similarities to the sweet candy flavor it’s named after. As a matter of fact, not appetizing at all, it contains a potentially cancer-causing ingredient. A recent Consumer Reports study found that you may be receiving more of it than what’s generally assumed to be safe.

According to Consumer Reports, 4-methylimidazole (4-Mel) has been shown to cause cancer in mice. The International Agency for Research on Cancer found it to be similarly “possibly carcinogenic to humans” in 2011. Though there is no federal limit for caramel color or it’s dangerous ingredient 4-Mel in foods and beverages, there is a limit in California. More Information