Bioterrorism expert Dr. Margaret Hamburg was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate this week to become the 2nd woman to lead the Food and Drug Administration in the department’s 103 year history. The question remains, however, Drink News if the future of America’s food supply looks safer or not.
Hamburg’s background with bioterrorism might make her just the kind of person needed to handle the out-of-control processed food industry and the woefully negligent rubber stamp of an agency that is supposed to protect the American food supply. The FDA has quietly …

Most people are eating a poison every day without giving it a second thought.  This substance can increase belly fat and consuming even small amounts (2% of total energy intake) is consistently linked to coronary heart disease. The research also says that this stuff can increase visceral fat, contribute to insulin resistance, increase risk of type 2 diabetes, increase bad cholesterol, decrease good cholesterol, trigger systemic inflammation and adversely affect almost every cell in your body.
What substance could be so harmful that it causes all of these health problems and …

WHEN CANADA recently resumed its World Trade Organization challenge of the U.S. Country-Of-Origin Labelling (COOL) laws, we were in effect doing both countries a favour. That’s because COOL in its current form is unfair, uneconomical and unjustified. COOL has more to do with protecting U.S. livestock producers than protecting U.S. consumers.
Signed into law last March, COOL affects certain foods that come from a foreign country but are packaged in the U.S.A. If an American packing plant buys hogs from Canada to make pork chops, U.S. grocery stores selling those chops …

While this isn’t exactly they’re top menu item, we have still been asked to give people the rundown on the ingredients that nutrisystem puts into their food.
Ingredients for Sourdough Pizza with Cheese:
PIZZA CRUST: ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, SOURDOUGH FLAVOR (WATER, CULTURED ENRICHED BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR), SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CORN GRIT, GLYCEROL, SOYBEAN OIL, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS: SUGAR, MALT EXTRACT, YEAST, SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE, ASCORBIC ACID, EMULSIFIER/ENZYME BLEND (DISTILLED MONOGLYCERIDES, ENZYMES, WHEAT STARCH, CALCIUM CARBONATE …

Every single wine kit that I’ve ever purchased comes with a package of potassium sorbate. The instructions that come with the wine kits tell us to add sorbate at the same time that we are to add potassium metabisulfite. However, many winemakers balk at adding sorbate to their wine and don’t always follow instructions.
Why the balking? Many believe that potassium sorbate adds a bubblegum flavor to wine, or as some call it, “kit wine taste.” So why do so many advise to add this stuff to our wines after the …

From looking at my referrer logs and some of the questions on other website forums and blogs, there seems to be a good deal of interest in the use of potassium sorbate in home winemaking. Some of the answers I’ve seen to the questions show that there is a lack of understanding about what exactly potassium sorbate does, and when it is required.
For example, one “expert” recently responded to a question about potassium sorbate, suggesting it was necessary to add it to all wine to prevent a malolactic fermentation in …

SOUTH KOREA – From 2010, all poultry meat will be sold in packs – one of a series of new measures to improve food safety.
 
A package of measures to enhance the general level of food safety was decided on at a meeting presided over by Prime Minister, Han Seung-soo, at the government complex in central Seoul yesterday, reports Korea Times.
Among these is that all poultry meat will be marketed in packages, starting in 2010. Coastal areas will be also classified according to the level of pollution, and fish and other …

Lovers of steamed bread and buns could be putting their health and that of future generations at risk by tucking into their favorite foods.
The Centre for Food Safety said yesterday about 97 percent of 256 food samples it tested, including bread, steamed buns, confectionery and ready-to- eat jellyfish, contained aluminum. That can cause growth retardation, reproduction defects or premature births in those exposed to it over time.
CFS community medicine consultant Ho Yuk- yin played down the findings, saying most Hongkongers are safe from overexposure to aluminum. But he warned that …

FOOD ADDITIVES – preserving food by pickling with vinegar, salting bacon or adding sulfur dioxide to wine – have been used for centuries.
However, the steady rise in production and consumption of processed foods since the 1950s has greatly increased the use of additives, both natural and artificial. And legislation in Europe and the US has mushroomed as food scares and a growing body of research suggest that certain additives are dangerous, or even lethal, to consumers’ health.
Boric acid was a key precursor to food additive legislation – widely used as …

A WASHING powder used by restaurants to clean crayfish was banned by the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration yesterday.
Officials will confiscate the powder, destroy tainted crayfish and close businesses that break the rules in a two-day campaign. The administration will also investigate the source of the washing powder, which is widely used by restaurants.
Authorities said they banned the washing powder because it had no brand name, manufacturer, ingredients and instructions on the package, breaching the nation’s food safety rules.
Laboratory tests found its two major ingredients were citric acid, an acidity …