Relevance of Food Labels' "Use By" and "Sell By" Statements

In another Rodale News post, the authors question "use by" and "sell by" statements on food labels. The article can be accessed here. They reference a study co-authored by the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Natural Resources Defense Council that can be accessed here.

Are Juice Companies Tricking Us?

There's a posting from Rodale News entitled "6 Surprising Ways Juice Companies Trick You" that can be accessed here. The authors reference ingredients such as fungicide and African beetles in certain products.

Gerber Childrenswear Class Action Settlement

If you purchased new Gerber children clothing containing tagless labels from 2005 through 2009 you may be included in a recent class action settlement with Gerber Childrenswear. Please see www.GCWsettlement.com for more information about the settlement and how to file a claim, or click here to visit that site.

FDA bans BPA in baby formula packaging

The Hill's RegWatch (Ben Goad) published an article yesterday, announcing that the Food and Drug Administration has finally decided to prohibit bisphenol A (BPA) from use in baby formula packaging. Click here to read the story. While a milestone for consumers, FDA did not make a finding that BPA poses health risks, though it has been linked to infertility and cancer.

Fragrance -- "Not So Sexy"

The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics recently released its report entitled "Not So Sexy/The Health Risks Of Secret Chemicals In Fragrance." You can read the report by clicking here.

Cadmium in Children's Jewelry

I've been digging into Cadmium and whether it's found in products intended for use by children. I'm particularly interested in children's products because kids are more vulnerable to chemical toxicities than are adults.

Anyway, Cadmium has reportedly been found in cheap jewelry sold by retailers like Claire's, Wal-Mart, and Target. Here's a link to a CBS story re Claire's, Wal-Mart, and Cadmium jewelry. Here's a link to TheSmartMama.com's investigation re Target.

Rather than characterizing what I've found about the nasty characteristics of Cadmium, here are a few links: Scorecard's summary; National Toxicology Program substance profile; International Agency for Research on Cancer.

And, by the way, human exposure can be via the dermal route. See e.g., Godt, et al., “The toxicity of cadmium and resulting hazards for human health”,Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 2006, 1:22.

Rule on Lead Safety

The New York Times reported yesterday that the EPA is now on track to implement a regulation requiring the construction industry to help prevent lead poisoning in children. Congress reportedly passed the legislation in 1992, but it took a lawsuit by environmental and public interest groups to pressure EPA to issue the rule. Click here to read the article.

FDA Crackdown on Food Labels

A couple of weeks ago, ABC News published the above-entitled story. FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg sent letters to 17 food manufacturers concerning their deceptive food labeling. Widely recognized manufacturers such as Dreyers Grand Ice Cream, Inc., Beech-nut, and Nestle were among recipients of Dr. Hambur's letters. Click here to read the story. Click here to see the list of companies and products.

Cell Phone Radiation

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has published an article related to cell phone radiation, so you can read it by clicking here.

New Jersey Court Rules That Lawsuit Related To Baby Personal Care Products May Proceed

A federal judge in New Jersey recently upheld some consumer claims related to commonly recognized personal care products that are intended for use on infants -- namely, Johnson's Baby Shampoo and Target's Equate Tearless Baby Wash. One or both products allegedly contain methylene chloride, a substance banned by the FDA. Click here for information about methylene chloride. Click here to read the story published by Law.com.

Safe Cosmetics Ingredients -- iPhone App

Today I received daily highlights from Cosmeticsdesign.com and learned that a new iPhone application is available for users who care to monitor the ingredients comprising the personal care products they purchase. The developer claims that the app is touted as having a searchable database of 5000 ingredients. This is the link to Cosmetifique for iPhon and iPod Touch.

Organic Or Not? Silk report

So, as a proponent of transparency on consumer product packaging, I found an article published by the Cornucopia Institute this month interesting. The Institute reported that an investigation by the USDA's National Organic Program determined that Target corporation wrongly used an image of an organic product when promoting a conventional non-organic product to consumers. Click here to read Cornucopia's article. Minnesota Public Radio also published an article on this subject, here.

Doubt Is Their Product, Particularly those Targeted Toward Children

Consistent, or approximately so, with Michaels' "Doubt is Their Product," what does a company do when hurried to create doubt about safety of a baby/infant personal care product?  When faced with a public interest report about 1,4-dioxane in baby personal care products (click here) a company might ask people in China (click here) to say that ingredient isn't in whatever was manufactured there.

Canada Bans/Restricts Additional Personal Care Product Ingredients

Canada recently banned or restricted the use of 4 ingredients in cosmetics. Anyone interested can read the article by clicking here. Or, check the following against the labels on your own personal care products: 2-MEA (2-methoxyethanol acetate); DEGME - 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethanol; 2-methoxypropanol (reportedly not added, but may be an impurity); and Pigment Red 3.

Penguin House

I think this video is interesting about using light to make a small space seem larger. Click here.

Wyeth v Levine -- A great victory for a severely injured woman

On March 4, 2009, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in a case involving a woman who was severely injured by an antinausea drug called Phenergan, manufactured by Wyeth. After a clinician injected Ms. Levine with the drug by the IV push method, she developed gangrene and doctors amputated her forearm. The Vermont jury determined that Ms. Levine's injury would not have occurred if Phenergan's label included an adequate warning. Anyone who's interested in reading the opinion can click here, or simply be happy that the Supreme Court rejected Wyeth's argument that Ms. Levine could not recover from them for her injuries because federal law precluded her recovery under state law. The score was 6 to 3.

High Fructose Corn Syrup & Mercury

On January 26, 2009, Environmental Health published an article titled "Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: measured concentrations in food product sugar." The authors discuss an investigation by an Environmental Health Officer at the Food and Drug Administration after the EPA reported that on average approximately seven tons of mercury were missing from each of eight mercury cell chlor-alkali plants in operation in the United States. The results are shocking. Click here to read the article.

CFL Lightbulbs, Mercury, & What To Do If The Bulbs Break

A friend forwarded this link to a video recording Representative Ted Poe (Texas) speaking to the U.S. House in May 2008. One point of interest is the steps to be taken in the event that consumers break one of these lightbulbs. Click here to read EPA's instructions.

Attack On Phthalates Study

For anyone following the Phthalates health issues, it appears that an organization calling itself Center for Individual Freedom (CFIR) is waging an uncertainty campaign related to a February 2008 study published in the journal Pediatrics. The uncertainty campaign is discussed in an excellent book, "Doubt Is Their Product; How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health." Another organization called SourceWatch exposes CFIR's beginnings and connections to possible tobacco funding. You can read the SourceWatch profile of CFIR by clicking here.

Phthalates

There has been renewed news coverage about phthalates in baby personal care products. Click here to read one carried by AP. You can read the underlying study titled "Baby Care Products: Possible Sources of Infant Phthalate Exposure" by clicking here.