Toxic Toothpaste Redux: 3 found, 2 counterfeit, & 1 with Bacteria

Health Canada has been investigating the bogus "Colgate" toothpaste which we mentioned in an earlier column.

But now the RCMP are investigating as well.

No less than 3 kinds of toxic toothpaste have been found, two are counterfeits, containing di-ethylene glycol, a substance used as an anti-freeze and solvent that can casue kidney failure, coma and even death in the vulnerable - for example children who swallow the toothpaste. The glycol is being used in plase of glycerin, which is edible and harmless.

One brand was also found to be contaminated with a bacteria. Read all about the toothpaste tube debacle here.

Anti-freeze & Lead in Medicine, Plastic in the Pork Chops

A 7 page special from the New York Times on how diethylene glycol - aka antifreeze, is being substituted for glycerin in medicines and some food products.

This article mentions that vitamins from are adulterated with lead.

And where are these from? The same place as the melamine, cyanuric acid, (a pool stabilizer) and aminopterin laced pet foods and animal feed mixtures: China. Yes, China, supporter of Sudan, stealer of Tibet, harvester of shark fins from live sharks, and organs from live political prisoners and the religious - I'm with this Stoney Creek man who's decided to boycott Chinese goods; given all the toxins that are being purposely added to Chinese exports to make a profit, it's a sensible thing to do for one's own safety.

Here are some sites with information on why and how to boycott Chinese made goods and products.

"Buying the Dragon's Teeth" was published in 2004. It outlines the reasons to boycott.

U.S. State Department info on Organ Harvesting in China

Epoch Times list of all their reports on Trade in Organ Removal from Live Humans.

Boycott 'Made in China'

Don't Feed the Dragon Campaign

Melamine Used As Cake Additive: Chinese Chem. Plant Manager

"Our chemical products are mostly used for additives, not for animal feed," said Li Xiuping, a manager at Henan Xinxiang Huaxing Chemical in Henan Province. "Melamine is mainly used in the chemical industry, but it can also be used in making cakes."

There you have it folks - from the International Herald Tribune. It's at the very bottom of the article. And the Washington Post has the revelation that before melamine there was urea being added, for the same reason - inflated and bogus protein content.

Melamine scrap is used in North America as an abrasive blast medium. Sonapa sells recycled plastics, including melamine scrap with formaldehyde. Here is there ad for "Type III – Thermoset Melamine Formaldehyde: Melamine is engineered for stripping the most difficult surfaces while providing an effective stripping rate. Melamine is the most aggressive plastic abrasive, offering an excellent range of stripping capabilities. Melamine can be used as a replacement for glass beads and other harsh abrasives."

In China, melamine scrap is mixed into soymeal, and sold to feedlots and farmers. A manager with Tai'an Yongfeng Feedmill Co. Ltd in the coastal province of Shandong says that "The chemical plant next to us used the melamine scrap as waste for landfill and built houses on it. Then they tore down the buildings to get the scrap once the price rose. It is a very popular business here. I know people have been mixing this since 1991."

One article I read spoke of an online market, Alibaba.com, where companies sell and buy chemicals and which is very big in China.

"Strawberry Daiquiri, Doc!"

Does soaking fruit in booze *really* make it healthier?

Whereas over on Digg, booze drinkers, swingers, a plethora of bachelors and bachelorettes and other wishful thinkers are already laying into the strawberry daiquiris, to celebrate the research news that adding berries to alcohol can boost the amount of phytochemicals available for your body to use, the BBC reports that other scientists (nutritionists and dieticians) say that the effect of the alcohol (for example on your liver!) may cancel out any health gains from the liberated antioxidants. Here's what alcohol does, in excess, to your liver! And there is more info here.

By the "drink your face off! it's healthy!" line of reasoning (read wishful thinking!) you could just as well make strawberry rum trifle and call it a health food ;-). I will admit I quite like that line of thought but it sure isn't rational! That's the path that leads thinking thatdoughnuts and beer will make you live longer! So *very* not. Not even if they are gluten-free! But then there is Matt's Super Genius Vodka Infusion, featuring not just strawberries but also pineapple and watermelon. And watermelon is oozing with lycopene.

Everything in moderation, including moderation.

U of Misssissippi Study: Not Your Daddy's Joint

"[the University of Mississippi report on Marijuana Potency] underscores that we are no longer talking about the drug of the 1960s and 1970s -- this is Pot 2.0,"
John Walters, Director of USA's National Drug Control Policy.

Tetra-hydro-cannabinol, or THC, is the active component in cannabis sativa (otherwise known as marijuana). Which means it's the thing in pot which makes people intoxicated.

Reuters, reports that the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) released a report on the potency of the plant. Cannibis sativa is the centre for a huge and illegal (in North America, at least) business in illicit drugs. The main finding of the report? Modern marijuana has a bit more than double the THC percentage it did in the late 1980's. This is based on samples of cannabis, and hashish, that have been analyzed over the decades by the Pharmacy Department at the University of Mississippi's Marijuana Potency Project. Their data shows that average levels of THC rose from 7 percent in 2003 to 8.5 percent in 2006, rising steadily from average THC levels of 3.5 percent, back in 1988. They studied 59,369 samples of cannabis, 1,225 of hashish and 443 of hash oil which police have confiscated since 1975. According to their report, "the highest concentration of (THC) found in a cannabis (marijuana) sample is 33.12 percent from Oregon State Police."

There is a short piece on the U of Mississippi report on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Here is the university's press release on Dan Rather's report on medical marijuana, which featured the pharmacy department's marijuana researchers.

Melting Ice Shelves, Kryptonite & Green Deserts

So you missed this Wednesday's show? No worries, here's the lowdown!

We featured info on habitat corridors in the ocean,turtle and conservation biologists versus evil beach developers, and a report on a seminar by Canadian marine geologist on melting icebergs, ice shelf of Greenland, and Labrador's natural gas-laden Makkovik Bank. Dr. Chris Woodworth-Lynas gave the seminar, at Memorial University, in Newfoundland.. He's also part of Canada's Northern Light mission to Mars.

Here is some bonus, apres show, news: the melting of the world's second-largest ice sheet has caused part of Greenland to be separated into another island; and an article on how scientists are finding that
Greenland and Antarctic glaciers melting into the ocean".

We also looked at ongoing greening of the desertified Sahel region, in Africa. The United States Geological Survey has some really good pictures illustrating some of the degradation.

We were pleased to report that there's finally some action (sort of) from the Canadian government on the contaminated pet food scandal. Our federal Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Chuck Strahl, has asked the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to look into the matter and see if there is anyway to avoid such a mess in the future. Although the CFIA maintains a food recall list for us humans, they do not have such a list for pet or livestock food. This may change depending on the results of the CFIA's investigation. We'll keep you posted.

And we looked at some truly spacey news: crystallographers at Canada's National Research Council & their role in discovering the atomic structure of 'kryptonite'. The substance has the same chemical formula as Superman's rocky nemesis.

The team that cracked the code on the makeup of the mineral are scientists right here in Ottawa! They used a specialized X-Ray machine, and they are Dr. Pamela Whitfield and Dr. Yvon LaPage.

The new mineral isn't radioactive at all, though. And that's a good thing. Or as Whitfield put it, she's been working with the mineral for weeks but 'hasn't grown a second head'. Also it cannot by international chemical nomenclature rules be called kryptonite as it contains 0% krypton. Which, for the record, is a gas.

Here's the lowdown from the NRC, which I've jazzed up with links.

"Canada's National Research Council and U.K.'s Natural History Museum Have Uncovered Kryptonite

April 25, 2007, Ottawa, Canada — Superman's nemesis, kryptonite, is no longer the stuff of fiction. A new mineral matching its unique chemistry – as described in the film Superman Returns – has been identified by Canadian and British scientists.

Kryptonite's devastating power is the bane of Superman stories, where exposure to its large green crystals causes the superhero to weaken. Unlike its famous fictional counterpart however, the new mineral is white, powdery and not radioactive. And, rather than originating from outer space, the real Kryptonite was found in Serbia by mining firm Rio Tinto. Unable to identify the unusual mineral's composition, Rio Tinto enlisted the help of mineralogist Dr. Chris Stanley of London's Natural History Museum.

Before a mineral can be classifed as new and distinct, it must first go through rigorous analysis so that its chemical and optical properties, including its crystal structure, can be determined. Typically a mineral sample contains crystals large enough so that techniques, such as single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD), can be used to determine crystal structure and composition. In the case of this new material, the sample's crystals were too small. Consequently, Dr. Stanley called upon the sophisticated analytical facilities of Canada's National Research Council and on the expertise of NRC researchers Drs. Pamela Whitfield and Yvon Le Page to analyze and validate the mineral's crystal structure.

"Knowing the crystal structure of a material enables scientists to calculate its other physical properties – such as its elasticity or thermochemical properties," explains NRC's Dr. Le Page, an expert in the field of crystallography, adding that "being able to analyze and validate all the properties of a mineral, both chemical and physical, brings us closer to confirming that it is indeed unique." "However, finding out that the chemical composition of a material submitted for review is an exact match to an invented formula for the fictitious kryptonite, this was the coincidence of a lifetime," he adds.

The U.K.'s Dr. Stanley, who has worked to identify many new minerals, was the one to reveal the true identity of the mysterious new material. "Towards the end of my research, I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula – sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide – and was amazed to discover that same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther's character from a Metropolis museum in the film Superman Returns. The new mineral does not contain fluorine and is white rather than green, but in all other respects the chemistry matches that of the rock containing kryptonite."

Approximately 30 – 40 new minerals are discovered each year. Each must be registered with the International Mineralogical Association, the Commission on new Minerals and Mineral Names. These agencies compare new submitted material against a vast database of all known minerals, to determine if the newly-discovered rock is genuinely unique.

In addition to the investigative work done by Britain's Natural History Museum and Canada's National Research Council, scientists from Natural Resources Canada, the Geological Survey of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Nature have collaborated to ensure that the new mineral is recognized by the international scientific community. The mineral will be formally named when it is described in the European Journal of Mineralogy later this year.

Recognized globally for research and innovation, Canada's National Research Council (NRC) is a leader in the development of an innovative, knowledge-based economy for Canada through science and technology.

The Natural History Museum is internationally renowned as a centre of scientific expertise and specialists supplying authoritative identifications and information on a worldwide range of animals, plants, minerals and fossils. The Museum holds extensive reference collections of well-characterized minerals, ores and rocks and has one of the best Earth Science reference libraries in the UK."

Contaminated Chinese (Wheat Gluten) Blues

This article will 'dish' a bit on the 'joys' of globalization and on differing safety standards for food and feed products, and environmental standards. And by dish, I mean melamine. Eh? I hear you say. Keep reading!

Earlier this year I reported that the tainting of pet food with contaminated Chinese wheat gluten might be only the tip of a larger iceberg (albeit an iceberg made of contaminated Chinese gluten). That's because wheat gluten is used in a lot of things people and their pets eat. Now various news outlets have reported that the pet food recall has been expanded to include Hill's Prescription Diet DRY m/d pet food, which is manufactured by Menu Foods, as well a brand of dog biscuits as by an Alabama company.

The culprit this time? Contaminated Chinese gluten, once again.

This time the 'magic ingredient' is not aminopterin. This time it's melamine. Yes, that would be... plastic. Melamine is used in North America and in Europe to make plastic dishes and plates. And what do the Chinese use it in? Fertilizer. How terribly scientific of them! Just what plants need, a good dose of plastic. Right, suuuuuuuuure it is.

China Environmental Blog reports from an article in the Washington Post that
"Chinese environmental officers say they are proud of their progress and that Beijing should be judged not by international standards but by how much it has improved."

"People who come here for the first time feel that the environment and the air is not good," said Yu Xiaoxuan, deputy director for construction and environment for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games. "But they do not know how bad the pollution was several years ago." Longtime Beijing residents say the change is striking. Bo Guoping, 60, a retired factory worker who on a recent weekend was flying a kite in one of the city's new parks with her grandson, remarked: "These days, we can see the sky. Before, it was all gray."" from China Environmental News Blog.

But before we leap to any conclusions, let's consider the situation in some villages in China near the Siberian border. Here is an excerpt from an excellent piece by the CS Monitor on how Chinese villagers are being poisoned by industry and are battling to clean up their environment so they survive and don't die early or have children suffering form severe fluoride poisoning because of disreputable industrial practices and terrible government environmental standards.

Here's part of it. I hope you have a strong stomach.

"...small towns like Leifeng and Puxing, which are just a few hundred miles away from those cities, have languished. Good intentions from the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) can't solve every problem, and local officials often have little incentive to do the right thing.

The job of fighting for victims of environmental disasters is thus being taken up by growing ranks of activists and lawyers. SEPA did not respond to phone calls or written questions about the pollution in Leifeng and Puxing. "The problem is that despite all the positive rhetoric emanating from Beijing, very little has found its way down to the local level," says Elizabeth Economy, senior Asia researcher with the Council on Foreign Relations and author of "The River Runs Black," on China's environmental crisis.

"The grass-roots ... movement is where the energy is coming from in China," she adds. The plight of Leifeng and Puxing, long ignored by government and media, has become a perfect example of this larger movement. Under the direction of a legal center in Beijing as well as a local law clerk, Leifeng and Puxing villages are fighting for their day in court.

Villagers' concerns began in 2001, when hundreds of pigs and chickens mysteriously died. After Chinese New Year 2002, scores of people were stricken with illnesses ranging from debilitating headaches and severe stomach problems to heart palpitations. After wearing freshly washed clothes, many developed strange rashes. Those who worked at the factory started to talk about what went on inside and fingered the likely culprit: toxic waste.

"At first we didn't believe it," recalls Cao Qingren, a local law clerk who is fighting for the villages. "Then we realized the water must be bad.""

Just peachy.

Well then... Has it changed your mind, gentle reader? Thought not. Talk about use at your own risk! This reporter will be going out of her way to avoid purchasing ANYTHING with gluten in it and anything from China that can be ingested, given their laws on aminopterin and melamine use. Who knows what will be found next in Chinese food products. Plutonium? Arsenic? Well I certainly hope not but who knows? There doesn't seem to be a lot of oversight at this point.

Besides, think of all the energy that will be saved and greenhouse gases avoided not burning fuel to lug contaminated trade goods across the Pacific from China to North America.

Curran, Material of the Future?

Two UK scientists specializing in biocomposite materials have invented a hi-tech material made partly of carrots. They call it Curran ('curran' means carrot, in Scots Gaelic) & they say it is versatile and could be used to make everything from car parts, to fishing rods to warships to engineering components.

David Hepworth and Eric Whale met while attending the University of Reading, where they both got their doctorates. They formed their company, CelluComp, in 2004.

They say that Curran could be a bio-friendly alternative to glass and carbon fibre. Currantly :) there is a global shortage of carbon fibre.

The novel material is made by extracting nano-fibres from carrots which are them mixed with hi-tech resins. This gives a substance which can be moulded into various shapes & sizes, from the stiff to loose, and with variable lightness.

The first product from CelluComp made of carrot-plus-resin material is the Just Cast fishing rod.

They won a SMART award, a Scottish entrepreneurship prize and are based in Burntisland, Fife.

Poisoned Pet Food Gluten May Be In Other Foods

In the last show, we looked at a study by medical researchers at the University of Pennsylvania that found that meditation can help patients suffering from congestive heart failure. We also looked at an upcoming talk entitled 'Green revolution - Whose revolution? which is happening at Ottawa's Congress Centre on March 26th, starting at 7 pm and features African and Canadian plant biologists, farmers and members of NGO's from both countries and looks at who the Bill and Melinda Gates and Rockefeller Foundations investments in African agriculture will actually benefit.

We also looked at the Menu Foods mass poisoned pet food recall, at what foods were recalled, plus little on symptoms of kidney failure and the reason why kidney failure produces such symptoms and what people should do if pets showed these symptoms. At the time the show was written - Monday - the US's FDA was saying the most likely culprit was tainted wheat gluten. What it was contaminated with was still in question at the time of the broadcast.

Now investigators have figured out the gluten appears to have been contaminated with a type of rat poison that was somehow in the wheat gluten used in the pet food. The tainted gluten was from a new supplier.

For some reason government and Menu Foods are not releasing the name of the wheat gluten supplier. This is not a good thing. Why? Because gluten is used as a thickener in many foods - not just for pets but for human consumption. It is a major ingredient in meat analogue products such as vegetarian bologna slices, Tofurky, and the like and is used to bind ingredients together. It is also used in pretty much all commercially prepared bread such as Dempsey's, Weston's etc.

The Recall List

Menu foods makes a huge number of private label brands and has pulled all of the brands that were in the test.

All foods recalled were sold in pouch or canned form. A number of other companies that sell canned cat foods made by Menu Foods have also initiated voluntary recalls.

If your pet is showing signs of ill health, please call your veterinarian. Renal failure does not have to mean death. Prescription pet food is available and is the standard treatment for chronic renal (kidney) failure.

Here is the list (announced on the last show) of recalled pet food:

Proctor& Gamble which sells IAMS and Eukanuba is recalling the 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6 oz. and 13.2 oz. of canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch "wet" cat and dog food products which were made by Menu Foods Inc. Emporia, Kansas plant
with the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197.

To read can product codes, look at the bottom of the can. The first four numbers of the second line of numbers are the date code, and the following four numbers indicate the plant code. For example, if the second line begins with four numbers from 6339 to 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, then the can should be recalled. For foil pouches, the code numbers are located at the lower left hand corner on the back of the pouch.

Nestlé Purina PetCare Company is voluntarily withdrawing its 5.3 ounce Mighty Dog® brand pouch products that were produced by Menu Foods, Inc. from December 3, 2006 through March 14, 2007.

The Mighty Dog pouch products and pouches in multi-pack cartons have code dates of 6337 through 7073, followed by the plant code 1798. This information should be checked on the bottom or back panel of the individual pouches. Specifically,
if the code following the "Use By" date begins with four numbers from 6337 to 7073 followed by the plant code 1798, then the pouch is included in this voluntary withdrawal. The list from Menu foods website is extensive. NB: These are canned and wet cat pet food. NOT DRY.

Some companies are providing purchasers of the tainted pet food with refunds. Contact the manufacturer for further details.

For full information please call menu recall information line at:
1-866-895-2708

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Best Choice
4. Companion
5. Compliments POUCHES
6. Demoulas Market Basket
7. Eukanuba
8. Fine Feline Cat
9. Food Lion
10. Foodtown
11. Giant Companion
12. Hannaford
13. Hill Country Fare
14. Hy-Vee
15. Iams
16. Laura Lynn
17. Li'l Red
18. Loving Meals
19. Meijer's Main Choice
20. Nutriplan
21. Nutro Max Gourmet Classics
22. Nutro Natural Choice
23. Paws
24. Pet Pride
25. Presidents Choice POUCHES
26. Price Chopper
27. Priority US
28. Save-A-Lot
29. Schnucks
30. Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts Cans
31. Sophistacat
32. Special Kitty Canada (POUCH)
33. Special Kitty US
34. Springfield Prize
35. Sprout
36. Stop & Shop Companion
37. Tops Companion
38. Wegmans
39. Weis Total Pet
40. Western Family US
41. White Rose
42. Winn Dixie


for DOGS:

1. Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
2. Authority
3. Award
4. Best Choice
5. Big Bet
6. Big Red
7. Bloom
8. Wegmans Bruiser
9. Cadillac
10. Companion
11. Demoulas Market Basket
12. Eukanuba
13. Food Lion
14. Giant Companion
15. Great Choice
16. Hannaford
17. Hill Country Fare
18. Hy-Vee
19. Iams
20. Laura Lynn
21. Loving Meals
22. Meijers Main Choice
23. Mighty Dog Pouch
24. Mixables
25. Nutriplan
26. Nutro Max
27. Nutro Natural Choice
28. Nutro Ultra
29. Nutro
30. Ol'Roy Canada
31. Ol'Roy US
32. Paws
33. Pet Essentials
34. Pet Pride - Good n Meaty
35. Presidents Choice
36. Price Chopper
37. Priority Canada
38. Priority US
39. Publix
40. Roche Brothers
41. Save-A-Lot
42. Schnucks
43. Shep Dog
44. Springsfield Prize
45. Sprout
46. Stater Brothers
47. Weis Total Pet
48. Western Family US
49. White Rose
50. Winn Dixie
51. Your Pet