Who knew artificial dyes and food colorings were detrimental - one American mom did and now wants 'European M&Ms'

American mom wants European M&Ms
By William Hudson 
CNN
January 7, 2014

photo credit: Vern Hart

(CNN) -- What gives M&Ms their bright colors? That depends on which country you're in.
Mars Inc. primarily uses artificial food coloring for the candy in the United States, but M&Ms derive their candy coloring from natural sources in Europe.

Now a Change.org petition begun by Renee Shutters and the Center for Science in the Public Interest is calling on Mars to stop using artificial dyes in its American M&Ms as well. As of Tuesday morning, the petition had more than 142,000 supporters.

Shutters says her son Trenton showed noticeable improvements in mood and attention span after she removed artificial coloring from his diet a few years ago. M&Ms were his favorite candy.

"I just could not believe that something so small could make that big of a difference," Shutters says.

European lawmakers moved to require warning labels on foods containing certain artificial colorings after a 2007 study found a slight increase in hyperactivity among children consuming a mixture of the dyes and a preservative.

The required label reads: "May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children."
The move came despite the European Food Safety Authority's conclusion that the UK study "provides limited evidence" and "cannot be used as a basis for altering the (accepted daily intake) of the respective food (colors)."

Instead of adding the warning, most manufacturers voluntarily switched to dyes derived from natural sources, such as beets or annatto for red, carrots for orange and saffron for yellow.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has declined to implement tougher regulations but acknowledged that "certain susceptible children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and other problem behaviors" may have their condition "exacerbated by exposure to a number of substances in food, including, but not limited to, synthetic color additives."

The effects on behavior "appear to be due to a unique intolerance to these substances and not to any inherent neurotoxic properties," the FDA said in 2011.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says the FDA and big business need to take action.

"The Food and Drug Administration should protect the public's health by banning food dyes," Jacobson says. "Companies of course could remove dyes voluntarily, switching to safer natural colorings, and a few big companies are beginning to do it."

In November, Kraft announced it would be removing artificial dyes from some varieties of its Macaroni & Cheese.

"We have absolute confidence in the safety of all the ingredients we use," Mars said in a statement. "(We) are constantly evaluating and updating ingredients based on consumer preference, new technology, scientific information and availability of raw materials."

FDA admits in court case that vaccines still contain mercury

FDA admits in court case that vaccines still contain mercury

Ethan A. Huff
Natural News
Sunday, April 01, 2012

Infowars

(NaturalNews) It is a common myth today that the vaccines administered to children no longer contain the toxic additive thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative linked to causing permanent neurological damage. But a recent federal case involving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revealed that, contrary to this widely-held belief, thimerosal is actually still present in many batch vaccines, including in the annual influenza vaccine that is now administered to children as young as six months old.

Filed by a citizen-backed coalition advocating vaccine safety, the lawsuit against the FDA alleged that the agency's continued endorsement and approval of thimerosal as a vaccine additive is a serious public health threat, especially since safer alternatives already exist and are widely used voluntarily by many vaccine manufacturers. But Judge Brett Kavanaugh, siding with antiquated pseudoscience, decided that thimerosal is not a health threat, and that those who wish to avoid it can simply choose thimerosal-free alternatives.

Ignoring the evidence of thimerosal's dangers brought before him on behalf of the millions of children across the country who continue to be injected with this mercury-based additive, Judge Kavanaugh declared that the plaintiffs, which include groups like the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs (CMFD), did not have proper standing to file the lawsuit. And in the process, both he and the FDA inadvertently admitted that thimerosal is still present in many childhood vaccines, which counters popular claims to the contrary.

FDA admits on its website that thimerosal is still in vaccines

The fact that Judge Kavanaugh refused to hear the case is tragic in and of itself, as thimerosal, which is composed of 50 percent mercury, has been proven to cause serious health damage. But what may be even worse is the fact that many people falsely believe that thimerosal is not even included in vaccines anymore, which is leading them to blindly allow them to be administered to their children. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA have continued to provide dubious and misleading information on the subject, which the mainstream media has been complicit in spreading over the years.

But the FDA explains, in no uncertain terms, directly on its website that thimerosal is still added to certain vaccines. For this reason alone, it is crucial that parents who choose to vaccinate their children ask for an ingredients list for each and every vaccine before allowing them to be administered to their children.

"While the use of mercury-containing preservatives has declined in recent years with the development of new products formulated with alternative or no preservatives, thimerosal has been used in some immune globulin preparations, anti-venins, skin test antigens, and ophthalmic and nasal products, in addition to certain vaccines," writes the FDA on its Thimerosal in Vaccines page (http://www.fda.gov).

Don't believe the lie: Thimerosal is eventually converted by the body into highly-toxic inorganic mercury

Another myth often spread by thimerosal advocates claims that the ethylmercury compounds that compose roughly 50 percent of the preservative are not actually harmful because they are different from the type found in a can of tuna. But a comprehensive review conducted by Dr. Paul G. King has proven otherwise, showing that ethylmercury is first metabolized by the body into toxic methylmercury, which is then metabolized into inorganic mercury (http://www.infowars.com).

Both methylmercury and inorganic mercury are listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as toxic substances responsible for causing neurological problems, brain disorders, nervous system illnesses, gastrointestinal problems, kidney failure, respiratory illness, and death (http://www.epa.gov/hg/effects.htm).

Sources for this article include:

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/03/23/44979.htm

http://www.fda.gov

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/children.htm

Is it really a surprise that nearly all of our drug pharmaceuticals are produced and manufactured overseas?

Oh and heres the kicker: the mighty FDA "has inspected a mere 11 percent of all foreign drug manufacturing facilities, as opposed to the 40 percent it has inspected domestically."-(NaturalNews)

Fact: 80 percent of U.S. pharmaceuticals made with overseas ingredients, nearly half produced in foreign facilities never inspected by FDA
by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
NaturalNews
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
(Image: NaturalNews)


(NaturalNews) Big Pharma advocates (the few that exist outside the corrupt government structure and the drug industry itself) regularly defend the industry with claims that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains strict regulatory protocols that ensure safety. But a new report reveals that not only are most drug ingredients sourced from unregulated foreign sources, but nearly half of all drug production facilities are located overseas, most of which have never been inspected by FDA.

Issued by the US Government Accountability Office, the new report says up to 40 percent of all pharmaceuticals sold in the US are actually manufactured overseas in countries like India and China. A whopping 80 percent of all ingredients used to manufacture drugs, including those manufactured in the US, reportedly come from overseas as well. And the FDA has inspected a mere 11 percent of all foreign drug manufacturing facilities, as opposed to the 40 percent it has inspected domestically.

As of 2007, there were an estimated 152 registered drug manufacturing facilities in Canada, 299 in Indian, and 566 in China, which together total 1,017 facilities. However, FDA has only conducted 368 inspections among these countries and their drug manufacturing facilities, which means 649 facilities have never received an inspection. And if these 368 inspections include multiple inspections at the same facility, then that number is even lower.

This is all shocking news, of course, considering the volume of drugs that is now produced overseas. The common over-the-counter (OTC) pain drug aspirin, for instance, is almost entirely produced in China. The acid reflux drug Prilosec (omeprazole), is also manufactured primarily in Puerto Rico and India, according to the report.

For years, drug companies have been shutting down domestic drug manufacturing facilities and moving production overseas. A 2009 report in The New York Times explains that most of the ingredients used for manufacturing critical drugs like antibiotics, allergy medicines, diabetes medications, and high blood pressure medications, are now almost exclusively produced in either China or India (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/health/policy/20drug.html).

And what is even more disturbing is the growing number of people that are seriously injured or killed because of tainted drugs produced overseas -- and how little has been done to address this problem. In 2008, for instance, it was reported that at least 81 people in the US died from a tainted heparin drug produced in India. The drug contained an ingredient that had been sourced from, you guessed it, China (http://www.safemedicines.org/counterfeit-heparin-blamed-for-worldwide-deaths.html.

Sources for this article include:
http://www.alternet.org/story/153713/do_you_know_where_your_medicine_came_from_over_40_of_pills_made_overseas_--_many_in_unregulated_factories