Early results from a € 20 million European Union-funded four-year project conclude that organic food is more nutritious than ordinary produce and may help to lengthen people’s lives. The study found that organic fruit and vegetables contained as much as 40% more antioxidants, which scientists believe can cut the risk of cancer and heart disease. …
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Category:Health
Quitting smoking makes business sense
Many US businesses are seeking to reduce their medical bills by paying for programs to help employees stop smoking. Recent surveys show that one-third of companies with at least 200 workers now offer smoking cessation as part of their employee benefits package. Among the US’s biggest companies, the number may be nearly two-thirds of employers. …
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UK to tighten standards for imported organics
The Soil Association has warned that it will introduce stricter ethical standards to certify organic food flown into the UK from January 2009. The association, which certifies 70% of the UK’s £1.9 billion organic food sector, wants the trade to bring real benefit to developing world farmers so all air-freighted food will have to meet …
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Attention to diet and health at school is working in the US
The results of a survey of US schools, which is conducted every six years by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows improvement in diet and lifestyle. 30% of school districts have banned junk food from school vending machines, up from 4% in 2000. Other signs are good too: schools offering fried potatoes in …
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Consumers enforce organics in US, because the government won’t
Acting on behalf of organic food consumers in 27 states, class action lawsuits are being filed in U.S. federal courts in St. Louis and Denver, against Aurora Dairy Corporation. The suits charge Aurora, one of the nation’s largest organic dairies, with consumer fraud, negligence, and unjust enrichment concerning the sale of organic milk by the …
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Microsoft wants to own your private health records
While databases and sharing information can lower costs and improve service in a range of industries, the ownership of information can impinge upon one’s privacy and allow access to private information by people that you don’t know or would not want to have access to your data. The line between utility and invasion of privacy …
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Parental smoking causes cot death
A comprehensive study, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Parental Smoking, carried out at Bristol University’s Institute of Child Life and Health and published in the Early Human Development medical journal, reviewed existing evidence from numerous studies on smoking and cot death and concludes that 9 out of 10 mothers who lose a baby to cot …
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Research compares US and UK organic market drivers
New research into the US organic sector by the Hartman Group reveals intriguing differences between the American and UK markets. In numbers, the US sector has grown slower, about 1/3 as quickly as the UK: the US organic market grew by just over 30% between 2002-2005, whereas the UK achieved 33% growth in 2006 alone. …
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US EPA intent on poisoning Americans
While the USDA fails to enforce organic standards, the EPA has decided to liberate a vile toxin on the American countryside. The EPA approved a new chemical fumigant, methyl iodide, for use on food crops across the US. The pesticide vaporises quickly, allowing it to drift far distances. Although the state of California has categorized …
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Are US organic standards becoming worthless?
Aurora Organic Dairy just a few weeks ago had a portion of its organic certification suspended by the USDA for “willfully” violating National Organic Standards thanks to pressure from OCA and others. Since 2003 it has failed to pasture its animals and by bringing conventional calves onto its feedlots and then declaring them organic. But …
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