Tyson Foods, the world’s largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the U.S., has admitted that it injects its chickens with antibiotics before they hatch and then labels them as raised without antibiotics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told Tyson to stop using the antibiotic-free label, but the company has sued for the right to keep using it.

Poultry farmers regularly treat chickens and other birds with antibiotics. But scientists have become increasingly concerned that the routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture may accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
After Tyson began labeling its chicken antibiotic-free, the USDA warned the company that such labels were not truthful, because Tyson regularly treats its birds’ feed with bacteria-killing ionophores. Tyson argued that ionophores are antimicrobials rather than antibiotics, and are not used on human patients. Tyson suggested a compromise which was eventually accepted by the USDA — they would use a label reading “raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans.”

Tyson’s competitors: Perdue Farms Inc., Sanderson Farms Inc. and Foster Farms sued, and in May 2008, a federal judge ruled in their favor and told Tyson to stop using the label. Not long after, USDA inspectors discovered that in addition to using ionophores, Tyson was regularly injecting its chicken eggs with gentamicin, an antibiotic that has been used for more than 30 years.

The agency told Tyson that based on the new discovery, it would no longer consider the antibiotic-free label “truthful and accurate.” Tyson objected again, claiming that because the antibiotics are injected before the chickens hatched, the birds can truthfully be said to be “raised without antibiotics.” Tyson has filed a lawsuit against the USDA, claiming that the agency had improperly changed the definition of “raised without antibiotics” to include the treatment of eggs.

So I get asked quite frequently,”if I can only do a few things to change for the better, what would you do?” and it just so happens I just received this list from the environmental working group. They have racked their brains to put together what they think are the most important changes to make within your home. There are other things I would add like getting sugar out of your life first of all, but this is a very do-able list to get started. If the list looks to overwhelming, just take one item at a time and when you feel comfortable with that add another item. It’s all about baby steps and as long as they are in the right direction, you are making great changes!

1. Choose better body care products. Just because a label says “gentle” or “natural” doesn’t mean it’s kid-safe. Look up your products on CosmeticsDatabase.com. Read the ingredients and avoid triclosan, BHA, fragrance, sodium laurel sulfate, parabins and oxybenzone.

2. Go organic & eat fresh foods. Opt for organic fruits and veggies, or use FoodNews.org to find conventionally grown produce with the least pesticides. Choose milk and meat without added growth hormones. Limit canned food and infant formula, as can linings contain bisphenol A (BPA).

3. Avoid fire retardants. Choose snug-fitting cotton pajamas for kids, and repair or replace worn out foam items.

4. Pick plastics carefully. Some plastics contain BPA, which is linked to cancer. Avoid clear, hard plastic bottles marked with a “7″ or “PC” and choose baby bottles made from glass or BPA-free plastic. Don’t microwave plastic containers. Stay away from toys marked with a “3″ or “PVC.” Give your baby a frozen washcloth instead of vinyl teethers.

5. Filter your tap water. Use a reverse osmosis system or carbon filter pitcher to reduce your family’s exposure to impurities in water, like chlorine and lead. Don’t drink bottled water, which isn’t necessarily better. Mix infant formula with fluoride-free water.

6. Wash those hands. In addition to reducing illness, frequent hand washing will reduce kids’ exposure to chemicals. Skip anti-bacterial soaps, since they can be bad for the environment, aren’t any better than soap and water, and can contain pesticides that are absorbed through the skin.

7. Skip non-stick. When overheated non-stick cookware can emit toxic fumes. Cook with cast iron or stainless steel instead.

8. Use a HEPA-filter vacuum. Kids spend lots of time on the floor, and household dust can contain contaminants like lead and fire retardants. HEPA-filter vacuums capture the widest range of particles and get rid of allergens. Leave your shoes at the door so you don’t bring more pollutants inside.

9. Get your iodine. Use iodized salt, especially while pregnant and nursing, and take iodine-containing prenatal vitamins. Iodine buffers against chemicals like perchlorate, which can disrupt your thyroid system and affect brain development during pregnancy and infancy.

10. Use greener cleaners & avoid pesticides. Household cleaners, bug killers, pet treatments, and air fresheners can irritate kids’ lungs, especially if your kids have asthma and allergies. Investigate less toxic alternatives. Use vinegar in place of bleach, baking soda to scrub your tiles, and hydrogen peroxide to remove stains.

11. Eat good fats. Omega-3 fatty acids can offset toxic effects of lead and mercury. They’re in fish, eggs, nuts, oils, and produce. Choose low-mercury fish like salmon, tilapia and pollock, rather than high-mercury tuna and swordfish, especially if you’re pregnant. Breast milk is the best source of good fats (and other benefits) for babies, and protects them from toxic chemicals.

This month’s recipe is from Olga Berman, food enthusiast in the D.C. area. Check out her blog Mango & Tomato for more recipes and food photos and musings!

1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 cup pumpkin purée, preferably fresh
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 roasted garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed and for drizzling
1/4 cup water, plus more as needed
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a blender, combine all ingredients and purée until completely smooth. If needed, add more oil and/or water to achieve desired consistency. Serve drizzled with extra olive oil.

Important new research has shown that commonly used food dyes, such as Yellow 5, Red 40, and six others, are linked to hyperactivity, impulsivity, learning difficulties, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in many children. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of these dyes, many of which are already being phased out in Europe. Read more here:
www.cspinet.org/fooddyes

Food allergies among children have risen 18 percent from 1997 to 2007, causing more than a few raised eyebrows among researchers and health officials. The first federal study of the issue found that one in 26 children now have food allergies, compared to one in 29 in 1997.

One in 26 U.S. children have food allergies — up 18 percent in the past decade.

In all, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that about 3 million kids have food allergies, which occur when your immune system overreacts to a food it mistakenly believes is harmful. If your immune system determines, for instance, that peanuts are harmful, it will produce specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to peanuts.

The next time you eat the particular food, your immune system then releases chemicals, including histamine, that are intended to protect your body from the substance. The problem is that these chemicals trigger an array of irritating and potentially very serious symptoms that can impact your respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, skin and cardiovascular system.

In fact, the number of children hospitalized for food allergies has also increased, according to the CDC. Hospital discharges rose from 2,600 a year in the late 1990s to over 9,500 a year in recent years.

Yet, food allergies are not the only ones on the rise.

A national survey conducted from 1988 to 1994 by the National Institutes of Health found that more than 50 percent of Americans ages 6 to 59 are sensitive to at least one allergen. That’s two to five times the rate found in a previous 1976 to 1980 survey.

Why are Allergies Increasing so Dramatically?

One theory is that parents and doctors are now more aware of allergies and their symptoms, meaning they’re more likely to identify the problem.

“A couple of decades ago, it was not uncommon to have kids sick all the time and we just said ‘They have a weak stomach’ or ‘They’re sickly,”‘ Anne Munoz-Furlong, chief executive of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, told CNN.

Yet, the increases are steep enough to suggest that something deeper is going on. Some potential causes of the emerging allergy epidemic include:

• Over-sanitized environments and too many antibiotics (in food and as medicine). “We’ve developed a cleanlier lifestyle, and our bodies no longer need to fight germs as much as they did in the past,” said Marc McMorris, a pediatric allergist at the University of Michigan Health System, in Live Science. “As a result, the immune system has shifted away from fighting infection to developing more allergic tendencies.”
• Air pollution. Diesel fumes, ozone and other common air pollutants are known to trigger allergies and asthma. As levels of pollution rise, so do allergies. In fact, according to a study led by Joachim Heinrich, Ph.D., of the German Research Center for Environment and Health at the Institute of Epidemiology, in Munich, traffic-related air pollution can increase the risk of allergy and atopic diseases in children by more than 50 percent!
• Children are taking longer to outgrow food allergies than in the past.
• Peanut allergies in children have doubled, studies show, fueling the increase (yet no one knows exactly why peanut allergies are rising).

Source: sixwise.com

Sleep less than 5 hours a night and more than 9 hours a night for adults has been linked to brain activity similar to psychiatric disorders, and can lead to increased risk for diabetes, obesity, headaches, back pain, depression, heart disease, and possibly death.The effect are similar with teens, children, and babies.

Your age and activity level will determine your sleep needs to some extent. Children and teens, for instance, need more sleep than adults. However, your sleep needs are individual to you. You may require more or less sleep than someone of the same age, gender and activity level.

Sleep researchers have also found that it takes just a single night of sleeping only four to six hours to impact your ability to think clearly the next day. Anyone who has had children knows for a fact how that feels.

It sort of always makes me so sad when I am at the grocery store late at night and see parents dragging their crying or misbehaving children behind them and they can’t understand why they are so frustrated with them…children need their sleep  just like the rest of us to be fully functional!

When my babies were very small, I would frequently miss out on family events or other functions if they interfered with my children’s  optimal sleep schedule. Bed time was sacred at our house. It was hard, but the pay off was children who love bedtime and it is literally never a struggle. Every new babysitter always tells me what a dream my kids are to put to bed, and it’s because bedtime has always been a positive thing and I never waited until they were too tired to put them to bed.

If sleep is hard to come by at your house, or if you have little ones, you will really want to buy the book “healthy sleep habits, happy child” by Marc Weissbluth. It literally changed my life when my first baby was a couple of months old. I followed his recommendations to the tee and I never struggles with naps or bed time again. Before reading this book, I literally would be up until 10 or 11pm with my newborn until we both collapsed from exahstion.

So, I always have to laugh when someone comes to my home and needs to use a microwave. It is such a good time every time. They look and turn and look and turn, and look so perplexed when I don’t have a microwave. My poor children didn’t even realize we didn’t have one until I explained to them that you can’t make microwave popcorn in the toaster oven.  We threw our microwave out almost 8  years ago and have never regretted it. There is nothing we can’t do in the kitchen that I can’t do without it. (except make microwave popcorn, but then you don’t really want to even eat that anyway…) And I feel much better knowing the nutrients in the food I prepare are healthy and whole for my family.  I am extending an invitation: throw out your microwave, don’t even give it to someone you love, I wouldn’t give one to someone I didn’t love either. So here are 10 reasons to take the plunge, and a link after for more info, if you don’t want to believe me…

Ten Reasons To Throw Out Your Microwave Oven:

• Continually eating microwave processed food causes permanent brain damage.

• The human body is unable to metabolize the unknown by-products created in microwaved foods.

• Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods.

• The effects of by-products remain in the human body long-term.

• Minerals, vitamins and nutrients are reduced by microwaving so that the body gets little or altered components that cannot be broken down.

• The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals by microwaves.

• Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths. This may partially explain the rapid increase of the colon cancer rate in America.

• Long term consumption of microwaved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.

• It also causes immune system deficiencies through alterations in the lymph glands and blood serum.

• Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory and concentration, emotional instability and a decrease of intelligence.

Source: www.mercola.com

For more research on this important topic please visit this link: http://www.mercola.com/article/microwave/hazards.htm