Food Now Gets Label of Origin
from USA Today
Coming soon to an apple, a pound of hamburger or a head of lettuce near you will be a label that says what country the item came from. The labeling has been a long time coming. It predates by years concerns about domestic and imported foods after E. coli outbreaks and chemical contamination. More

Food Labeling: Health Claims; Calcium and Osteoporosis, and Calcium, Vitamin D, and Osteoporosis; Federal Register Extracts

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its labeling regulation authorizing a health claim on the relationship between calcium and a reduced risk of osteoporosis to include vitamin D so that, in addition to the claim for calcium and osteoporosis, an additional claim can be made for calcium and vitamin D and osteoporosis. More

Aromatherapy Can Help Relieve Some Conditions

Aromatherapy is more than the candles, incense, bath beads and lotions found in department stores. The essential oils used in the practice were among mankind's first medicines. There are more than 200 references to healing oils in the Bible, and there's evidence they were used in ancient Egyptian and Chinese cultures. More

Pesticide-testing Program Halted

The Bush administration has abruptly halted a government program that tests the levels of pesticides in fruits, vegetables and field crops, arguing that the $8 million-a-year program is too expensive — a decision critics say could make it harder to protect consumers from chemicals in their food. Data from the 18-year-old Agricultural Chemical Usage Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture were collected until this year, and the Environmental Protection Agency used the data to set safe levels of pesticides in food. More

Pistachio Nuts May Improve Heart Health

Going green may be heart healthy if the green you choose is pistachio nuts, according to researchers at Penn State who conducted the first study to investigate the way pistachios lower cholesterol. More

Natural Ingredients Provide "Stimulus" to Personal Care and Beauty Sales

Driven by increasing environmental awareness and concern about synthetic ingredients, the Natural Products Association reports that sales of natural personal care products are growing at a rate five times faster than traditional offerings. Analysts such as the Chicago-based Mintel Group project that sales of natural personal care products will continue to increase, in spite of a tough U.S. economy. More

Santa Cruz Organic Farm Wins Pesticide Suit

A Santa Cruz County, Calif., jury has found that the unintended contamination of organic crops caused by pesticides evaporating after application violated the rights of the organic crop grower. The jury has awarded a North Coast grower $1 million in damages after deciding a pesticide company violated the farmer's rights when its chemicals drifted with the fog onto his organic crops. More

Labels Now Required to Reveal Source of Foods

Walk the produce aisle at Lori's Natural Foods in Rochester, N.Y., and you'll see labels posted like tiny badges of honor. "We've been doing it for quite some time because we're proud of the fact that we feature a lot of local produce and our customers want to know," said Griff Currier of Lori’s. Starting this month, shoppers will know the country of origin for all produce, meats and some nuts at all supermarkets. More

Panel Reviews the Reproductive and Developmental Toxicities of Genistein and Soy Formula

The Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction plans to convene an expert panel to conduct updated evaluations of the scientific evidence regarding the potential reproductive and/or developmental toxicity associated with exposure to genistein and soy formula begun in 2006. The expert panel will consist of approximately 10-12 scientists selected for their scientific expertise in various aspects of reproductive and developmental toxicology and other relevant areas of science. More