Corn vs. Sugar Industries Legal Battle Heats Up Over “High Fructose Corn Syrup” Name Change

October 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For Immediate Release

October 3, 2011

Contact:

Glenn Turner, 917-817-3396

glenn@ripplestrategies.com

 

New Website FoodIdentityTheft.com

Provides Background for Reporters and Consumers

Expert Legal Spokesperson Available For Interviews

WASHINGTON, October 3, 2011 – High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a man-made sweetener used in thousands of grocery store products and it has a serious image problem. Consumers are avoiding it. Food companies are taking it out of the products they make. Some supermarkets have banned it. Demand for this highly-processed ingredient is falling fast.

The Corn Refiners Association – comprised of corporations that make HFCS – decided that changing the name was a way to fix this problem. They are petitioning the FDA so that HFCS can legally be called “corn sugar” and ultimately just “sugar”. An official decision hasn’t yet been made, but in 2008 the Corn Refiners Association began a $50 million dollar marketing campaign labeling HFCS as “corn sugar”. They are now being sued by a group of sugar farmers and refiners who believe the name change will confuse consumers and harm the sugar industry.

This issue saw significant media attention on September 13, 2011 as The Corn Refiners Association filed a motion to dismiss which U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall is currently considering.

While the legal decision is pending, Citizens for Health, one of the nation’s most respected consumer advocacy groups, has launched a new website, FoodIdentityTheft.com, to alert and inform Americans about misleading labeling on many food, beverage and health products.

“Every day we see stories about food makers trying to pull a fast one on consumers,” said Jim Turner, consumer advocate and Chairman of Citizens for Health.  ”Resources like FoodIdentityTheft.com are necessary to ensure that consumers are aware of the deceptive practices some corporations are using.”

FoodIdentityTheft.com provides current information on many vital issues, beginning with the controversy surrounding the proposed name change of High Fructose Corn Syrup.

“Many consumers believe that the U.S. government will protect us from false advertising or stop corporations from making unproven claims about their products,” said FoodIdentityTheft.com Senior Editor, Linda Bonvie.  ”But the truth is, corporations have a huge influence in Washington.  We as consumers have to protect ourselves, stay informed, and tell our legislators and government agencies that we won’t accept being lied to.”

According to Bonvie, “FoodIdentityTheft.com is not advocating the benefits or decrying the harm of this product.  We simply believe there is no valid reason for the name change. It would only confuse consumers and allow food makers to conceal the identity of this product on ingredients labels.”

About Citizens for Health

Funded by concerned consumers, non-profit partners, food growers, and businesses, Citizens for Health is a non-profit organization that provides over 100,000 supporters with the latest consumer news, action alerts, and ways to demand access to healthy food, non-toxic products, and truthful, non-misleading health information.  More information is available at www.citizens.org

Filed Under: Blog, Consumer Protection, Dietary Supplements, Nutrition

A Message to Jewish Americans on Circumcision

June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

JEWISH CIRCUMCISION RESOURCE CENTER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ronald Goldman, Ph.D.
Executive Director
617-523-0088
jcrc@jewishcircumcision.org

A Message to Jewish Americans on Circumcision

The Jewish Circumcision Resource Center, an educational organization in Boston that is connected with the Circumcision Resource Center, released a statement on circumcision intended for Jewish Americans. The statement, which is signed by a Statement Task Force of Jews who are actively involved in the issue, raises questions about Jewish circumcision and encourages Jews to engage in critical thinking about the practice.

“We want Jews to know that in this country and abroad, some Jews do not circumcise their sons. Circumcision is a choice, and now that we know the serious harm caused by circumcision, there are strong reasons to forgo it,” said Ronald Goldman, Ph.D., Executive Director. Dr. Goldman is the author of Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective, endorsed by five rabbis. Dr. Goldman also suggests that Jews think about the ethics of causing significant pain and cutting off a natural, healthy body part that has important functions. “There are psychological effects of circumcision, too. Some Jewish men are very dissatisfied, angry, or distressed about being circumcised,” said Dr. Goldman.

The Center’s statement also seeks to assure Jews that as the subject of circumcision gets more critical attention from Jews and others, the Jewish Circumcision Resource Center will reject any statement or action from circumcision opponents that may be disrespectful or insensitive to Jews and others.

The Center’s primary intended audience is those Jews who generally evaluate an idea not solely based on its conformance with the Torah, but also in light of its agreement with reason and experience. For those Jews who decide against circumcision, there are over a dozen rabbis who will lead an alternative welcoming ceremony for baby boys called a brit shalom.

The full text of the statement follows:

The Jewish Circumcision Resource Center of Boston supports Jews who believe that circumcision is unethical and that it is not a necessity for full engagement in Jewish life. We seek to encourage critical thinking about circumcision and dispel various cultural misunderstandings about the practice. We have learned much from Jewish Americans who have contributed books, films, and research to raise awareness about the history of circumcision in this country, about foreskin anatomy and physiology, and about the serious harm caused by foreskin removal. Consequently, a growing number of Jews in the U.S., South America, Europe, and Israel are making the decision not to circumcise their infants.

Our essential message is that all Jews do have a choice; we can be fully identified and affiliated as Jews, and fully engaged spiritually in a Jewish context, without circumcising our infants. Some families have chosen brit shalom, a beautiful welcoming ceremony for infant boys and girls without genital cutting. We acknowledge the profound place that circumcision has in Jewish tradition and practice. However, we are compelled to question genital cutting out of deep caring and compassion for all infants and children.

Unfortunately, there may be statements and tactics by individuals opposed to circumcision that are insensitive and even offensive to many Jews. We regret this and absolutely reject all statements or actions, often based on ignorance, that are disrespectful of any religion or ethnic group.

Our core principles are simple and unambiguous: infants are people; their bodies belong to them alone. Every person should have the right to make an informed decision about the removal or alteration of any normal, healthy, functioning body part when he or she is older. We advocate preservation of normal, healthy, functioning body parts for all infants and children, male and female, regardless of the culture, religion, or personal beliefs of parents or other adults.

While it may make Jews uncomfortable to question circumcision, the general silence around circumcision leaves some Jews with continuing intellectual, emotional, ethical, and spiritual conflicts about the practice. Some mothers reveal great distress about permitting and watching the circumcision of their sons. Recent information supports their feelings. Studies show that infants experience significant pain and trauma during and after circumcision (lack of crying indicates trauma-induced withdrawal), and behavioral and neurological changes in infants have been observed.

Some dissatisfied men report wide-ranging physical, sexual, and psychological consequences of circumcision, partly because the foreskin has significant physiological and sexual functions. These crucial facts, along with frequently ignored issues such as the various surgical risks of circumcision and its disrupting effects on the mother-infant bond, are changing many Jewish Americans’ attitudes toward circumcision.

We ask that our fellow Jewish Americans, whatever their beliefs and attitudes regarding other Jewish traditions, join us in asking these questions: Has removal of infant foreskins really promoted commitment to Jewish identity in America?Are there not other less problematic and potentially much more effective approaches to ensuring that our children, male and female, will grow up to become proud contributing participants in Jewish life in America?

Ronald Goldman, Ph.D. Executive Director of the Jewish Circumcision Resource Center
Author of Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective and Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma

STATEMENT TASK FORCE

Leonard B. Glick, M.D., Ph.D. Cultural anthropologist Author of Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision from Ancient Judea to Modern America

Lisa Braver Moss Author of The Measure of His Grief
Writer specializing in health, family, and parenting issues

Miriam Pollack Author of “Circumcision: A Jewish Feminist Perspective” and “Circumcision: Identity, Gender, and Power”
Writer and speaker

Mark Reiss, M.D.
Executive Vice President of Doctors Opposing Circumcision Creator and administrator of Celebrants of Brit Shalom

Rebecca Wald, J.D.
Founder of the Beyond the Bris project

Tina Kimmel, PhD, MSW, MPH
Maternal Child Health Epidemiologist

Moshe Rothenberg, MSW
Certified teacher and social worker, Brit Shalom ceremony leader

Paul Fleiss, M.D.
Pediatrician Author of What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Circumcision

RESOURCES:
http://www.jewishcircumcision.org
http://www.circumcision.org

Additional resources on circumcision available on our circumcision resources page.

Filed Under: Blog, Circumcision Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New Method of Birth Control for Men

June 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Apparently they’ve finally come up with a birth control method for men (an injection), that is reported to be 100% effective with no side-effects (well, at least no short-term side-effects).  As usual, I’m skeptical about anything injected into the body, HOWEVER (and a big HOWEVER) this could be a great for women, since most don’t have the no-how and/or patience and/or time or to practice natural fertility awareness methods.  And most of us know how bad oral contraceptives are for the female body. Widespread use of this male birth control shot could eliminate unplanned pregnancies… The ramifications would be tremendous.

“A one-off injection for men claims to be a 100% effective method of birth control that will last for 10 years. A scientist in India has developed the injection for men with the intention of neutralising the sperm that are released so they are not able to fertilise the female egg. The scientist claims that all of the men who have so far received the injection have had no side effects at all.

Though there are many forms of contraception for women, there have as yet not been any manufactured for men, aside from barrier methods such as condoms. This is because, while female contraceptives just need to focus on one egg, men produce millions of sperm each time they climax. Finding a way to affect every sperm every time had proved almost impossible.

The injection is known by the acronym RISUG; ‘reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance’. The process involves injecting a non-toxic, positively charged polymer directly into the scrotum. The polymer then targets the sperm, which have a negative charge, each time they travel from the testicles, effectively neutralising them with the charge differential.

This birth control method is currently beginning its Phase III trials in India, which is usually the last phase of clinical trials before a medication is approved for use. If it is approved, it will only be available in India. Further trials will need to take place before it is approved for use elsewhere in the world.

If this form of contraception is successful, it is likely to have a profound effect on the birth control sector. RISUG would be a very cheap form of contraception, needing just one visit every ten years, and possibly negating the need for female oral contraceptives.”

Source: http://www.euroclinix.net/health-news/contraceptive-pill/male-birth-control-026.html

Filed Under: Birth Control, Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Statement from Guinness World Records

May 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Thank you to Guinness for refusing to recognize the circumcision of a “record” number of young boys.  Let’s restrict world records to people and events who celebrate humanity, not to abusive rituals.

Statement from Guinness World Records

It has been bought to our attention that a circumcision event in the Philippines last Saturday has supposedly been approved by Guinness World Records.

Guinness World Records would like to clarify that it does not, under any circumstances, monitor, endorse or recognise this kind of ‘record attempt’. The organisers of the event have no approval from Guinness World Records to use its trademarks in connection with this event and any claim to officially recognise this event will be rejected.

For further information please contact our press office at press@guinnessworldrecords.com.

London
9 May 2011

 

Filed Under: Blog, Circumcision Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Toddler’s death probed after circumcision surgery

May 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The grieving family of a tragic Queens toddler are blasting doctors at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan –accusing them of botching a simple circumcision that led to the boy’s sudden death.

JAMAAL COLESON - Anesthetic blamed.

JAMAAL COLESON

Source: New York Post

Tot’s shock hosp death

Tragic circumcision

By CYNTHIA R. FAGEN

Jamaal Coleson Jr. died Tuesday, about 10 hours after what was supposed to be a routine procedure, according to his uncle Jabbar Coleson, 23.

Coleson said the hospital was supposed to give his nephew a local analgesic, but instead administered a general.

The boy, who would have turned 2 next month, “Woke up and laughed and called for his mother and then went critical.

“I want to know what happened,” Coleson said.

“He was so sweet and energetic and so happy, a very happy child. I am very upset and I am glad I am a couple of hundred miles away. I have time to calm down and say my prayers,” said Coleson, who lives in Atlanta.

He said the boy never regained consciousness he was declared dead at 8:35 p.m. the same day.

Now the family wants to know what went horribly wrong.

The hospital said in a statement, “We extend heartfelt condolences to the family of the young patient in question. This is a devastating event for his family as well as for the staff at Beth Israel who tried to save his life,” according to a statement from the hospital.

“We immediately notified the Medical Examiner’s Office and requested that they accept this case for further review, which they have.”

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the ME, confirmed an autopsy was conducted yesterday to determine the cause of death.

“We also are in the process of reporting this case as an unexpected death to the NYS Department of Health,” the hospital statement continued.

“We will conduct our own internal review of this case, report our findings to the DOH [state Department of Health] and cooperate fully with the DOH on any further inquiries they may have.”

The boy’s mom, Taleah Echezerriam, was too distraught to talk.

She and the boy’s dad, Coleson’s brother, were to be married next year.

“We just don’t understand what happened. Now my mother [the boy's grandmother] is out buying his suit for the funeral,” said Coleson.

 


Filed Under: Blog, Circumcision Tagged With: , ,

New study: Nations requiring the most vaccines tend to have the worst infant mortality rates

May 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Infant mortality rates regressed against number of vaccine doses routinely given: Is there a biochemical or synergistic toxicity?
Neil Z Miller and Gary S Goldman

Abstract

The infant mortality rate (IMR) is one of the most important indicators of the socio-economic well-being and public health conditions of a country. The US childhood immunization schedule specifies 26 vaccine doses for infants aged less than 1 year—the most in the world—yet 33 nations have lower IMRs. Using linear regression, the immunization schedules of these 34 nations were examined and a correlation coefficient of r ¼ 0.70 (p < 0.0001) was found between IMRs and the number of vaccine doses routinely given to infants. Nations were also grouped into five different vaccine dose ranges: 12–14, 15–17, 18–20, 21–23, and 24–26. The mean IMRs of all nations within each group were then calculated. Linear regression analysis of unweighted mean IMRs showed a high statistically significant correlation between increasing number of vaccine doses and increasing infant mortality rates, with r ¼ 0.992 (p ¼ 0.0009). Using the Tukey-Kramer test, statistically significant differences in mean IMRs were found between nations giving 12–14 vaccine doses and those giving 21–23, and 24–26 doses. A closer inspection of correlations between vaccine doses, biochemical or synergistic toxicity, and IMRs is essential.

To read the entire study, click here.

View Conscious Woman’s recorded programming entitled Childhood Vaccination: Questions All Parents Should Ask, with Tedd Koren, D.C.

View Conscious Woman’s recommended resources on vaccination.

Filed Under: Blog, Consumer Protection, Vaccinations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Conscious Woman Articles

April 21, 2011 By

Have someone in mind for our next Highlight: Conscious Woman article? Send us your suggestions at info@consciouswoman.org.

Check out the great online articles that we have linked to in our Online Resources section.

Looking to publish on one of our topics? If your piece has not yet been published on the web, send it to us at info@consciouswoman.org. (If it has already been published on the web, we would be happy to review it for our resources pages.)

Filed Under: Blog

ACOG Issues Less Restrictive VBAC Guidelines

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’ve been sitting on this for a couple of days.  Not quite sure what to make of it.  I see it praised on the internet as a giant step in the right direction, but could it just be another attempt for ACOG to win back women who otherwise have been making more independent and empowering choices?

Go ahead and google:  ACOG VBAC 2010 for the ACOG announcement and other – more insightful – blogs on this topic.  After so many years dedicated to this issue, I’m finding myself not really caring what the obstetricians of ACOG think.

Women have always had the ability to choose Vaginal Birth After Cesarean.  The question is, whose permission (other than their own) have they been seeking?

Filed Under: Blog, Childbirth Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Lead Found in Children’s Juice Boxes, Fruit Products

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

KQED Radio reports that a California environmental group has found lead in juice and packaged fruit popular with children. Many of the products contained amounts of lead exceeding state and federal limits for young children. The Oakland-based Environmental Law Foundation tested a wide range of brands, and found that a single serving of many of the products would put children aged six and younger over the daily limit for lead.

My husband and I condition our children to be water-drinkers from an early age. We rarely drink juice, and when we do, it’s juice from fresh organic fruits and vegetables juiced here at home. We have a dehydrator and find it very easy to make our own dried fruit pieces and fruit leather. I’ve generally been uncomfortable with the sugar levels of many of the pre-packaged products, and have asked other parents to refrain from serving them to my children at birthday parties, etc. The lead content is new to me – horrifying but not surprising, either. Please spread the word.

Filed Under: Blog, Consumer Protection, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Class action $15M lawsuit against birth control makers

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Here’s an article that just came through my inbox, about a class action lawsuit against the makers of birth control pills.  I have been amazed for some time that young women take birth control pills for acne, and have always wondered if they even tried to eliminate the acne through better diet and exercise.  Hopefully cases like this will get young women to re-think their choices – and their lifestyle – at an early age.

Calgarians join class action $15M lawsuit
against birth control makers

Eight months after Chloe Papparis began taking a birth control pill for acne, she almost died from severe side-effects, she says.

The teen started suffering from a bad migraine headache and frequent bouts of vomiting last August. Her family doctor thought it might be swine flu.

Six days later, however, Papparis was rushed to Foothills Hospital. Doctors told her she was 24 hours from dying.

“When I was in ER, the doctor by fluke said to give me a CT scan. They found five blood clots on my brain,” Papparis, now 18, said Thursday.

“I was told I had had a stroke and I wasn’t supposed to be living. If we had waited . . . I would have died.”

Papparis is among 800 Canadians taking part in class-action lawsuits against the manufacturer of two birth control drugs, Yaz and Yasmin, which they allege have caused severe reactions, including seven deaths.

All of the claims have been filed by Tony Merchant of the Merchant Law Group.

Fifty-four of the 90 Alberta plaintiffs in the $15-million lawsuit are from this city. That suit was filed at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary.

None of their allegations have been proven in court, and the defendants, all subsidiaries of manufacturer Bayer Inc., have yet to file statements of defence.

Merchant said Thursday his firm has filed or is about to file similar multimillion-dollar claims in all provinces except Prince Edward Island.

“The seven deaths are all similar in that they were all young women who were healthy,” Merchant said.

“One woman who died was 28, the rest were 14 to 19 years.”

“Of the 400 who do have problems, many have lost their gall bladder. All of them have continual blood pressure problems or blood clots related to blood pressure effects,” said Merchant.

In the claim, it is alleged the Bayer companies “participated in the common purpose of concealing the adverse effects of Yasmin and Yaz from regulatory authorities, the medical community, the public and class (action) members.”

It also alleges the FDA in the U.S. received more than 50 reports of deaths among users of the two drugs between 2004 and 2008.

“These reports include deaths associated with cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, intracardiac thrombus, pulmonary embolism, and stroke in women in their child-bearing years,” says the statement of claim.

It alleges the defendants knew or should have known that use of Yaz and Yasmin created an increased risk to consumers of personal serious injury, including but not limited to gallbladder disease, blood clots and strokes.

Papparis, meanwhile, spent six days in hospital and was placed on the anti-coagulant Heparin for six months to prevent clotting.

She is now off the drug but can never take birth control pills again. Doctors will have to be careful with her if she ever goes through surgery, for fear of more blood clotting.

Despina Papparis says her daughter was the first person to be admitted to the stroke clinic at Foothills Hospital because of reactions to Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella — all birth control pills with synthetic estrogen — but there have been several more since then.

“It was scary, it was horrifying, we’ve had nightmares,” she said.

“She started in December (2008), because she was graduating in May. She was taking it to clear up her acne for grad and her grad photos. The doctor handed it over and we didn’t think anything of it.

“We were lucky the doctor ordered the CT scan. He said had I not brought her in, she wouldn’t have survived Saturday. It was sheer luck. Why would I expect blood clots?”

Chloe said she doesn’t want anyone else to suffer.

“What happened to me is the worst thing of my life,” she said. “I don’t want other girls to go through it, too.”

By Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald
April 9, 2010

Filed Under: Birth Control, Blog, Medications Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts