Thursday, January 24, 2008

Don't eat the sushi!

Following on the food topics, the NY Times report alarmingly high levels of mercury in tuna sushi. Though the world's largest consumer of tuna, Japan, is not so worried. The Health Ministry advising pregnant women to "limit the amount" and average adults to eat a "sensible amount".
I found this video on CNN, talking about mercury levels in fish. And a link to another EPA / FDA advice statement.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Is it safe to eat that meat?

The FDA tell us that eating meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine, and goats is as safe as food from conventionally bred animals. The report does however note there is not enough information to confirm safety from clones of other species such as sheep.

Meanwhile in Europe, EFSA (the European Food Safety Agency) has released a draft opion for public consultation which (though limited to cattle and pigs) essentially aggrees with the FDA report in that "no expectation that clones or their progeny would pose any new or additional environmental risks compared with conventionally bred animals".

Initial dissent appears in the form of another opinion from an European advisory board Euopean Group in Ethics in Science and New Technologies - the group does not see convincing arguments for (yet) producing food from clones or their offspring. EFSA will make a "final" opinion sometime in May 2008.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Is it safe to drink the water?

Can you be both green and safe is the question asked by Alina Tugend in her NY Times article this weekend. She raises concerns about the re-use of plastic containers especially bottles for drinking water.

The Elsevier journal Reproductive Toxicology (2007) volume 24 issue 2 reported the findings of the meeting mentioned by vom Saal on Bisphenol A. There is a great summary lead article in the issue, highlighting those areas of research that the group felt (based upon existing data) a) confident with; b) likely but required confirmation; and c) areas of uncertainty requiring further research.

So, is the water safe to drink? We don't know yet - more studies are being performed - watch this space!