Tests find BPA in baby food in Maine; group launches effort to further curb chemical’s use

[Maine-ah]

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/14/health/coalition-finds-bpa-in-baby-food-launches-effort-to-further-curb-chemicals-use-in-maine/

AUGUSTA, Maine — A coalition of Maine health and environmental groups is preparing to launch the next campaign against bisphenol-A, or BPA, on the heels of tests that found the controversial chemical additive in 11 of 12 samples of baby food in the state.

Additionally, coalition members are accusing some prominent baby food manufacturers of violating or attempting to evade Maine’s BPA disclosure rules.

Roughly six weeks ago, new rules took effect banning the use of BPA in children’s sippy cups and other reusable food or beverage containers that are sold in Maine. On Tuesday, Feb. 14, groups will announce plans to petition state regulators to extend that prohibition to containers that hold baby food, infant formula and food marketed at toddlers.

“BPA coming from diet is a significant source of exposure, and that is mostly coming from food containers,” said Amanda Sears, associate director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, a member of the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine.

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Brands: Beech-Nut, Gerber, Earth’s Best Organic and Wild Harvest Organic, Chef Boyardee macaroni and cheese and Campbell’s Dora the Explorer soup.

[madrchsod]

1. the baby bullet...make your own baby food

my daughter is going to use the baby bullet to make her own baby food. after the 50 dollar investment it will be cheaper and better than buying brand name.

[CottonBear]

3. Buy a hand operated baby food mill (I got one at KMart for $6) and make your own baby food.

I steamed veggies and tofu, cooked rice and beans and cut up fresh fruits and put those through the food mill. I bought organic foods. Since the quantities were so small it was affordable. I shopped at our local organic/health food store, Publix, Kroger and the local organic farmer's market for the organic foods. You can freeze leftovers in ice cube trays and then store in the freezer. I usually just made my son's meal while I made my meals. I kept fresh leftovers in glass container in the fridge for the evening meal or lunch the next day. He was vegetarian until about 18 months of age. Then, I added limited amounts oforganic meats (chicken and beef.) I added shredded and grated cheese to his food too. Of course, he loves eggs. I found several brands of organic, wheat free teething cookies with limited amounts of sugar. My son is now in the 95th percentile for height and weight and he's only been sick about 4 times in 3 years. He's never had an ear infection. He eats every kind of vegetable I've offered him. He LOVES broccoli!

it is well worth the time and money to make your own baby food. However, I have found that it is neither expensive (compare to buying all of that processed baby and todddler food) nor does it take longer than cooking your own meals. We cook three meals a day here in our household, so cooking is no big deal. Plus, your child gets fresh, wonderful healthy food! You can easily limit or eliminate salt and sugar from the diet.

[chervilant]

5. hmm...

When I was pre-med (before I flunked Dr. Dunning's first physics exam--simple review for everyone else), I remember engaging in a heated argument with several of my peers about our complete lack of focus on nutrition and exercise. To a one, my peers denigrated my concern about these essential factors in each individual's well-being.

I realize now that healthy eating and exercise are anaethema to the medical cabal, because you can't 'treat' healthy people.

[DeSwiss]

10. Exactly.

[chervilant]

15. OMG!!

Thank you for posting this video! Did you see how few people have viewed this series?!?

Just FYI, I've been off sugar for 13 years, and I avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. Because of this, I eat very few processed foods, and almost no fried foods. However, I still eat meat!!! Let's not even TALK about dairy products!

Well, I am quite sure I can--and will--change how I eat yet again. I want to have a healthy, productive Crone stage of my life. Perhaps, with a common-sense 'diet,' I might even add a few years (which could help me see an actual 'recovery' from our species' current global economic paradigm shift).

[CottonBear]

25. I have relatives who were doctors.

Back in the 50s and 60s there were no nutrition classes like there are in the medical schools of today. It was a different time.

[madrchsod]

16. thanks...i`ll check that out

[CottonBear]

24. You may be able to find food mills at cooking stores too.

Last edited Thu Feb 16, 2012, 12:32 AM - Edit history (2)

The small plastic one (BPA free) that I have is easy to use and clean. Plus, it's portable. So, you can easily take it with you on vacation or trips.

Y'all are going to have so much fun making baby food!

Edit: I breastfed my son until he weaned himself at about 18 months. I gave him vitamins/minerals as prescribed by his pediatrician. He only drank breast milk (and filtered water after age one) and then only filtered water, organic non-sweetened soy milk and whole organic cow's milk after weaning. He does not drink any juice or juice drinks at the direction of his doctor. The reason is too much concentrated sugar in juice and juice drinks. He eats whole (organic) fruits instead. I did mash and mill the fruit when he was younger. Of course, he takes his tablets that have vitamins and minerals with iron.

[boppers]

2. We should totally make sure we stop using organic compounds!

Just tossing a grenade into an argument that is (too often) science-free.

1. BPA is an Organic food product.
2. See #1.

[cannondale]

4. Yeah, sure

Apparently anything synthesized by man or nature is perfectly fine to ingest. Just a bunch of Carbon, Oxygen, and Hydrogen, and therefore cannot possibly be harmful!

Where does this "organic food product" BS come from?

[boppers]

17. Is it carbon based?

As far as "organic food product" being BS, I didn't invent the ridiculous marketing about it.

[saras]

7. That's not a grenade, it's a turd

BPA is a well-documented toxin, and in both LAW and PRACTICE it is a plasticizer, NOT a food additive, organic or not.

"Organic" in terms of food, is legally defined in The Organic Foods Production Act, and BPA does not qualify. To deliberately confuse this definition of organic with the 'organic chemistry' definition indicates either dishonesty or ignorance sufficient to disqualify you from any serious debate.

If you can find an organic source of industrial quantities of bisphenol-A, there are companies interested, and you could make enormous amounts of money, whether it's a plant, fungal, or bacterial source.

The West's science establishment is about two-thirds of the way through the shift from ignorance about BPA to a sufficient understanding to demand its removal from the food chain. Unfortunately, that scientific process takes fifty to a hundred years.

[boppers]

18. Kudos!

Well reasoned response, measured arguments, nothing excessively over-stated or glossed over.

You win!

[AikidoSoul]

14. There is plenty of science on BPA and its dangers, including but not limited to it's ability to

Last edited Tue Feb 14, 2012, 07:30 PM - Edit history (1)

trigger diabetes.

The best source of information on BPA is at http:www.ourstolenfuture.org

A group of world class scientists contributes to that site, and to the huge database on BPA and other man-made industrial chemicals.

Here's a link discussing BPA's tendency to promote diabetes:

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/338202/title/BPA_fosters_diabetes-promoting_changes

QUOTE: "BPA fosters diabetes-promoting changes. An ingredient in plastics and food-can linings coaxes cells from the pancreas to inappropriately secrete the hormone insulin, a finding that bolsters earlier links between type 2 diabetes and low-dose exposure to the chemical, bisphenol A. Science News

http://bit.ly/A1DCYd

[boppers]

19. Cadmium? Type 2 diabetes triggered by it?

...yeaaaah.....

[AikidoSoul]

20. Ooops, you're right. I posted the wrong link. Here's the correct one about the diabetes triggering

connection to BPA:

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/338202/title/BPA_fosters_diabetes-promoting_changes

The U.S. is usually the last country to do anything about banning toxic substances. In 2010, Canada deemed BPA a toxic substance. In the EU, The United Arab Emirates, and Canada, BPA is banned from use in baby bottles. 26 U.S. states introduced legislation in 2011 that would have banned BPA in certain children’s food containers, but many bills died in committee thanks to the big money available to our wonderful politicians who are so willing to maintain the bottom line of any company no matter what the price toxicants cause to human health and the environment.

See what's happening in your state here:

http://cu.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/BSEW_2011_State_BPA_Roundup.html

[adigal]

6. What does BPA do to people?

I know, I should look it up, but if anyone has a short version handy, that would be very much appreciated.

[april come she will]

9. I think it would be pretty easy to look up a "short version" online...

In any case, it disrupts the endocrine system or something. It has to with. But if it's a toxin from plastic, it probably also compromises the immune system. In any case, they have glass baby bottles now. Like back when I was a baby in the '60s...

[DeSwiss]

11. Hope this helps......

[center]

[font size=3]The Disappearing Male[/font]

"We are conducting a vast toxicological experiment in which our children and our children's children are the experimental subjects." The Disappearing Male is about one of the most important, and least publicized, issues facing the human species: the toxic threat to the male reproductive system.

The last few decades have seen steady and dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm count, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer.
baby Some researchers say that declining male fertility rates could be the first sign of extinction.

At the same time, boys are now far more at risk of suffering from ADHD, autism, Tourette's syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia.
[/center]
http://vimeo.com/15346778

[AikidoSoul]

21. Your title "The Disappearing Male" reminds me of the Discovery Channel film "Assault on the Male"

which aired in the United States one time and one time only in 1994. And it was heavily edited because the chemical / pharmaceutical attorneys threatened the producers. It aired as its full version in Europe and I was able to get a tape of that version, but it unfortunately was never digitized before it degraded. I was very impressed by the film and the organizational genius of Dr. Theo Coburn who organized scientists from all over the world to demonstrate how they were seeing the endocrine disrupting effects of many chemicals.

Dr. Louis Gillette of the Univ. of FL Zoology Dept did one of the segments, showing that the chemicals leaching into Lake Apopka FL were causing the penises of male alligators to become significantly smaller, to the point that they could no longer reproduce. There were many other scientists who made other observations but with different male populations, including humans.

We are a country that allows profits to trump health at every turn. It takes decades to prove that chemicals are dangerous. It took over fifty years to prove that dioxin is carcinogenic for God's sake! The burden of proof of safety or harm is not on manufacturers, but on the human population that suffers the consequences of their toxic experiments. It's another version of socialized costs that the public bears to support the profits of corporations. We also end up paying those same manufacturers when we become ill, because guess what j??? -- they manufacture all kinds of drugs to treat our chronic illnesses and symptoms!

What a business plan!

Here's a link to and Orlando Sentinel story about the Discovery Channel production. I wish I still had a copy.


http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1994-09-04/entertainment/9409010846_1_testicular-cancer-sperm-estrogen

[DeSwiss]

23. Yep....

...I've heard about the alligator studies. In fact, the above video (The Disappearing Male) includes a segment that is devoted to those studies.

- And I've updated the link to the full program instead of the previous preview version of it.

[april come she will]

8. Okay, full disclosure:

I don't have kids. But for the LIFE of me, I cannot fathom why any parent would buy baby food from jars! How hard is it to mash an avocado and/or banana? Takes a second and the baby is getting FRESH food!

[CottonBear]

26. It is so easy to do. however, many parents/caregivers...

don't have access to fresh foods and/or they don't know how easy it is to make healthy foods for their young children.

Unfortunately, healthy, organic food is too expensive for many families with very young children. Many families have no easy access to fresh foods.

Mrs. Obama is working to make sure our children eat healthy foods! I am so happy that she is advocating for this issue.

[DeSwiss]

12. K&R n/t

[4_TN_TITANS]

13. Back when Gerber got hauled in front of Congress

for putting so many fillers in it's baby food was about the time my oldest daughter was ready to start on baby food. She and my youngest daughter never got store bought baby food. I would make dinner for me and the wife and we would blend up some of everything and the girls ate what we ate. Making homemade baby food is probably the most important advice I could give new mothers. Store bought baby food tastes like shit and will turn children off from trying new foods. There was no 'open up for the choo choo train' with my girls, The wife used to call them 'baby birds' because they were always trembling with mouth wide open, waiting for fresh made food.

Reminds me of a time my youngest went to a teen church gathering and they had a competition to see who could finish a complete meal of baby food first. There were teens puking all over the place! Why would you feed a baby something you damn sure wouldn't eat yourself?

[AikidoSoul]

22. Way to go Maine-ah --- kick and recommend highly