Monday, March 11, 2013

Hiding Aspartame in Your Dairy

So do you want artificial sweeteners added to your dairy products.....without you even knowing it's in there?  If the dairy and milk industry has it's way, this will be how things are done.


URGENT ACTON ALERT
Dairy industry petitions FDA to approve aspartame as a hidden, unlabeled additive in milk, yogurt, eggnog and cream.
 
The integrity of our food supply is poised for another blow with an FDA petition submitted by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).  These industry groups are asking the FDA to alter the definition of "milk" to include chemical sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose without listing these additives on the label.

While aimed principally at replacing sugar in flavored milks served to school children, the petition also asks for the right to put hidden artificial sweeteners in a host of dairy products including nonfat dried milk(always added to reduced-fat milks), yogurt, cream, half-and-half, sour cream, eggnog and whipping cream. Truly, no conventional dairy product will be safe if the petitioners get their way.
 
To read the petition, click here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/02/20/2013-03835/flavored-milk-petition-to-amend-the-standard-of-identity-for-milk-and-17-additional-dairy-products

ACTIONS TO TAKE
  1. Please file a comment at
 
Even if your comment is very short, we need thousands of people letting the government know that granting this petition would be a disaster to our food supply, especially for children.  It’s best to compose your comments before submitting them.  Comments 2000 words or less can be copied and pasted into the comment box.  Longer comments can be attached as a letter.
For the required field “Organization Name,” please enter “Citizen.”
For "Category," you can use "Individual Consumer"

Remember to hit “submit comment” when you are done. You should be taken to another screen that includes a confirmation number for your comment, which is how you know your comment was successfully submitted.

The comment period ends on May 21, 2013
  1. A petition from a consumer group, SumOfUs, has gathered almost 100,000 signers to oppose this move. To sign this petition, go to sumofus.org.
  2. Please circulate this Action Alert to other email groups.
TALKING POINTS
  • Adding hidden artificial sweeteners to dairy products would hurt the dairy industry by further reducing the numbers of people who could safely consume dairy products.
  • Adding hidden artificial sweeteners to dairy products would generate severe consumer backlash to all conventional dairy products.
  • The FDA lists more than ninety documented symptoms of aspartame toxicity, including abdominal pain, anxiety attacks, brain cancer, breathing difficulties, chronic fatigue, depression, headaches, migraines, dizziness, marked personality changes, memory loss, panic attacks, rapid heartbeat, vision loss and weight gain
  • Aspartame releases methanol upon digestion, and methanol poisoning causes headaches, behavioral disturbances and inflammation of the nerves. Another breakdown product of aspartame is poisonous formaldehyde..
  • Thousands of adverse reactions to aspartame have been reported to the FDA, mostly concerned with abnormal brain function, brain tumors, epilepsy and Parkinson’s.
  • Children’s brains are four times more susceptible to damage from excitotoxins like aspartame than those of adults and react with ADD ADHD type symptoms, impaired learning, depression and nausea.
  • Sucralose side effects include rashes, panic attacks, dizziness, numbness, diarrhea, swelling, headaches, cramping and stomach pain.
  • People who are sensitive to aspartame can have life-threatening reactions to it.
  • The proposed regulations restrict our freedom of choice. Industry players who oppose consumers' ability to choose raw milk are now trying to force consumers to consume artificial additives without their knowledge or consent.


Monday, March 4, 2013

Go see American Meat

Screenings of the movie American Meat in Ohio 
March 4-12
American Meat, the new documentary that takes a pro-farmer look at chicken, hog and cattle production in America, is hosting a special series of screenings in Ohio from March 4th to March 12th.

Earlier this year, American Meat kicked off a nationwide screening tour called the Young Farmer Screening Series. This tour takes place at universities, colleges, agricultural high-schools and FFA chapters with 3 core goals in mind:
  1. Thank farmers.
  2. Support young farmers.
  3. Food choices matter.
Information on dates of the screenings in Ohio can be found below and online at American Meat Screenings.


More about the film

Beginning with a history of our current industrial system, the feedlots and confinement operations are revealed, not through hidden cameras, but through the eyes of the farmers who live and work there. From there, the story shifts to Polyface Farms, where the Salatin family has developed an alternative agricultural model based on rotational grazing and local distribution. Nationwide, a local-food movement of farmers, chefs, and
everyday people has taken root... But could it ever feed us all?
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March 4th at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, OH

Food at 5:30pm in lobby with burritos provided by Chipotle Mexican Grill

Film at 6pm in Telfer Hall Auditorium

Conversation at 7:30pm with Cassandra August a professor of Sustainable Food and Nutrition, Mary Holmes the current President of IFO (Innovative Farmers of Ohio) and co-founder of the North Union Farmers Market, and Graham Meriwether director of American Meat.
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March 5th at Case Western University in Cleveland, OH
Food at 5:30 featuring local foods provided by Bon Appetit Management Company

Film at 6:30 in Strosacker Auditorium

Conversation 8:00 with Chef Douglas Katz, Professor Mary Holmes, BA Fellow Sarah Piper; Miller Livestock Farm Owner, Aaron Miller and Graham Meriwether, director of American Meat.
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March 6th University of Akron at Wayne College in Orrville, OH

Brown Bag Lunch

Film  at 12pm in SLB 107

Conversation with Graham Meriwether director of American Meat and other panelists at 1:30pm following film
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March 6th at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH

Food at 6pm with burritos provided by Chipotle Mexican Grill

Film at 6:30 in the Gateway Film Center

Conversation at 8pm with Dr. Neal Hooker, professor of food policy at OSU; Jamie Zumach, a second year food science student,  Caitlyn Black, a second year student who grew up on a production hog farm in Canal Winchester and is double majoring in Culinary and Meat Science, and Graham Meriwether, director of American Meat.
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March 7th at Denison University in Granville, OH

Film at 7:15 in Slayter Auditorium

Conversation at 8:45 with Dick Jensen from Flying J farms, Bryn Bird from Birds Haven farms and Graham Meriwether director of American Meat.
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March 8th at Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH
Food at 5:30 featuring local meat and produce along with vegan options provided by Bon Appetit Management Company (BAMCO)

Film at 6pm in the Hallock Auditorium in the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies

Conversation 7:30 with John Petersen who is a Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology at Oberlin College, Eric Pecherkiewicz who works for Bon Appetit Management Company at Oberlin College as the campus dietitian, Lawry Babitt has been in the cattle business over 40 years, Scott Boehnlein who operates a diversified family farm “New Creations Farm” and Graham Meriwether director of American Meat. S.K. Piper, the Midwest fellow for BAMCO will moderate the screening.
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March 11th at Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH

Film at 7pm in Kissell Auditorium in Koch Hall

Conversation at 8:30pm featuring Graham Meriwether, director of American Meat and others.
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March 12th at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH

Meet and Greet at 7pm

Film 7:15pm in McDonald 130

Conversation at 8:30pm featuring Graham Meriwether, director of American Meat and others.