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As Conservative Media Pushes Raw Milk, Louisiana Set to Legalize Its Sale
Louisiana lawmakers approved a bill to remove the state’s total ban on raw milk sales, joining the majority of the country where the product is already available, if and when Gov. Jeff Landry signs the legislation.
Why it matters: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that consuming raw milk comes with big health risks, and that concern is growing as avian flu infects America’s dairy cows.
Zoom in: Until lawmakers passed Rep. Kimberly Coates’ (R-Ponchatoula) HB467 during the last regular legislative session, Louisiana was one of a small handful of states with a full ban on raw milk sales, according to a website that tracks its availability for those hoping to purchase it.
Plant-Based Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Heart Disease, Early Death, Study Says
“We can’t always assume plant-based means healthy, as after all sugar is plant-based,” Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and senior teaching fellow at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, United Kingdom, said in a statement. “Many foods that do not contain animal products, which includes biscuits, crisps, confectionary and soft drinks, are technically plant-based but would not be considered essential as part of a healthy diet by the majority of people.”
In fact, eating such plant-based junk foods dramatically raises bad cholesterol and hypertension and can lead to associated heart disease and early death, according to a new study that authors call “the first” to show ultra-processed plant foods are associated with an increase in the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
The study, published Monday in the journal The Lancet Regional Health — Europe, utilized data collected from the U.K. Biobank, a longitudinal study that includes participants from England, Scotland and Wales. More than 118,000 people between the ages of 40 and 69 years answered questions about their diet. That information was later linked to hospital and mortality records on the development of cardiovascular risk factors.
Ultra-processed foods made from plants increased the risk of cardiovascular disease by 5% while increasing the risk of early death by 13%, the study found.
U.S. to Research Possible Respiratory Spread of Bird Flu in Cows
U.S. federal and state agencies are planning research into the potential respiratory spread of bird flu among dairy cattle, according to a Reuters interview with Michigan state agriculture and public health officials.
Scientists and government officials hope the research will guide efforts to contain the virus and reduce exposure to humans. Respiratory spread could give the virus more opportunity to evolve, they said. Scientists have so far suspected the virus spreads among animals and humans through contact with infected milk or aerosolized milk droplets, or from exposure to infected birds or poultry.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is working with Michigan State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to plan research on farms to evaluate respiratory spread, Tim Boring, the department’s director, said in an interview.
The virus has been identified mainly in milk, but also in nasal swabs at lesser levels, said Zelmar Rodriguez, a dairy veterinarian and assistant professor in Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine who has researched affected farms.
With 100M Birds Dead, Poultry Industry Could Serve as Example as Dairy Farmers Confront Bird Flu
As the U.S. dairy industry confronts a bird flu outbreak, with cases reported at dozens of farms and the disease spreading to people, the egg industry could serve as an example of how to slow the disease but also shows how difficult it can be to eradicate the virus.
There have been earlier bird flu outbreaks in the U.S., but the current one started in February 2022 and has forced the slaughter of nearly 100 million chickens and turkeys. Hot spots still occur, but their frequency has dropped in part because of biosecurity efforts at farms and a coordinated approach between companies and agricultural officials, experts say.
Bird flu is typically fatal to chickens and turkeys within days of an infection, leading to immediate mass killings of birds. That’s not true for cows.
Dairies in several states have reported having to kill infected animals because symptoms continued to linger and their milk production didn’t recover, but that’s not the norm, said Russ Daly, an extension veterinarian at South Dakota State University.
Farmers Sue EPA Over ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Fertilizer
Five Texas farmers and ranchers are suing EPA over its failure to limit “forever chemicals” in sludge, a problem that they say has killed their animals, jeopardized their health and devalued their land.
The complaint, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, comes while EPA assesses the risks of two types of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in biosolids, a term for sewage sludge treated to be used as fertilizer.
“EPA is avoiding its long-standing legal responsibility to protect our health and environment from PFAS in biosolids,” said Kyla Bennett, science policy director for the group representing the farmers and ranchers, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
EPA’s assessment, expected later this year, could eventually lead to regulations for biosolids containing PFOA or PFOS, two substances linked to cancer, reproductive, liver, kidney and developmental harms that belong to the PFAS family, which includes thousands upon thousands of chemicals.
Toxic Levels of Glyphosate, Pesticides, Low Mineral Content, and Even Gluten Found in Gluten-Free Products
Agriculture Industry Today reported:
Moms Across America, a national educational nonprofit dedicated to empowering mothers and others to create healthy families and communities, today announced the results of testing for glyphosate/AMPA, 236 pesticides, gluten, and mineral content in 46 samples of organic and non-organic gluten-free food products including bread, pasta, crackers, snacks, flour, dessert mixes, and chips.
“The glyphosate contamination in these products should set off alarm bells, because those who try to improve gut health by switching to a gluten-free diet may be jumping from the frying pan into the fire,” remarked MIT research scientist Stephanie Seneff, author of Toxic Legacy.
Zen Honeycutt, founding Director of Moms Across America, states, “The prevalence of glyphosate and agrochemicals in gluten-free food products made for people with conditions such as celiac disease is disturbing for many reasons, especially because it is avoidable. All our policymakers need to do is disallow the spraying of glyphosate and other agrochemicals as a drying agent, as the EU has done, and 80% of our exposure to glyphosate would be eliminated from our diet altogether. We urge food manufacturers to join us in calling for better regulation of the food supply.”
Zero-Waste Grocery Stores in Growth Mode as Consumers Seek to Ditch Plastic
In traditional grocery stores, plastic holds everything from apples to trail mix to detergent to water. “Plastic packaging is ubiquitous,” said Celia Ristow, who launched the zero-waste blog Litterless in 2015. (The site is down now, but will be back up this summer, she said.) “It’s cheap, it’s lightweight, if you need to ship, it’s non-breakable. So, there are some real advantages that you have to overcome.”
Yet given some of the shocking statistics — that 95% of plastic packaging is disposed of after a single use, that only 9% of the plastic ever produced has actually been recycled, and that 72% of plastic ends up in landfills or the soil, air, or water — some are trying to figure out how to sell food in a way that prevents plastic from being produced in the first place.
CDC Issues Update on H5N2 Bird Flu Strain That Killed Mexico Man
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an update on the H5N2 bird flu strain following the death of a man in Mexico. It is the first globally reported human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus and the first avian H5 virus infection in a person reported in the country.
“CDC is in communication with Mexico health authorities about the human case of H5N2,” a CDC spokesperson told Newsweek. “Notably, the human infection reported by Mexico is a different variant of the avian influenza virus currently circulating in the United States.”
This distinction is important as it indicates that the H5N2 strain found in Mexico may have different characteristics and potential risks compared with the H5N1 strain in the U.S., where three human cases have been detected in recent months. These cases are linked to an outbreak of the H5N1 virus in dairy cows, and none have been fatal.
The recent fatality in Mexico has raised concerns about the potential for new variants of avian influenza viruses to emerge and spread. However, health officials say the risk to the general public remains low as long as appropriate measures are taken to prevent transmission from birds to humans.
Coles Limits Egg Purchases as Bird Flu Hits Farms in Victoria
Coles is limiting how many eggs its customers can buy around the country after a deadly strain of bird flu hit farms in Victoria.
Signs in physical stores and on the Coles online store have notified customers of the restrictions, saying: “Due to supply issues, we have introduced a temporary limit of 2 items per transaction on eggs.”
The highly pathogenic H7N3 strain of bird flu has been detected on five farms in the state’s southwest, with more than half a million chickens euthanized in an effort to stop the spread of the disease.
The supermarket giant’s customers in every state and territory can now only buy a maximum of two egg cartons, with the exception of Western Australia.
