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Energy Drinks Can Lead to Serious Heart Issues in Kids and Teens, Health Experts Say
Hennessy Sepulveda thought she was going to die. “I began dissociating as I was driving. I was 10 minutes away from my house. My vision started warping and the lights were hitting me really bright,” she said. “I felt my chest pounding, I felt a wave of panic hit me — I knew something was wrong.”
Sepulveda, a Florida International University student who was 19 at the time, was admitted to the hospital, and was surprised by the cause of her symptoms: the Monster energy drink she had just a few hours earlier.
The energy drink market has exploded in recent years and by 2030 is expected to reach $33 billion. Much of this growth has been attributed to a shift in marketing strategies that now target young people. These drinks can contain anywhere from 200 mg to 350 mg of caffeine, and the large amounts of caffeine in these drinks can cause significant health problems, especially in teens and adolescents, health experts say.
But it is young people who are most at risk from excessive caffeine intake. The FDA recommends that adults consume 400 mg or less of caffeine a day, but for those under 18, the recommended dose is 100 mg or less, often less than half of the amount in one energy drink. They do not recommend any person 12 or under to consume caffeine.
My Rendezvous With the Raw Milk Black Market: Quick, Easy, and Unchecked by the FDA
It’s Friday, May 10, and I’m on my way to what feels like the world’s weirdest drug deal. I received a text the day before from a man named Karl. My order would be arriving from Maryland between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the northwest D.C. drop site. It’ll be safely wrapped in ice packs, he assured me.
I pull up to a house worth north of $1.5 million with a Tesla parked outside and two classic cars in the driveway. It looks like the lights are on. Do they know their driveway is being used to commit a federal crime?
He asks if I’ve ever drank raw milk. No, I say. Is there anything I should know? No, he replies, he’s been drinking it his whole life and feeds it to his kids. Though I’m technically buying “pet milk,” I quickly realize we are not pretending that this is being fed to our cats and dogs. After what feels like an eternity, he finds my package — one half-gallon jug.
The market for out-of-state pet milk exists largely because the FDA has allowed it to, one former agency official acknowledged to STAT. The agency has issued only six warnings to interstate shippers of raw milk in the last two decades, according to its website, though the practice was banned in 1987.
Bird Flu May Be Driven by This Overlooked Factor
As federal officials grapple with how to contain the highly contagious strain of avian flu that has infected chickens, turkeys, and dairy cattle on farms across the U.S., a number of scientists are pointing to one factor that could be driving the spread of its virus and its spillover from wild birds to farm animals.
Waterfowl — ducks, geese, and swans — are the primary host of the viruses, and large animal agriculture facilities are often found in close proximity to their remaining wetland habitats. For instance, California’s Central Valley and the East Coast’s Delmarva Peninsula are both critical wintering grounds for waterfowl, along major North American bird migration routes, and epicenters of U.S. poultry production.
As a result, some scientists who track waterfowl question whether this geographic overlap — alongside the shrinkage of waterfowl habitats — creates more opportunities for the virus to spread between infected waterfowl and the animals in agricultural facilities.
Phthalate Chemicals Found in Popular Olive Oils
Thirteen popular olive oils recently tested have detectable levels of phthalates, according to a new report from Mamavation.
Partnering with EHN.org, the environmental wellness blog and community had 13 olive oils tested by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-certified lab and found levels of phthalates ranging from 655 parts per billion to 6,092 ppb. Nine of the 13 brands had levels higher than 1,200 ppb, with three having more than 2,000 ppb.
The results are concerning as phthalates are linked to hormone disruption, fertility impacts, low birth weights, obesity, diabetes, some cancers, brain and behavioral problems, and other health issues.
The chemicals are found in plastics, toys, personal care products such as lotions and deodorants, and other products. They’re also increasingly found in foods — Consumer Reports testing earlier this year found phthalates, often in high levels, in sliced peaches, pizza, canned salmon, protein milkshakes, yogurts, fast food burgers, and even some organic foods.
Pesticide Use Again Linked to Inflammatory Bowel Disease, This Time Among Applicators and Their Spouses
A study published recently in the journal Environmental Research finds a significant correlation between exposure to certain pesticides and an elevated risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic autoimmune condition of the gastrointestinal tract. The study, adding to the body of science on this subject, evaluates self-reported data from licensed pesticide applicators and their spouses exposed to pesticides for over 20 years. In addition, while some of the chemicals found to be most closely associated with incidents of IBD have been banned from use, they are “forever” chemicals that persist in the environment for generations. These findings demonstrate once again the failings of the current regulatory process to identify hazards before they are put into the environment.
The study found evidence that exposure to several organochlorine insecticides (dieldrin, DDT, and toxaphene), as well as organophosphate insecticides (parathion, terbufos, and phorate) and herbicides (2,4,5-T, 2,4,5-TP, and metolachlor), is associated with elevated IBD risk. IBD is a generic term for diseases that result in chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. It is estimated that 6.8 million patients globally suffered from IBD in 2017.
IBD may result from an imbalance in gut microbiota, known as dysbiosis, which can increase the gut’s susceptibility to infection and trigger an autoimmune response. The Environmental Research study cites increasing evidence linking specific pesticides, including chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, organochlorines, organophosphates, carbamates, and other classes of pesticides to dysbiosis and related gastrointestinal issues.
Maine Organic Farmers to Sue EPA Over Forever Chemicals in Sludge
Portland Press Herald reported:
A Maine-based organic farming group announced Monday that it plans to join a lawsuit contending that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has failed to regulate harmful forever chemicals found in the sludge that Maine farmers used as an agricultural fertilizer for years.
The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, or MOFGA, claims that federal law requires the EPA to regulate toxic pollutants in sludge and take steps to prevent them from harming humans and the environment. Its failure to do so has put us all at risk, said MOFGA Director Sarah Alexander.
“If the EPA had been regulating appropriately, many of our farmers wouldn’t be facing the harm they are today,” Alexander said. “We demand that the EPA do the work required under the Clean Water Act and stop allowing these toxic chemicals to contaminate the U.S. food and water supply.”
Farmers across the U.S., including Maine, have been impacted by the spreading of sludge contaminated by at least 18 different types of forever chemicals, MOFGA claims. There is sufficient scientific evidence that at least a dozen of these chemicals require EPA regulation to protect the public.
CVS Health Launches New Snack Brand Called Well Market
CVS Health (CVS.N) launched a new packaged food brand called Well Market on Thursday, encompassing varieties of popcorn, cookies and almonds.
The brand will have 40 new snacks, beverages and groceries that will be sold at more than 9,000 CVS pharmacies across the United States and on the company’s website.
The health conglomerate’s existing snack brands, such as Gold Emblem, Gold Emblem Abound and Big Chill — under which the company sells products like trail mix, popcorn and water — will be brought under the Well Market umbrella over time, the company said.
No Screens at Meals and Insect Food: Four Fresh Findings About Obesity
A study of 735 primary schoolchildren aged between six and 10 found that those who regularly used smartphones or other types of screens during mealtimes were 15% more likely to be overweight. The lead researcher, Dr. Ana Duarte Mel, from the University of Minho in Portugal, said that when children are using screens during mealtimes “they don’t understand when they need to stop eating or when they are full.”
She added: “They continue to eat and eat just because they are distracted by the screens. This is bad for society and dangerous for children because it leads to them being overweight or obese. We are so busy now that we don’t have time to sit all together for a family meal, but parents need to know that screen time during mealtimes is a really big problem.”
Though insect-based foods are eaten across the world, they remain unappealing in the U.K., according to research that argues that more needs to be done to change these attitudes.
The study consisted of an online survey of 603 U.K. adults between 2019 and 2020, where participants were asked questions about their views on particular foods. The survey found that only 13% of respondents said they would be willing to regularly consume insects, compared with 47% who said they would not.
Breaking Barriers: This Climate Tech Is Transforming U.S. Food Waste Practices Nationwide
The evidence is undeniable: against a backdrop of growing food insecurity, we’re drowning in an epidemic of food waste. Maintaining current farming and food management methods jeopardizes the health of our planet: as the global population surges, intensifying food demand coupled with the threat of more extreme weather and water scarcity looms large over the food chain.
Meanwhile, wasted food accounts for between 38% and 40% of the total food supply in the U.S. — the equivalent of around $444 billion market value, according to Bloomberg. In the EU, over 58 million tonnes of food waste are generated annually, the estimated market value is 132 billion Euros, the European Commission reports. Globally, over one-third of all food produced goes to waste: in fact, many estimates suggest that between 8-10% of the world’s human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are generated by food waste alone.
While households are responsible for nearly half the food waste, farms, manufacturing, food services, and retail account for the remaining 50% — these are the markets that Denali — one of the U.S.’ largest waste-repurposing firms is targeting nationwide.
The firm is an active player in a systemic transition towards a more circular economy: “Denali recycled more than 2.6 billion pounds of food waste in under two years, working in partnership with over 10,500 grocers, including big names like Walmart and Kroger, as well as smaller food delivery services, like HelloFresh,” explains Todd Mathes, Denali CEO. “The firm recycles more than 10 billion pounds of organic materials each year — wastewater, sludge, plants — in addition to food.