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After a 4-Year Legal Battle, Monsanto Drops Lawsuit Against Mexico’s GM Corn Ban
In what is being called a significant victory for Mexico, Monsanto has withdrawn its legal challenge against the 2020 presidential decree aimed at banning glyphosate and genetically modified (GM) corn for human consumption. The National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt) heralded the decision as “a triumph for life, health and food sovereignty.”
Monsanto produces the herbicide Roundup, one of several glyphosate-based products that are used in the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMO) such as Roundup Ready corn, cotton and soybeans. A common genetic modification makes crops resistant to glyphosate, allowing farmers to apply large amounts of the weed-killer to GMO crops.
The legal battle was initiated in response to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s 2020 decree to ban the widely used but controversial herbicide, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified as a “probable carcinogen,” though its safety remains a subject of debate.
Monsanto’s retreat is not its first legal setback. The company has faced extensive litigation in the United States, paying billions in punitive damages and settlements linked to glyphosate’s carcinogenic risks.
These Ultra-Processed Foods May Shorten Your Life, Study Says
Eating higher levels of ultra-processed food may shorten lifespans by more than 10%, according to a new, unpublished study of over 500,000 people whom researchers followed for nearly three decades.
The risk went up to 15% for men and 14% for women once the data was adjusted, said study lead author Erikka Loftfield, an investigator at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
Asked about their consumption of 124 foods, people in the top 90th percentile of ultra-processed food consumption said overly processed drinks topped their list. “Diet soft drinks were the key contributor to ultra-processed food consumption. The second one was sugary soft drinks,” Loftfield said. “Beverages are a very important component of the diet and the contribution to ultra-processed food.”
Refined grains such as ultra-processed breads and baked goods ranked next in popularity, the study found.
A New Study Suggests a Culprit in Bird Flu’s Rapid Spread Through U.S. Cattle, and How to Stop It
Contaminated milk may be spreading H5N1 bird flu between dairy cattle, contributing to a major outbreak across 12 U.S. states. It may also be how humans are getting infected.
A new study shows the virus can survive for over an hour in raw (unpasteurized) milk left on the surfaces of materials used in equipment for milking dairy cattle. That’s a clue in the mystery of how the virus has spread so rapidly between U.S. dairy cattle, infecting over 130 herds in Idaho, Michigan, Colorado, Texas, and more.
The cattle outbreak has scientists increasingly worried that the H5N1 virus could mutate enough to cause an outbreak in humans. The more the virus spreads through cattle, the more opportunity it has to mutate.
U.S. Farm Agency to Pay Farmers for Milk Loss Due to Bird Flu
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon begin compensating dairy farmers for the loss of milk supply due to bird flu-infected cows, the agency said on Thursday.
Bird flu has infected 132 dairy herds in 12 states since March. Farmers with infected cows can suffer financial losses from reduced milk production and the cost of veterinary care.
Though the overall U.S. milk market has not been negatively affected by the spread of the virus, “to the individual producer, it’s difficult and devastating,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters on a call.
H1N2v Flu Infects 2 More People in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Health two more variant H1N2 (H1N2v) infections, both of them adults who had attended a livestock auction that had pigs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly influenza update.
The state reported a similar H1N2v case in March, so the two new cases lift the nation’s total for the year to three.
The newly confirmed patients are close contacts who sought medical care the week ending June 22. One patient was hospitalized. No other illnesses were found among other contacts of the two people, and the investigation is still under way.
‘This Disorder Has Almost Killed Me’: His Addiction to Ultra-Processed Food Began as a Child
Chicago native Jeffrey Odwazny says he has been addicted to ultra-processed food since he was a child. “I was driven to eat and eat and eat, and while I would overeat healthy food, what really got me were the candies, the cakes, the pies, the ice cream,” said the 54-year-old former warehouse supervisor.
Some 12% of the nearly 73 million children and adolescents in the United States today struggle with a similar food addiction, according to research. To be diagnosed, children must meet Yale Food Addiction Scale criteria as stringent as any for alcohol use disorder or other addictions.
“Kids are losing control and eating to the point where they feel physically ill,” said Ashley Gearhardt, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor who conducted the research and developed the Yale addiction scale.
Eating higher amounts of ultra-processed food raises the risk of obesity and the development of chronic conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes and depression. Ultra-processed foods often contain flavors, different textures and “additives whose function is to make the final product palatable or more appealing,” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
