FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: For Immediate Release, July 12, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC –Kellogg’s recently recalled close to 30 million boxes of some of its most popular cereal brands after customers complained of getting sick from smelling and eating breakfast mainstays such as Froot Loops and Apple Jacks.

Initial press reports did not identify any particular food additive or packaging ingredient as a possible source of the problem. However, EWG has learned from the company that the source of the odor was methylnaphthalene.

Methylnaphthalene, which comes in two forms, is a component of crude oil and coal tar and may also be formed “as a pyrolytic byproduct from the combustion of tobacco, wood, petroleum-based fuels and coal,” according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The petroleum-based compound is produced in enormous quantities in the United States, and health agencies know very little about its safety, EWG scientists have learned.

The latest EPA records show that companies have been producing the chemical since at least 1986, currently in amounts of 1 million to 10 million pounds per year. Numerous health agencies have sought basic safety data on the compound, but the government still has very little information about this widely used chemical.

In 1998 EPA listed the compound as a high production volume (HPV) chemical that lacked basic safety data in the public literature. In response to requests by the agency, a consortium of large petrochemical interests volunteered to provide vital safety data. They included BP, Chevron, Condea Vista, Exxon, Fina Oil, Koch, Marathon Ashland, Mobil Oil, PDV Midwest Refining, Phillips Petroleum, Shell and Sunoco. Eleven years later, however, EPA’s website shows no data whatsoever submitted by these companies.

“What little we do know about the history of this chemical is checkered at best,” said EWG senior scientist Dave Andrews. “Millions of pounds are produced every year, and this chemical is turning up in the packaging for popular cereals marketed toward children. I think it’s important for federal public health agencies like the EPA and FDA to know everything there is to know about the possible risks this fossil fuel could pose to people’s health.”

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EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment. http://www.ewg.org

Commonly used food dyes, such as Yellow 5, Red 40, and six others, are made from petroleum and pose a “rainbow of risks.” Those risks include hyperactivity in children, cancer (in animal studies), and allergic reactions. In 2008, because of the problem of hyperactivity, the Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the use of these dyes (in fact Babyminding reported on this back in 2008!). The British government and European Union have taken actions that are virtually ending the use of dyes throughout Europe.

Food dyes also serve to deceive consumers: they are often used to simulate the presence of healthful, colorful fruits and vegetables. But considering the adverse impact of these chemicals on children, and considering how easily they can be replaced with safe, natural ingredients, it’s time to get rid of them altogether from the United States and Canada.  The Center for Science in the Public Interest is trying to do just that…again!  In their most recent petition to the FDA to ban these artificial food dyes, they cite their biggest concern as cancer, caused by these chemical-laden, artificial substances.  Read more about their efforts on the CSPI website.

Food dyes represent only a part of a group of artificial substances that should all be banned from our food. All of these food additives should be on the list to ban including preservatives and any other artificial substance used to improve taste & appearance. Check out the infographic below regarding the potential harm these additives can cause to your health. It really makes you think twice before going through that drive thru or grabbing one of the many the processed food products that riddle the grocery store aisles today!

Via: Weight Loss

It’s time for another installment of Babyminding’s healthy dinner series. We’ve had a couple of seriously hot weeks in our area, and it’s been really hard to get motivated to cook. I needed to make a quick and healthy dinner for my kids last Monday and had to come up with something that wouldn’t raise the temperature in our house. I also had a full dishwasher, so I grabbed some paper plates and put this meal together in 25 minutes:

Monday Night Dinner – Total prep and cook time: 25 minutes
Toasted whole wheat pita pockets filled with Sloppy Joe mixture made from one pound low fat ground beef, onion, green pepper (optional), 8 ounces all natural tomato sauce, 1/4 cup all natural ketchup, 1 tablespoon mustard, brown sugar to taste, shredded cheese (optional)
Raw carrots and broccoli
Ranch sauce for dipping

Dessert
Fresh strawberries with a sprinkle of sugar and whipped cream

So tell me, what do you think? Is this a healthy dinner? I could have better chosen the produce to be organic, but options are limited at our closest grocery store. When I have hungry children and am out of time and options, I gauge our meals based on meeting nutritional needs and healthiness rather than whether or not the food is 100% natural or organic. While eating organic is a great option for those who can afford it and have access to it, healthy eating is my number one priority. I think this meal is much healthier than take out or fast food, it’s low in fat and sodium, and covers the food pyramid pretty well. My son ate it all up very quickly, but my daughter prefers her Sloppy Joes on buns rather than in pita pockets. What are you having for dinner this summer? Babyminding wants to know!

Related posts:
Is This A Healthy Dinner? Part 1
Is This A Healthy Dinner? Part 2

About one year ago, I received an emergency call from a friend telling me that her son was rushed to the hospital. It was difficult to grasp her message due to the frantic nature of her voice but after several seconds, it sank in. Her 7 year old son was diagnosed with diabetes…juvenile onset…type 1. She lives in the neighborhood, our children go to school together, we share similar parenting philosophies, and then it hit me hard; it could be me making that call! A call no parent wants to make.  And while it’s not a death sentence, thanks to modern medicine (although ironically the very medicine may be related to the rise of the condition – see #4 below, but I digress), people live with type 1 diabetes.  With the proper diet and multiple insulin injections throughout the day, you can live…but as a parent it’s a heartbreaking experience and for the child, hardship. So if there were proven ways to prevent such a fate for a child, wouldn’t you consider them?

Dr. Mercola suggests the following steps to help prevent type 1 Diabetes:

1. Optimize your child’s vitamin D levels.
According to Dr. Michael Holick, one of the world’s leading vitamin D experts, children who take a vitamin D supplement from age 1 onwards reduce their risk of developing type 1 diabetes by 80 percent.

Studies also show that pregnant women who are deficient in vitamin D could increase their child’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes. Based on the latest research, Dr. Mercola recommends 35 IUs (international units) of vitamin D3 per pound of body weight. This translates to:

• 35 IUs per pound per day for children below 5
• 2500 IUs for children between the ages of 5 to 10
• 5000 IUs for adults ages 18 to 30
• 5000 IUs for pregnant women

Remember: these recommendations are only an estimate because it’s just not possible to make a blanket recommendation that will cover everyone’s needs. The only way to determine how much vitamin D you need is to get your blood tested, Dr. Mercola explains. The correct vitamin D test to order is the 25(OH)D or 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which you can get through Lab Corp. The dosage recommendations for vitamin D supplementation are updated depending on the latest research.

2. Breastfeed your baby.
Bottle-fed infants tend to grow faster, but this is not a good thing. Babies that gain a lot of weight in their first year may have an increased risk of type 1 diabetes. Dr. Mercola also recommends breast milk over milk-based formula because exposure to pasteurized cow’s milk early in life may increase a child’s risk of type 1 diabetes.

3. Avoid feeding cereal to your infant.
Cereal is typically one of the first solid foods to be introduced to babies when they reach the 4-to-6 month mark. But grains are not a healthy choice for most people, including infants. Babies who are given cereal may also increase their risk of type 1 diabetes. Give your child a vegetable source of carbohydrates instead.

4. Do some research before deciding on vaccinating your infant.
Speculation is rife that the rising incidences of autoimmune diseases in children are a result of the growing number of vaccinations received. Dr. Donald W. Miller points out that there has been a 17-fold increase in type 1 diabetes — from 1 in 7,100 children in the 1950s to 1 in 400 today.

Related Posts:

Vitamin D and Diabetes March, 2008

Other Resources:

American Diabetes Association
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International

It’s time for a quick recap of the “Toxic America” series on CNN, and I want to share some thoughts with you about the second night of the series. The second night focuses on pregnant women and the toxic burden of newborn babies, something very close to the heart of Babyminding. For me, the most compelling part was Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s interview with a medical doctor who conducted a study that identifies and quantifies what substances pregnant women are inhaling from their everyday environment. If you didn’t catch the series, I think the results would surprise you. The following is a clip from the “Toxic America” series:

Knowing that harmful chemicals are passing the placenta daily and that newborns are already experiencing toxic overload is certainly compelling. The bigger question is what can we do about it? Sometimes it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the information on toxic exposure instead of being compelled to act. Here are a few simple ways to help limit your family’s exposure, including your unborn child:

1. Avoid the “dirty dozen” produce items that contain the most pesticide residue and cut your pesticide exposure by up to 80%. Click here for the CNN.com article about the “dirty dozen”.

2. Avoid cigarette smoke and heavily polluted areas to reduce the toxic substances you inhale.

3. Filter your water for chlorine,  fluoride, and other toxins. Here is an affordable reverse osmosis water filtration system if you are in the market for one.

3. Read Babyminding’s Green Pregnancy post with many more ideas on reducing toxic substance exposure for you and your baby, from changing the shampoo you use to the pots and pans you cook with.

With just a few simple changes, you can really limit the exposure of your family to harmful substances. Click here or more information on this topic and to view more clips from CNN’s “Toxic America” series.

Seriously?  Lead found in food…for kids?  The lead in toys fiasco that has been going of for the past few years is bad enough, but at least toys are not intended to be consumed.  However, the fact that lead has been recently found by the Environmental Law Foundation (“ELF”) in juices and baby food is outrageous!

On June 9, 2010 the Environmental Law Foundation filed Notices of Violation of California Proposition 65 Toxics Right to Know law, alleging the toxic chemical lead was found in a variety of children’s and baby foods.  The specific food categories included apple juice, grape juice, packaged pears and peaches (includine baby food), and fruit cocktail.

To download a list of affected products, click Kids Products Tested for Lead. I think you’ll be surprised to find that some of the items on the list are organic!

Babyminding is excited to recommend “Toxic America”, a new series on CNN hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, M.D airing June 2nd and 3rd at 8pm EST.  This two night series focuses on the exposure of everyday Americans to toxic chemicals both in the air we breathe and the products we consume on a daily basis.

Night 1 of the “Toxic America” series will report on the toxic town of Mossville, Louisiana whose residents believe many of their health problems are related to chemical plants in their area. Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates and looks for answers.  See a glimpse of what will be covered in the following video.

Night 2 of the “Toxic America” series will explore the hidden toxins in everyday consumer goods, our homes, and the food we eat, especially their effects on pregnant women and children. Night 2 will offer tips and advice on minimizing our exposure – something very important to us here at Babyminding!

In conjunction with the two night series on CNN, you can find several great articles at www.cnn.com that further explore the hidden dangers of toxins in our country. This morning’s article about the “Dirty Dozen” – the 12 produce items with the most pesticide residue – really hit home for me, and I immediately linked it to Babyminding’s Facebook page. The article was very specific in it’s reporting that the celery I eat several times a week may contain between 47 and 67 pesticides! That’s a lot of chemicals!

Cancer runs rampant in my family, and my brother has just been diagnosed with Lymphoma at only 35 years old. Now more than ever, protecting myself and my family from toxic chemicals is part of my parenting strategy. Check back this week for a summary of the series, discussion of the high points and, most importantly, the simple things we can do to protect our children and ourselves from toxic overload.

A must read for all parents!  Most sunscreens either don’t protect effectively against UVA or contain harmful chemicals.  Environmental Working Group releases a sunscreen guide every year with their recommendations for safe effective sunscreen products.  They conduct extensive testing to ensure that their recommended sunscreens are safe and effective.  Some top picks include (click to purchase on Amazon):

My favorite feature this year – the sunscreen product Hall of Shame…which lists the worst of the worst sunscreens to avoid including:

• Banana Boat Baby Max Protect, SPF = 100
• Aveeno Baby Continuous Protection SPF 55
• Baby Blanket Tender Scalps Scalp Sunscreen Spray for Babies SPF 45+

Click to view the 2010 Environmental Working Group Sunscreen Guide!

Growing up I never paid too much attention to the various synthetic fragrances that surrounded me.  We were fairly outdoorsy, so my exposure to cologne and perfume was limited to shopping excursions and friends’ houses.  I developed a candle addiction in college and remember frequent visits to Pier One or Yankee Candle company to purchase baskets full of the newest scent.  When I met my husband, he warned me that he was allergic to anything that had a fragrance, be that lotion, perfume, candles, plugins, whatever.  So out went the candles and fragrance-filled lotions that adorned my bathroom closet.   Years later, my daughter was born and I began living a greener lifestyle in an effort to give her the healthiest start possible.  And now I have both my husband and daughter to thank for encouraging me to stop my fragrance habit – it very well may have saved our health!

Safecosmetics.org in conjunction with Environmental Working Group just released the results of their latest fragrance safety study, specifically as it relates to colognes and perfumes.  The outcome?  Those sweet smells can be toxic!

A study conducted by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Environmental Working Group found that 17 of the top fragrances contained 38 secret chemicals!

Gross!

Here are their findings as to which fragrance had the most chemicals:

American Eagle Seventy-Seven – 24
Chanel Coco – 18
Britney Spears Curious – 17
Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio – 17
Old Spice After Hours Body Spray – 16
Quicksilver – 16
Calvin Klein Eternity for Men – 15
Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry-Blossom – 14
Calvin Klein Eternity for Women – 14
Halle by Halle Berry – 13
Hannah Montana Secret Celebrity – 13
Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Wish – 13
Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce – 11
Jennifer Lopez J. Lo Glow – 11
AXE Body Spray for Men: Shock – 10
Clinque Happy – 9
Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue – 7

Keep in mind that if you are wearing these perfumes and colognes, you may be off-gassing toxic chemicals for your baby or child to inhale.  Children are more susceptible to the effects of toxins in their environment due to their small size and rapid rate of development.  Read more at SafeCosmetics.org – Are There Hazardous Chemicals in Your Perfume or Cologne??? You can also take action by signing a petition to remove toxic chemicals from celebrity scents.

It’s time for another installment of “Is This A Healthy Dinner?” here at Babyminding. I hope everyone enjoys this post as much as they enjoyed the last one. We are still working on breaking our sugar habit as a family, and I have to say it’s been pretty successful! As I mentioned in the first post of this series, everyone has a different version of healthy. I tend to follow the food pyramid with a de-emphasis on dairy. I always try to get protein, fiber, and veggies in at dinner time. Take a look at our dinner menu tonight, and tell me what you think…

Thursday Night Dinner – total prep and cook time 30 minutes
Pan cooked chicken in butter and olive oil with Greek seasoning (I cooked this ahead of time)
Steamed broccoli and baby corn with butter and sea salt (yes, we eat a lot of broccoli!)
A slice of lower sodium Provolone cheese
Apple slices (yes, we eat a lot of apples, too!)

Beverage
Water for my daughter
Fresh lemonade for my son (Fresh from Chick-Fil-A!)

Dessert – total prep and cook time 30 minutes with the kids’ “help”
Homemade gluten-free all natural peanut butter cookies – I used this recipe and used Jif® All Natural Peanut Butter

Both kids gave this quick and easy dinner a thumbs up and ate everything on their plate! I feel it covered the bases in terms of protein, veggies, fruit, and dairy. The gluten-free peanut butter cookies don’t contain flour or butter so I felt they were a pretty healthy option for dessert. My son loved the cookies and didn’t mind that the texture was a little drier than a “regular” cookie. My daughter, however, notices every little thing and gave them a thumbs down. I thought they were pretty good, so the cookies may be a personal preference and depend on how picky your family members are. So what do you think, internet, was it a healthy dinner? What did your family have for dinner tonight? Babyminding wants to know!