Dont worry you chip lovers! Here are some chips you can enjoy! They also have a baked version, which i actually find really good, very crunchy for being baked!
''We cook our chips using only the finest all-natural, non-GMO ingredients. We use no trans fats, no MSG, no artificial colors or flavors, no list of ingredients you can't pronounce. In fact, we're the first potato chip to be verified by the Non-GMO Project. There's nothing fake about our chips at all. Because if it's not a real, all-natural ingredient, it has no business getting anywhere near our potato chips. And no business getting near your mouth.''
-Source: http://www.kettlebrand.com/about_us/
They aren't organic, but at least they are gmo-free! 16 varieties to choose from! Make this your july 4th snack! -Admin B & V
Insects, especially aphids, are a nuisance in the garden because they eat just about any vegetable you grow. How crunchy or milky do you want your salad to be? Rather than buying chemicals at the store that may or may not negatively impact the health of you and your family (including pets), why not make your own chemical free pesticide! Here are the directions:
1) Finely chop up a head of garlic (6-8 cloves) and place them in a dish.
2) Pour in 1 1/2 cups of mineral oil or whatever you have available. Then Mix the 2 ingredients.
3) Pour in a tablespoon of mild liquid soap or whatever you have available. Then mix the 3 ingredients.
3a) You may add hot peppers, onions, or hot sauce to strengthen up the mixture. I would not add in more than 4 tbsp of hot sauce/tabasco sauce, hand full of chopped onions, or 4 hot peppers.
Note: You may use a blender for all these ingredients to avoid using the sieve.
4) Dump the mixture into a sealable container (glass jar with lid) and let it sit over night. Some people let the mixture sit for 72 hours in room temperature.
5) Pour 3 to 4 cups of water into a spray bottle and then add the mixture and shake. You may or may not want to sieve the mixture to remove chunks of vegetables that may cause blockage.
Before spraying, you should grab your garden hose and spray down your plants thoroughly. You want to get rid of those aphids before applying the pesticide. After you have sprayed the plants, let it dry. Once the plants are dry, spray on the pesticide to keep those pesky insects off your delicious vegetables or fruits. Spray the solution in the morning or evening. You can spray the solution as often as you wish. Ideally, you should check your plants daily if you have a really bad infestation.
Be sure to get under the leaves and into the 'crevices'. Before picking, spray the solution and wait an hour before picking and rinsing to kills any remaining aphids/insects.
You can add additional defense against those unwanted insects by planting the following: Marigolds, Orange Peels, Cedar Chips, Mint, Geraniums, Sage, and Rosemary. Planting Angelica and Morning Glory near your garden may attract the aphids predator, the lady bug.
Another natural pesticide recipe:
Tomato Leaf Spray
Tomato plants contain toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves. When the leaves of tomato plants are chopped, they release their alkaloids. When the alkaloids are suspended and diluted with water, they make an easy to use spray that is toxic to aphids, but still safe around plants and humans.
What You'll Need:
One to two cups of tomato leaves
Two cups of water
A strainer or cheesecloth
Spray bottle
To make tomato leaf spray, simply soak one to two cups of chopped tomato leaves in two cups of water. Let it steep overnight. To make the spray, strain the leaves out of the liquid using cheesecloth or a fine strainer. Add another one to two cups of water to the liquid and add it to a spray bottle.
To use the tomato leaf spray in your battle against aphids, spray the stems and foliage of the infested plant with the spray, paying special attention to the undersides of leaves, since that is where aphids most commonly congregate.
Companies should own every single bit of water on the planet, according to Nestle’s former CEO and now-Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. His position, shared by many others in his ranks, is one of profits over people and corporate rights over human rights. They advocate a sort of survival-of-the-richest, where only those with money should have access to “privileges” like water.
Making rounds several years after its creation, a video depicting Brabeck-Letmathe suggests that while 1.5% of the world’s water is for human usage, the other 98.5% “is not a human right”. He states that it’s this majority of water that should be “valued” through privatization. In other words, because the water is being treated as a human right (when in his mind it isn’t), it is being taken for granted. In order to ensure it’s used in an efficient manner, he suggests private corporations have access to owning it.
As if this isn’t frightening enough, Brabeck-Letmathe equates his position to that of Monsanto (another vile corporation who puts profits above people).
Nestle’s position on owning water is not new. A few years ago they began buying up property and water rights in Colorado to turn the world’s greatest natural resource into a bottled commodity. The Arkansas River Basin in Chaffee County, Colorado was ground zero for millions in land acquisitions. Private landowners sold their plots for as much as $1.1 million for 1.4 acres, according to a news report from theColorado Independent at the time.
Nestle paid Frank McMurry $860,000 for 111 acres in Big Horn Springs. Though Nestle didn’t end up using the property, this was only a fraction of their purchases. They bought 1.4 acres from Steve Hanswn for $1,120,000 in order to build a loading station for its trucks to load up with bottled water. Another deal proved lucrative for Harold and Mary Hagen, who sold their 11 acres (including a spring which Nestle is no doubt presently bottling) for $2,850,000.
You would think local towns that depend on these resources would stand up to the corporate giant. Well, some of them do. But most have a price.
“In Colorado, where water supplies fluctuate wildly with the seasons, water-use permits like the one Nestle secured force holders to include a plan on how they will replace the water they will extract. In this case, Nestle failed to convince the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District to lease the company water and so it turned to the city of Aurora, 100 miles away.
Aurora took up the deal, agreeing to lease the company 65 million gallons of water per year for 10 years, with an optional 10-year renewal. The first year payment is $160,000. The price will rise 5 percent a year. Aurora can cut the deal off in any year that it needs the water for its own purposes.”
Brabeck-Letmathe and his cohorts at Nestle may deny their intentions to privatize water around the world, but their actions speak louder than words. Drinkable water is being bought and sold as if we don’t all depend on it, as if it belongs to corporations rather than to humanity. The bottling of water is the greatest “sale” to ever take place and many people have lined up (and continue to line up) to keep companies like Nestle in the money. In a world where even water can be a corporate commodity, one has to wonder if and when a line will be drawn. Perhaps it will take the privatization of air before the people wake up.
The recent decision by Whole Foods Market to label all genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) sold in its stores by the long-off date of 2018 looks silly and almost meaningless compared to the right-now policy of fresh food chain Chipotle, which is officially the first and only major U.S. food supplier to voluntarily label GMOs. On its "Ingredients Statement" website, Chipotle clearly outlines which of its food products contain GMOs, and also states that it is working aggressively to source completely non-GMO ingredients for all of its products as it moves forward.
Chipotle has always marketed itself as a healthy alternative to fast food, having taken steps from the beginning to eliminate things like dairy products produced using the artificial growth hormone rBST, for instance, and replacing them with pasture-raised dairy products. Chipotle has also played a key role in propelling forward the local agriculture movement by sourcing as many locally-grown and organic ingredients as possible, and eliminating artificial additives and other toxins commonly used in fast food.
But now Chipotle has set the bar even higher, and by choice, delineating each and every ingredient used in its meats, beans, rice, and dressings, and clarifying which ones contain GMOs. The primary GMO offender, as you will notice on Chipotle's "Ingredients Statement" page, is soybean oil, which is reluctantly used in several of the chain's meat and rice products. In fact, this commercial frying and cooking oil appears to be one of the only, if not the only, GMO ingredient still used by Chipotle.
"Our goal is to eliminate GMOs from Chipotle's ingredients, and we're working hard to meet this challenge," explains the page. "For example, we recently switched our fryers from soybean oil to sunflower oil. Soybean oil is almost always made from genetically modified soybeans, while there is no commercially available GMO sunflower oil. Where our food contains currently unavoidable GM ingredients, it is only in the form of corn or soy."
You can view the Chipotle "Ingredients Statement" page at the following link. Note that all items containing a "G" in the pink box contain GMOs: http://www.chipotle.com
Whole Foods' track record on GMOs an embarrassment to the health freedom movement
While much of what Chipotle sells still admittedly contains GMOs in the form of corn and soybean oil, the company's willingness to be forthcoming with its customers and the public about this fact is highly commendable. And it is a lot more than we can say for Whole Foods Market, which is still not being completely honest with its customers. The fact that Chipotle is already voluntarily labeling GMOs, and clearly indicating its intent to continue phasing them out right now, shows that Whole Foods' 2018 labeling deadline is more of a political move to save face than a practical move to actually get the job done.
Other health food retailers like Trader Joe's have already phased GMOs out of their private label brands (http://www.traderjoes.com/about/customer-updates-responses.asp?i=4), while health food stores like Natural Grocers source only organic produce and require that their packaged food suppliers fully disclose the source of any potential GMO ingredients. Natural Grocers even states directly on its website that, as a company, it does not consider GMOs to be at all safe for human consumption (http://www.naturalgrocers.com).
But Whole Foods, despite being a prominent leader in health food industry, has long taken the most ambiguous stance on GMOs. Besides its recent GMO labeling announcement and adoption of Non-GMO Project labeling back in 2009, both of which are commendable in their own rite, Whole Foods has not been nearly as forthcoming with its customers about GMOs, and yet continues to charge a premium for its products. While eventual labeling in 2018 may still be a positive step forward, it clearly lacks the proactive approach already being taken by companies like Chipotle.
If Americans are truly serious about making real progress in the fight against genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), then we are going to have to take things to the next level by voting with our wallets, and boycotting every single factory food company that continues to secretly use GMOs in its products. And one way to help jump start this efforts is to get the health-conscious community up to speed about which major food companies are still using GMOs in secrecy.
The blog REALfarmacy.com recently created a "Do Not Buy" list that outlines all the major food producers that use GMOs in their products. Besides the more obvious offenders such as Coca-Cola, General Mills, Pepsi, and Frito-Lay, the list also pins "health"-branded food companies like Nature Valley and Morningstar that many people are still unaware also use GMOs in their products. You can view this list here: http://www.realfarmacy.com
As you will notice, virtually every major food brand in America uses GMOs in its products. This is hardly surprising, as the most recent figures show that 88 percent of all corn, 90 percent of all canola (rapeseed), 93 percent of all soybeans, and nearly 100 percent of all sugar beets grown in the U.S. contain transgenic traits patented and owned by Monsanto, Bayer CropScience, and a handful of other biotechnology companies. In fact, any food product that is not certified organic or that is not specifically designated as being non-GMO likely contains GM ingredients.
Purchase only local, non-GMO, organic foods; avoid eating out at restaurants that serve conventional food
Though admittedly difficult due to the sheer volume of contamination caused by GMOs, boycotting all products that contain them will be vital for eventually ridding the food supply of these toxic poisons. Major progress has already been made in the form of voluntary GMO labeling by food chain Chipotle, for instance, as well as mandatory GMO labeling in all Whole Foods Market stores by 2018 (or potentially even 2015, pending the passage of GMO labeling legislation at the individual state level). Even big-box retailer Target has jumped onboard, having announced that it will unveil a new non-GMO store brand known as "Simply Balanced."
But we must do more. The brands we frequent as health-conscious individuals must be willing to take a stand now to eliminate GMOs from their product lines, or else they are not worth purchasing. Companies like Amy's Kitchen, Annie's, Applegate Farms, Beanitos, Bragg, Earthbound Farm, Eden Foods Organics, Kettle, Lundberg Family Farms, Nature's Path, Organic Valley, and Pacific Foods are among those leading the way in providing clean, non-GMO foods. But what about all the other major brands that are still floundering in their commitment to clean food?
You can view a full list of verified non-GMO brands, as certified by The Non-GMO Project, here: http://www.nongmoproject.org
The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) has also created a Non-GMO Shopping Guide designed to help you avoid common ingredients like soy, canola, cottonseed, corn, sugar from sugar beets, and now wheat - unapproved GM wheat was recently found growing in a commercial field in Oregon - that are likely of GM origin. You can access this guide here: http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/
As far as dining out is concerned, it is always best to ask questions and essentially let restaurant owners and managers know that you are concerned about the quality and integrity of their offerings. As them what types of oils they cook with, for instance, and inquire about which foods are prepared fresh and which ones are canned or bagged. IRT has some helpful tips for avoiding GMOs while dining out that you can access here: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/buy-non-gmo/dine-out-non-gmo
Olive oil is considered by many to be one of the healthiest of the plant-based fats, and has gained notoriety in recent years for itslinkto lower cholesterol levels and reduced risk of heart disease.
Unfortunately, many popular brands of olive oil sold in stores today are not actually olive oil, but a blend of lower-quality vegetable oils that may include less than 20 percent actual olive oil per volume.
Among the list of oils that brands are “cutting” their olive oil with are genetically modified(GM) canola, soy, cottonseed and corn oils. There are currently no genetically modified olives in production, so customers wishing to avoid GM ingredients often look to olive oil as a healthy alternative.
Surprisingly, as much as half of all the olive oil sold commercially in the United States fails to pass the strict testing standards used to qualify it as authentic. In addition to genetically modified vegetable oils, some companies also add flavoring chemicals and dyes to give the illusion of real olive oil.
As odd as it may sound, the promotion of fake olive oil may also have links to the Mob.
"Olive oil piracy is one of the Italian Mafia's most lucrative enterprises, to the extent that it appears that most olive oil on the market is either greatly diluted or completely forged by a massive shadow industry that involves major names such as Bertolli," says investigative journalist Pauli Poisuo about the olive oil conspiracy.
Author Tom Mueller makes the case in Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil that the fraudsters are busier and richer now than ever before.
Bertolli and its supermarket rivals have also corrupted the meaning of extra virginity, a controlled definition of high-quality oil since 1960.’Gentle’, ‘smooth’ and ‘not peppery on the throat’ are the sort of words Bertolli and its rivals used in ads promoting their generic extra virgin oil. But true extra virgin oil is peppery – it bites the back of the throat so fiercely it can make you cough. The flavors are vivid. ‘Peppery’ is an official, positive attribute of ‘extra virgin’ whereas smoothness will reliably indicate a low-quality oil.”
So Bertolli and other brands came to need low-quality genetically modified vegetable oils in order to hoodwink the public into paying a premium for what they assume is natural and high quality oil.
Tests conducted by researchers at the Australian Oils Research Laboratory and the University of California, Davis also found that many major olive oil brands do not pass International Olive Council (IOC) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) authenticity tests for olive oil. The failing brands in their study included Bertolli, Carapelli , Filippo Berio, Mazzola and Pompeian.
UPDATE: Since the publishing of this article, Pompeian has reached out to inform us that they are the first olive oil company to receive USDA Quality Monitoring Verification for two of its products: Extra Virgin and Extra Virgin Organic. Look for the USDA "Quality Monitored" seal.
Fortunately, there are a number of simple ways to determine if you have purchased fake olive oil.
Look for the International Olive Council (IOC) label of authenticity. Imported olive oils that bear official IOC labels of authenticity generally undergo strict quality control testing.
Buy local. US growers and manufacturers are often held to stricter standards than companies that export to the United States. The California Olive Oil Council (COOC) seal is a good one to look for.
Refrigerate your olive oil. If authentic, olive oil will thicken and become cloudy.
See if your olive oil is flammable. Real olive oil is flammable. Try putting it in a fireproof pan and lighting it with a match. If your olive oil does not burn, it is most likely not real.
Check to see if it bears the Non-GMO Project seal. The Non-GMO Project rigorously evaluates companies before verifying their products. Look for your favorite brands here.
Originally Posted On: http://www.examiner.com/article/do-you-have-fake-olive-oil-your-pantry
A popular cosmetic product since time immemorial, lipstick has long been used by women in many diverse cultures to accentuate their femininity and emanate their own unique expressions of elegance and style to the outside world. But a new study released by the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) School of Public Health raises fresh concerns about the safety of using conventional lipstick products, as many of them were found to contain dangerously high levels of aluminum, cadmium, lead and other toxins.
UCB researchers tested 32 common lipstick and lip gloss products widely sold in stores today and found that many of them are loaded with cadmium, chromium, aluminum and at least five other metals. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the findings revealed that women who use such products even at modest levels could be greatly increasing their risk of developing a host of potential health conditions, including gastrointestinal upset, nerve damage, and cancer.
"Lipstick and lip gloss are of special concern because when they are not being blotted on tissue or left as kiss marks, they are ingested or absorbed, bit by bit, by the individual wearing them," explains a UCB press release about the study. "Using acceptable daily intakes derived from this study, average use of some lipsticks and lip glosses would result in excessive exposure to chromium, a carcinogen linked to stomach ulcers."
Most conventional beauty products contain a multitude of toxins at varying levels
Of the 32 products tested, researchers found that 24 of them, or 75 percent, also contained lead, which is known to cause brain, cellular, and DNA damage. Since no level of lead exposure is considered safe for young children, this discovery is particularly concerning as many younger girls use lipstick with their friends when they play dress up and other childhood games.
"I believe that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) should pay attention to this," says Sa Liu, author of the study and researchers in environmental health sciences at UCB. "Our study was small, using lip products that had been identified by young Asian women in Oakland, Calif. But, the lipsticks and lip glosses in our study are common brands available in stores everywhere. Based upon our findings, a larger, more thorough survey of lip products - and cosmetics in general - is warranted."
The FDA actually did conduct its own investigation back in late 2011 on lead in lipstick and found that every single sample among 400 collected contained lead. A shocking 380, or 95 percent, of the lipstick samples tested contained levels of lead at more than 0.1 parts per million (ppm), which is higher than the maximum level permitted in candy bars. But in typical FDA fashion, the agency largely discounted its own findings, declaring at the time that lead levels are "very low and [do] not pose safety concerns."
"Some of the toxic metals are occurring at levels that could possibly have an effect in the long term," says UCB professor S. Katharine Hammond, who helped lead the new study. "It's the levels that matter."
It’s not difficult to make the case that fast food isn’t healthy. One can point out the ubiquity of partially hydrogenated oils (AKA trans fats; which appear on five separate occasions in the ingredient list for Burger King’s grilled chicken filet). Or the tablespoons upon tablespoons of added sugars. Or the outrageously high levels of sodium. Or the lack of fiber. Or the presence of food dyes (there are two food dyes in Subway’s pickles!). Pick your poison.
One also cannot gloss over the litany of chemicals — many of which are oddly found in cosmetics — present in these foods. Sure, water and aloe vera are found in mass-produced beauty products, but food in cosmetic products is very different from cosmetic chemicals in food.
While fast food defenders point out that all these chemicals are legally “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS), that isn’t as reassuring as it sounds. Even if these additives posed no threat to health, their inclusion nevertheless makes it clear that as much as these companies like to “healthwash” and boast about “high-quality ingredients” and “freshness”, most of what they sell barely resembles real food.
Behold these fast-food and beauty product staples:
1) Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate: A common ‘dough conditioner’ used in many fast food chains’ “artisanal breads”, SSL is also found in shampoos and soaps. Fast food companies like to make SSL seem like a natural part of the breadmaking process, even though bread has been made for thousands of years — and still is — without it.
2) Benzoyl peroxide:Recently banned in China, benzoyl peroxide is the active ingredient in acne creams — and commonly used to bleach white flour in the United States (and therefore used to make almost all fast food breads). Neutrogena sandwich, anyone?
3) Disodium phosphate: A staple in mascara and mouthwash, you can find it in many fast food items. At Wendy’s, for example, it is present in their chili, cheddar cheese sauce, and Frosty desserts. Taco Bell includes it in their Southwest chicken.
4) Propylene Glycol: Commonly found in shampoo and mouthwash, as well as Burger King’s pickles, smoky cheese sauce, and BK stacker sauce.
6) Calcium Disodium EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetate): Used as a stabilizer in skin products and hair conditioner, you can also find this used as a “flavor protectant” in most fast food sauces, dips, and dressings, including Taco Bell’s bacon ranch sauce, Arby’s light Italian dressing, and Burger King’s tartar sauce.
As much as fast food companies like to distract consumers with reduced calorie, low-fat items in an attempt to lure the ‘health-conscious’, they continue to serve up chemical concoctions that barely resemble food. Leave the propylene glycol for those neon-colored mouthwashes and get yourself some real food.
Originally Posted On: http://smallbites.andybellatti.com/6-cosmetic-chemicals-in-fast-food/
Merck scientists have introduced a new drug to the meat industry - Zilmax. This drug bulks up cattle in the last few weeks of their lives, bringing in more revenue for feedlot owners. Four major meat companies now use Zilmax, including Tyson Foods, JBS SA, Cargill, and National Beef Packing Co. Reportedly, Cargill resisted Zilmax for years, but finally got on board to keep up with the market.
Recycling the drug
Zilmax was once called Zilpaterol and was used to treat asthma in humans. The drug was an absolute failure but was found to be a repartitioning agent - a drug that changes metabolism so more muscles are produced instead of fat. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned the drug for human consumption, so Merck re-branded the drug Zilmax and started selling it to feedlots as a growth stimulant.
Journalist visits meat locker, disgusted
As a journalist for Chronicle of Higher Education, Melody Peterson described her visit to the meat locker at West Texas A&M University. Escorted by Ty E. Lawrence, associate professor of animal science, Peterson reported,
"Bloody sides of beef, still covered with a slick layer of ivory-colored fat, hung from steel hooks. Dressed in a white lab coat, a hard hat on his head, Lawrence pointed to the carcass of a Holstein that had been fed a new drug called Zilmax. He noted its larger size compared with the nearby body of a steer never given the drug."
"'This is thicker, and it's plumper,' said Lawrence, pointing at the beast's rib-eye. 'This animal right here,' waving his hand at the pharmaceutically enhanced meat, 'doesn't look like a Holstein anymore.'"
Not a Holstein anymore: is that really something to be proud about? If a Holstein doesn't look like a Holstein anymore, what are we eating and what are we becoming? Drugged up beef has more profit
The drought in 2012 made it easier for Merck to sell Zilmax. Without needing any more feed or water, a cow can now yield 33 pounds of extra beef when drugged with Zilmax. According to Zilmax advertisements, food production has everything to do with profit now instead of giving people healthy, real meat.
One of their ads boasts:
"Costs $20 Makes you $40 THAT'S ZILMANOMICS! Beef you can count on. Feed Zilmax for the last 20 days for an additional 30 pounds of hot carcass weight and an extra $40 per head, gross profit. That's every four weeks. Let's see the folks on Wall Street beat those returns!"
University researchers, agriculture industry, and pharmaceuticals protecting one another
Agriculture schools increasingly depend on the agriculture industry for research grants. A large portion of those grants cover overhead and administrative costs. Many professors now work for the agriculturecompanies as consultants and speakers, adding to their personal bank accounts along the way. In a 2005survey, more than two-thirds of animal scientists reported they had received money from the industry in the previous five years. Critics say some academic animal scientists have become so closely tied to the drugcompanies that they may be working more in the big companies' interests. Weren't land-grant universitiescreated to serve farmers, ranchers, and their fellow man?
Survive by resistance
Resistance of the big industry drugged-up beef and sell-out university's advice will be the way forward for many American's seeking healthy choices.
Read the labels. Know where food comes from. Ask questions. Buy organic. The American republic can restore its health through knowledge and awareness. With strength in numbers, the people can change the game.
Genetically modified salmon can breed with wild trout to produce a new fast growing fish that can harm natural species, scientists have warned.
[Did they lie to us again?]
The researchers fear that plans to farm a new type of GM salmon that grows faster than normal salmon may result in some of the animals escaping into streams and rivers.
They conducted a study to examine the impacts that such an escape would have on natural habitats.
They found that the GM salmon, which have been developed by a Canada firm and are expected to be given approval for sale as food in the US, could mate with wild brown trout.
This resulted in a “hybrid” species that grew faster than even the GM salmon. They also “out competed” wild fish in laboratory based simulation of a stream.
Dr Krista Oke, who led the work at the department of biology at McGill University in Quebec, Canada, said: “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating transmission and ecological consequences from interspecific hybridisation between a GM animal and a naturally hybridising species.
“Ultimately, hybridisation of transgenic fishes with closely related species represents potential ecological risks for wild populations.”
The researchers, whose work is published in the journalProceedings of The Royal Society B, warned that any attempts to farm GM salmon should carefully assess the risks to the wider environment should they escape.
AquaBounty, a Canadian biotechnology firm, has spent 17 years developing a type of Atlantic salmon that will reach full size in half the time of wild salmon.
The "super-salmon" are grown in tanks and Panama and the firm has applied to the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food in the US, to sell the GM fish in shops.
The FDA recently ruled that meat from the fish was unlikely to pose a threat to human health but it has still to give approval for it to be sold.
The GM fish are unlikely to go on sale in the UK or Europe in the near future as there are strict regulations on the use of GM meat for human consumption.
However, environmental groups have expressed concerns that the fish could escape into the wild and the Atlantic Salmon Federation has said they could disrupt fish ecosystems.
The latest research by Dr Oke and her colleagues seems to support their arguments as the hybrid fish that formed when GM salmon mated with wild trout led to other wild fish being far smaller than they would normally be.
This is because they grew up to 80 per cent faster and ate much of the available food.
Dr Oke added: “Although transgenic hybrids would likely be rarer in the wild than in our experiment, our results indicate that transgenic hybrids have a competitive advantage over salmon in at least some semi-natural conditions.
“If this advantage is maintained in the wild, transgenic hybrids could detrimentally affect wild salmon populations.”
Ron Stotish, chief executive of AquaBounty Technologies, described the research as "encouraging" and insisted would only market sterile female GM salmon, known as AquAdvantage, so they could not breed.
He added: "Brown trout and Atlantic salmon are know to be able to produce hybrid progeny.
"This paper confirms that AquAdvantage, can be used to produce such hybrids, and that the presence of the transgene does indeed confer accelerated growth in hatchery conditions.
“It is worth noting that in 1995, Peter Galbreath and Gary Thorgaard of Washington State University published research that the Atlantic salmon brown trout hybrid is sterile.
"If this holds true, such a hybrid would pose little ecological threat as the fish would not reproduce."
Dandelion greens are my number one choice for a smoothie green. Not only do they provide a higher amount of calcium and iron than most cultivated greens, they have a wide array of health benefits that make them the perfect all around nutritional boost.
Here are ten reasons you should use dandelion greens in your next smoothie.
#1 – High in Calcium: Dandelion greens are loaded with calcium. Just one cup of chopped dandelion greens has 103 milligrams (10% of the recommended daily value) of calcium! That’s slightly more than kale! Add two to three cups of dandelion to a smoothie with calcium-rich fruits like orange, kiwi, fig or papaya and you’ll have a green smoothie that has more calcium than any dairy product!
#2 – Rich in Iron: Next to fresh parsley, dandelion greens have a high iron content. One cup contains 1.7 milligrams of iron.
#3 – Low Calories: Like all leafy greens, dandelions are low in calories. One cup of chopped dandelion greens has only 25 calories. While leafy greens are a low calorie food, I actually prefer to use dandelions because they have more calories than other greens. Since I try to get as many calories as I can into my morning smoothies, I add up to 4 cups of dandelion which adds 100 calories of nutrient-rich food!
#4 – Loaded With Antioxidants: Dandelion greens are high in vitamin A in the form of antioxidant carotenoid (beta-carotene) and vitamin C. Vitamin C also helps facilitate iron absorption.
#5 – The Ultimate Detox & Cleansing Green: If your goal is detoxification and cleansing, dandelion greens should be the ones you use in green smoothies! They are said to help cleanse the liver and many detox recipes call for them.
#6 – Lots Of Minerals: Dandelion greens are rich in minerals. Besides calcium and iron, they are a good source of copper (10% RDA), manganese (8% RDA), phosphorus (5% RDA), potassium (5% RDA) and magnesium (5% RDA).
#7 – 14% Protein: Dandelion greens have more protein per serving than spinach. The greens themselves are 14% protein and contain all essential amino acids so it’s a complete protein. One chopped cup contains 1.5 grams of protein.
#8 – Multivitamin Green: Besides vitamin A as beta-carotene (186% RDA) and vitamin C (21% RDA), each cup of chopped dandelion greens are also good sources of vitamins B1 (9% RDA), B2 (11% RDA) and B6 (11% RDA), vitamin E (13% RDA) and especially abundant in vitamin K (357% RDA).
#10 – Health Benefits of Dandelion Greens: The nutrients in dandelion greens may help reduce the risk of cancer, multiple sclerosis, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration and stroke. Dandelion contains anti-inflammatory properties which may provide benefit to those with asthma and other inflammatory diseases.
How To Select And Store Dandelion Greens
While dandelion greens can be found at health food stores, co-ops and farmers markets, they are probably widely available during the spring and early summer months in your own backyard.
Select unblemished, dark green leaves or bunches when purchasing them in the store. When foraging, young greens that are harvested before the flower head appears will be less bitter.
Commercially cultivated dandelion greens may have whitish/green or red stems. The leaves are highly perishable. I store them in the fridge in a large plastic tub with a piece of paper towel to absorb excess moisture and condensation. They will keep for 2-4 days this way. If you store wet leaves in a produce bag, they will likely only last a couple days.
The dandelion greens that you find in the store are typically organic. If you forage for dandelion, be sure to harvest them from land that has not been treated with pesticides, herbicides or other contaminants. Avoid harvesting dandelion greens from urban or industrial waste lots as heavy metals (lead, mercury) and other pollutants in the soil might be absorbed into the plant.
How To Use Dandelion Greens In A Green Smoothie
Dandelions are bitter, so it makes sense to blend them with fruit to mask the flavor. I recommend blending dandelion greens with sweet, flavorful fruit like banana, strawberries, mango, citrus and pineapple.
I use up to 4 cups of chopped greens in a single smoothie recipe. If you are trying dandelion for the first time, start with a small handful or 1 cup of chopped leaves.
"Dandelions aren't just weeds in the yard - Discover how dandelions protect against diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and kidney stones"
If you haven't already sprayed this year's crop of dandelions with Roundup or other herbicide - and you'd like to rid your lawn from unwanted vegetation - why not dig up your dandelions and make tea or eat them in salads, stews or a green smoothie?
The common dandelion proliferating summer lawns is often considered a weed. It was brought to the United States from Europe and Asia and introduced for its myriad health benefits, which have been utilized by Eastern cultures for centuries. Dandelion is a bitter herb and all parts of the plant are used medicinally in herbal preparations, teas and as foods.
Preparing dandelions for consumption
Make dandelion tea by brewing 1 ounce of dandelion root or leaves in 1 pint of water for 15 minutes. Roast dandelion root like you would carrots or potatoes. Dandelion greens and flowers are delicious raw in salads or cooked like you would spinach.
Stimulates digestion
The bitter properties in dandelion aid digestion, stimulating the production of digestive juices, which begin in the mouth with saliva. The stomach responds to stimulus from bitter foods by increasing the production of all natural digestive juices including acids and bicarbonate.
>h1>Tonifies the liver Dandelion tea supports the liver in its production of bile, reducing inflammation, jaundice, hepatitis and gall bladder disease, according to Columbia University.
Effects on blood sugar and diabetes
Dandelion affects blood sugar levels, acting as a stabilizing agent and buffering against extreme highs and lows. Drinking dandelion tea three times a day provides support for diabetics.
Prevention of kidney stones
The University of Maryland Medical Center notes the combination of foods high in oxalates and calcium may lower the incidence of kidney stones. Dandelion is high in oxalates and when consumed at the same time as high-calcium foods, they bind in the intestine creating protection for the kidneys.
Weight loss and swelling
Dandelion leaves act as a diuretic and can be made into tea, which reduces swelling and fluid retention as well as promoting weight loss, according to Columbia University. It's believed that dandelion tea may have other properties that aid with weight loss in addition to its diuretic affect.
Cancer fighting properties
According to Columbia University, antibodies to various types of cancers have been detected in individuals after consuming dandelion, including the leaves, flowers and roots. Sources for this article include:
.jpg)
