ORGANIC BYTES

February 22, 2007 · Issue 103 Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge… From the Organic Consumers Association
www.organicconsumers.org Please forward this publication to family and friends, websites, print it, & post it. Knowledge is power!

Demand a New Truth-in-Labeling Standard For Vitamins How Natural or Organic are Your Vitamins?
Your favorite vitamin and supplement brand may OCA is building an expansive database of companies that meet
label itself as “food-based” or “natural”, but strict NOS standards for being 100% naturally occurring and
the overwhelming majority of today’s sup- organic. To find out if your favorite vitamin/supplement is
plements are actually laced with synthetic truly natural, please submit that company’s name when you
chemicals, GE ingredients, or even nanopar- sign the Nutri-Con petition (see above). We will be posting an
ticles. The FDA, in accordance with the wishes online database over the next two months, listing how the var-
of the large pharmaceutical com- ious companies rank.
panies who supply the feedstocks THE NEW NATURALLY OCCURRING STANDARD www.organicconsumers.org/nutricon/nutripetition.cfm
for 90% of all dietary supplements, WILL ALLOW CONSUMERS TO KNOW WHETHER
allows vitamin companies to label A VITAMIN OR SUPPLEMENT PRODUCT: Children’s Plastic Lunch Boxes
their products as “natural,” “food- · Contains synthetic ingredients Last week, documents obtained under the Freedom of
based,” or even “organic,” even if · Contains GE ingredients Information Act were released that show the US gov-
these supplements are composed of · Only contains ingredients found in nature ernment’s Consumer Protection Safety Commission
90% synthetic ingredients, includ- · Only contains ingredients that are (CPSC) concealed evidence indicating dangerously
ing genetically modified organ- sustainably harvested and fairly-traded
high levels of lead in children’s plastic lunchboxes. In
isms. The Organic Consumers · Is Organic
2005, the nonprofit Center for Environmental Health
Association (OCA), along with the made national news when their investigations found
Naturally Occurring Standards Group, is launching a new “truth high levels of lead in children’s vinyl lunchboxes. The CPSC imme-
in labeling” campaign that will enable consumers to distinguish diately countered that report by saying its own studies revealed
between those vitamins and supplements that are truly natural no problems. On the contrary, documents released last week show
or organic, and those that simply claim to be. the agency’s own tests actually found lead contamination up to
In order to make clear to the $20+ billion supplements indus- 16 times higher than what is allowed in lead paint. The govern-
try that consumers want truth-in-labeling for vitamins & supple- ment’s motivation for a cover-up that threatens the health of the
ments, please sign our online petition at: nation’s children is unclear, but an allied group of state Attorney
www.organicconsumers.org/nutricon/nutripetition.cfm Generals is being organized to ultimately remove these lunch-
Stay tuned to the Nutri-Con section of the OCA website for fur- boxes from the marketplace. www.organicconsumers.org/afc.cfm
ther developments: www.organicconsumers.org/nutricon/ Tip: The lunchboxes to avoid are made of PVC. These are typically
the squishy plastic type of “bag” boxes. You can also order a lead
FDA Still Accepting Comments on Cloned Food Approval lunchbox testing kit from the Center for Environmental Health:
The FDA is accepting public comments on their controversial pro- www.testyourlunchbox.com
posed regulations that would allow milk, eggs and meat from
cloned animals on the market, without labeling or safety test- Senate Poised to Cut Sustainable Ag Program Funding
ing. One major concern for organic consumers is the fact that it’s Last week, the Senate passed a resolution that would immediately
impossible to determine via laboratory testing whether a partic- end funding for a federal program crucial to sustainable agri-
ular meat or animal by-product came from a cloned animal or culture. The Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas
its offspring. In other words, as the FDA approves conventional (ATTRA) program was designed to provide farmers with infor-
milk, eggs and meat from cloned animals, these same clone mation on how to integrate sustainable practices into their own
foods could find their way into foods labeled as “organic”, even farms. This successful federal program has become one of the
though foods from cloned animals cannot technically be labeled most successful and cost-effective tools used by farmers to make
“organic”. According to a report by Jim Riddle, former Chair of their agricultural operations safer for human health and the envi-
the National Organic Standards Board, labeling of cloned ani- ronment. Beginning early next week (February 26) Congressman
mals and their products is essential in order to “prevent entry Boozman (R-AR) will begin circulating a sign-on letter to request
of cloned animals, their progeny, and products into the organic the continued funding of ATTRA. Call your representative and
food system.” senator and ask them to sign onto Congressman Boozman’s let-
Take action: www.organicconsumers.org/rd/clones.htm ter. Take action: www.organicconsumers.org/farm.cfm

Wild Medicinal Plants to Be Protected
A much needed global standard for wild medicinal plant har-
vesting was launched at the World Organic Trade Fair last week.
Over 70,000 species of plants are traded internationally every
year, and 80% of these are harvested from the wild. Due to
unchecked harvesting practices, many of these plants are in
danger of extinction through over-harvesting and habitat
loss. The new standard, known as the International
Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection o f
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-
MAP) is already eagerly being embraced
by many retailers around the world
to ensure plants used in medicine
and cosmetics are not over-exploited.
Consumers can expect to see products
with this labeling as early as winter of Liz Welch
2007. www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4216.cfm
Ending Bottled Water Addiction Will Save Environment
Bottled Water Isn’t Necessarily Cleaner
According to the San Francisco Chronicle and lawsuits from the
Environmental Law Foundation, 40% of bottled water is really
just repackaged tap water. Maybe that’s a good thing, consider-
ing federal standards for tap water are actually higher than those
for bottled water.
Bottled Water And Oil
Supplying Americans with plastic water bottles for one year
consumes more than 47 million gallons of oil, according to the
Container Recycling Institute. That’s enough to take 100,000 cars
off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the
atmosphere. Add in the additional amount of oil it takes to ship
the bottles thousands of miles from extraction source to recipient,
and your drink of H2O could be categorized with the “Hummers”
of the world.
Bottled Water And Biodegradability
Buddha’s bones turned to dust a long time ago. But if he had been
a bottled water drinker, that plastic would still be lying around.
It takes two minutes to drink a bottle of water, but it takes thou-
sands of years for that piece of plastic garbage to go away.
Solution
Buy a water filter and a non-plastic water container of your pre-
ferred size. Fill it up in the morning before you go to work or
school. Do a quick online search, and you can also find afford-
able portable water filters for when you are traveling. You’ll save
yourself and the environment a lot of expense.
Monsanto Fined for False Advertising
A French court has fined the US biotech behemoth Monsanto
for falsely advertising its pesticide Roundup as non-toxic.
Monsanto’s ads claimed the product is biodegradable and leaves
the soils clean after use. In actuality, the chemical, which is one
of the most commonly used pesticides in the US, is deemed by the
European Union as “dangerous for the environment” and “toxic
for aquatic organisms”. www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm
Organic Bytes #103 · February 22, 2007 · page 2
Amla: Medicinal Food & Source of High Quality Vitamin C
The Amla berry (Emblica officinalis) is a traditional food and
medicine that inspires awe in the mind of the serious herbalist
due to its many known nutritional and medicinal benefits and
uses. Amla berries have the highest amount of naturally occur-
ring vitamin C of any ripe fruit in the world used as a traditional
food. Numerous studies conducted on Amla fruit suggest that
it has anti-viral properties and also functions as an anti-bac-
terial and anti-fungal agent.
www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4242.cfm
Planting Peace
Frustrated by the inability of Congress to pass a resolution
opposing President Bush’s policies in Iraq, state legislators
across the country are pushing forward with their own resolu-
tions. Resolutions denouncing Bush’s Iraq Escalation have been
introduced in over twenty states. Vermont, California and Iowa
have each had a chamber approve a resolution rejecting Bush’s
escalation. Constantly increasingly military spending means less
federal resources are available for our states and local commu-
nities for sustainable agriculture, health, education, and other
vital programs. The horrors of Hurricane Katrina proved that
the states need the National Guard here for the inevitable disas-
ters of the urgent climate crisis. Ultimately, we need to break our
addiction to oil to bring an end to oil wars.
Please write your state legislators to urge them to “plant peace”
and pass anti-war resolutions.
For more information on anti-war organizing, go to OCA’s
Planting Peace page and visit our Planting Peace ally, Voters For
Peace: www.VotersForPeace.org
Please Donate to the OCA
As a nonprofit, we need your donations so we can continue to
move forward. You can donate online at:
www.organicconsumers.org/donations.htm
Or mail your tax deductible donation to the OCA:
Organic Consumers Association
6771 South Silver Hill Drive · Finland, MN 55603
Or by phone: 888-403-1007 (toll free).
For many more food issue daily headlines:
www.organicconsumers.org/log.html
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Association · 6771 S. Silver Hill Drive · Finland, MN 55603
Phone: 218·353·7454 · Fax: 218·353·7652
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Written and edited by Craig Minowa & Ronnie Cummins