Is the FDA taking control?

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010

   Is the American Government taking control of our lives, as far as what we can eat and have access to for good nutrition?
 I still haven't read through this whole bill yet, but here it is for viewing.
Food Safety Modernization Act
  Here it is in summary-and it's long, so....

12/19/2010--Passed Senate amended. (This summary will be expanded.) FDA Food Safety Modernization Act -

Title I - Improving Capacity to Prevent Food Safety Problems

Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to expand the food safety activities of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), including to authorize the Secretary to inspect records related to food. Exempts certain establishments that sell food directly to consumers, such as roadside stands, farmers markets or participants in a community supported agriculture program, from specified requirements of this Act. Requires each owner, operator, or agent in charge of a food facility to identify and implement preventive controls to significantly minimize or prevent hazards that could affect food manufactured, processed, packed, or held by such facility. Sets forth provisions governing exemptions from such requirements for certain facilities. Requires the Secretary to: (1) issue guidance documents to reduce the risk from the most significant foodborne contaminants; and (2) establish minimum standards for the safe production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables based on known safety risks. Authorizes the Secretary to issue exemptions and variances from such standards. Directs the Secretary to assess and collect fees related to: (1) food facility reinspection; (2) food recalls; (3) the voluntary qualified importer program; and (4) importer reinspection. Directs the Secretary to develop voluntary food allergy and anaphylaxis management guidelines for schools and early childhood education programs.

Title II - Improving Capacity to Detect and Respond to Food Safety Problems

Requires the Secretary to: (1) allocate resources to inspect facilities and imported food according to the known safety risks of the facilities or food; and (2) establish a product tracing system to track and trace food that is in the United States or offered for import into the United States. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to enhance foodborne illness surveillance systems to improve the collection, analysis, reporting, and usefulness of data on foodborne illnesses. Gives the Secretary the authority to order a recall of an article of food.

Title III - Improving the Safety of Imported Food

Requires U.S. importers to perform risk-based foreign supplier verification activities to verify that imported food is produced in compliance with applicable requirements related to hazard analysis and standards for produce safety and is not adulterated or misbranded. Requires the Secretary to establish a program to expedite review and importation of food offered for importation by U.S. importers who have voluntarily agreed to participate in such program. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) require a certification that an article of food imported or offered for import complies with applicable requirements of this Act; and (2) enter into arrangements and agreements with foreign governments to facilitate the inspection of registered foreign facilities. Requires food to be refused admission into the United States if permission to inspect the food facility is denied by the facility owner, operator, or agent or the foreign country. Sets forth provisions governing the establishment of a system to recognize bodies that accredit third-party auditors and audit agents to certify that foreign entities meet applicable FFDCA requirements for importation of food into the United States.

Title IV - Miscellaneous Provisions

Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2015 for the activities of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the Center for Veterinary Medicine, and related field activities in the Office of Regulatory Affairs of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Directs the Secretary to increase the field staff of such Centers and Office. Establishes whistleblower's protections for employees of entities involved in the manufacturing, processing, packing, transporting, distribution, reception, holding, or importation of food who provide information relating to any FFDCA violation. " 

(end summary)

Here are a few more information links to read over-

Alliance for Natural Health

Health Freedom USA

Farm to consumer

Info wars

Natura lnews.

   Well, I haven't read the whole proposed bill yet, so probably shouldn't comment, but if it's going to effect what I can grow in my back yard, or my local farmers, and the natural and nutritious foods out there, then, well, that's just wrong.
  In a nutshell, it appears we want our cake and we want to eat it too, without consequences.  We want some type of regulation to keep harmful additives, pesticides, and GMO's out of our food and products.  But, the same people setting those safety regulations, appear to be ignorant to what is harmful or not.  We already are battling to keep our homeopathic products.  We are already fighting to have foods labeled and additives that the FDA claims as  "safe", to be removed from our foods.  The list goes on, and it appears to be a losing battle.  That's my opinion on the FDA in general.  It leads around to some other things-like healthcare for everyone, for example.

Joy for Friends

   My friend gave me good news today.  They are expecting!  I am beyond happy for them.
 They lost their twins while pregnant and it was devastating.  Not sure if they would add to their already wonderful family, the past few months they decided to try, and were not having luck.
 All month I prayed for them.
 I prayed for a Christmas miracle.
 I asked GOD daily to give them the gift they so much hoped for.
 I lent my silent support, over the long distance between us.
 And tears flowed from my eyes as I saw her news.
 My heart sings and I am full of thankfulness.

A European look at Americans

   Here's an interesting tidbit my other half found.
America in Decline

America in Decline: Why Germans Think We're Insane

By Democrats Ramshield, AlterNet
Posted on December 26, 2010, Printed on December 30, 2010
http://www.alternet.org/story/149324/

As an American expat living in the European Union, I’ve started to see America from a different perspective.

The European Union has a larger economy and more people than America does. Though it spends less -- right around 9 percent of GNP on medical, whereas we in the U.S. spend close to between 15 to 16 percent of GNP on medical -- the EU pretty much insures 100 percent of its population.

The U.S. has 59 million people medically uninsured; 132 million without dental insurance;60 million without paid sick leave; 40 million on food stamps. Everybody in the European Union has cradle-to-grave access to universal medical and a dental plan by law. The law also requires paid sick leave; paid annual leave; paid maternity leave. When you realize all of that, it becomes easy to understand why many Europeans think America has gone insane."

 Click link for whole story.

Bits and pieces after Christmas

 Well, I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday.  I did.  But of course, it's back to the grind.  So many things have caught my eye the past few days.

   Our paper reports on 

MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2010

an article from the Atlantic, on how terrible the US school system is. Here it is, " Your Child Left Behind ".  I have yet to dig into it, but just from the reading I have done over the past year or so, and my observation of both children and young adults, I do have to wonder what is going on in public school.  I'm going to go on a limb and say that private has it's own set of problems as well.

   The news, had a few eye catching tidbits.  Apparently, milk based infant formula, contributes to obesity.  Formula's that increase weight gain, I did a little searching around on the type of substitute formula's that are recommended for those infants who can not tolerate milk.  I'll probably have a whole blog article on it, with the information I found.  How about this?  Let's just educate women and families about the benefits of Breastfeeding, the effects of formula, and help women accomplish breastfeeding and overcome any problems that arise.

    Here was another new bit-SIDs and New Years Day.  Well, who exactly is researching SIDS, what causes it, the contributing factors etc?  Every so many years, there is something new to do, to try to avoid SIDS.  That would bring us back around to the above mentioned formula, and a slew of other things.

    Lastly,  as you know, mom is here for a visit.  And as usual, she got a cold within a day of getting here, and insisting on taking some Alka Seltzer cold and flu.  I had to go and ask her why she took it, when the ingredients are horrible, and will do nothing but depress her immune system.  Oddly enough, my other half, mentioned to her later, the same thing, and that she's always sick for the whole time she visits, and she takes the medicine that is supposed to work.  We're trying to convince her to try our Borions homeopathic medicine.  But it led to a conversation about how she got a flue shot-hmm, okay.  I didn't think she ever got one.  Apparently so, because she had the Flue a few years back, pretty bad.  I told her the vaccine was not 100% effective, and what would she do if she got the flue anyhow?  So what you haven't had the flue in five years-it could be the vaccine, or it could be you just didn't catch it!  And that led to her comment that what we eat and surround ourselves with, doesn't really change our genes.  If we have bad genes, we have bad genes, regardless what the researches are saying.  Oddly enough, there was no reply when I said a vaccine contains cancer cells, and how are people contacting this cancer, who do not have direct contact with the specimen, but only via the vaccine?

  It's just interesting that some of the older generation completely lives by those, "Wives tales", and how their parents lived and are healthy, yet others, just could care less.  Why-because they are old and don't care any more.  Sigh.  Noting something-every time we have certain family members visit us for extended periods-even if they d not stay with us, they get a cold.  They take over the counter, regular cold medicine, because they say it works, and they have the cold for pretty much the duration they are here. This could be weeks, too. Maybe we cause allergies and colds?

Bits and Pieces after Christmas

  Well, I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday.  I did.  But of course, it's back to the grind.  So many things have caught my eye the past few days.
   Our paper reports on an article from the Atlantic, on how terrible the US school system is. Here it is, " Your Child Left Behind ".  I have yet to dig into it, but just from the reading I have done over the past year or so, and my observation of both children and young adults, I do have to wonder what is going on in public school.  I'm going to go on a limb and say that private has it's own set of problems as well.
   The news, had a few eye catching tidbits.  Apparently, milk based infant formula, contributes to obesity.  Formula's that increase weight gain, I did a little searching around on the type of substitute formula's that are recommended for those infants who can not tolerate milk.  I'll probably have a whole blog article on it, with the information I found.  How about this?  Let's just educate women and families about the benefits of Breastfeeding, the effects of formula, and help women accomplish breastfeeding and overcome any problems that arise.
    Here was another new bit-SIDs and New Years Day.  Well, who exactly is researching SIDS, what causes it, the contributing factors etc?  Every so many years, there is something new to do, to try to avoid SIDS.  That would bring us back around to the above mentioned formula, and a slew of other things.