Thought You Should All Be Aware...

[Blaze]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/08/29/eababy129.xml
:eek:

[venus89]

That's another thing we can't eat then :angry:

Thanks for that - I'll be careful what I give the babies

[Tatia]

I'm stunned.

[Cazz]

Thanks for that Blaze. I'm going to start weaning my baby in the next couple of weeks so perhaps I'll give that gooey baby rice a miss and go straight on to something more yummy!

[sarah707]

What next I wonder?? :panic:

[Tatia]

Avacado is a fantastic first food! My dd loved it. I cut it open, mashed it up and fed her. Easy peasy and full of nutrients and good fat.

[Cazz]

Thanks Tatia,

I'll give that a try - I love avocado's myself. She should be okay to skip the baby rice cos she will be about 5 months when I start (they recommend 6 months now don't they). She sits and stares at the rest of us when we are eating so I'm thinking I'll be kind and give her something other than boring bottles soon. She's still sleeping well though so she can wait another couple of weeks - she's going in the big cot in her own room this weekend :clapping: and I only want to introduce new things one at a time.

[emler]

Thanks Blaze

Emler x

[Twinkles]

Oh good grief !! Whatever next. Seems like nothing is safe :panic:

[ginag]

Gordon Bennet! I've always thought baby rice to be so safe! Shame the article doesn't name the best/worst manufactorers.

Ginag xx

[ma7ie]

It is very worrying but you have to put these things into perspective. Most people feed their children non organic milk yet this is full of nasties.

Pesticides
Organic dairy farms do not use artificial pesticides (insecticides, fungicides or herbicides) on pastures where cows graze. By contrast, there are about 500 different pesticides licensed for use on non-organic dairy farms and 1,550 which can be used on non-organic mixed farms (farms which have both dairy cattle and grain crops). All pesticides must be tested and approved by the government who set 'safety limits'.

Almost no research has been carried out on how these chemicals react when combined. This is known as the 'cocktail effect' - it has been estimated that in the Western world, our bodies contain traces of at least 300-500 potentially harmful chemicals absorbed from our food.

Dr Vyvyan Howard is a pathologist based in the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Liverpool, and he specialises in toxicology and the cocktail effect of agri-chemicals on the human body. He is a strong supporter of organics, in particular, organic milk.

He believes that we should be concerned about the increase in dangerous chemicals in our body since the Second World War when farming became more intensive.

“We have traces of 300-500 potentially harmful chemicals in our bodies which have only been around for the last 50 years and which we have ingested through our foods.”

“At present official safety limits are based on studies of agri-chemicals acting alone. There are no toxicological tests of chemical combinations, despite the fact that studies have suggested that their combined impact, or cocktail effect, can make their impact much more powerful. Eating organically grown food is an efficient way for people to avoid these chemicals.”

Due to the strict organic food standards in the UK organic dairy farmers are at the forefront of European organic agricultural practices. British organic dairy farmers use no synthetic chemical pesticides, which means that you can be sure that your food has no traces of chemicals that could damage the health of you and your family.

Some experts believe that children may be particularly susceptible to pesticide residues - they have a higher intake of food per unit of body weight than adults, have immature organ systems and may have limited ability to detoxify these substances.

The British Society for Allergy Environmental and Nutritional Medicine believe there is good evidence linking the rise in incidents of allergies with a general over exposure to chemicals including pesticides, because of their immune-deregulating properties.

The rise in human fertility problems has been linked to pesticides. Five out of the 12 most commonly found pesticide residues are suspected to be hormone disrupting chemicals.

Antibiotics
Organic cows are only given antibiotics when they are ill, while non-organic farms often routinely treat cows with antibiotics as a preventative measure, whether they are ill or not. If an organic cow needs to be treated with antibiotics then the ‘withdrawal period’ for the milk is at least double the recommended non-organic milk period.

The topic of possible links between the routine use of antibiotics in non-organic farming and increased antibiotic resistance in humans is being hotly debated. The most well-known of the potentially lethal ‘superbugs’ resistant to antibiotics is Methicillin Resistant Straphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) which is affecting some UK hospitals. The House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology concluded in 1999 “There is a continuing threat to human health from imprudent use of antibiotics in animals.”

GMOs
Organic cows are not fed GM cattle feed, and their feed is also free from solvent extracts and urea. This means that there is no possibility of GM or solvent residues being found in organic milk.

BSE
Organic cows are never given any animal-derivatives in their feed which was thought to be the source of BSE. No case of BSE has ever been found in an organically born and raised dairy cow

Fertility Hormones
On organic dairy farms the use of fertility hormones is rare. The cows can only be treated in this way on an individual, therapeutic basis, and the use of this form of treatment as a management aid is banned.

The same goes for meat and even fish.

[Alibali]

I think we mat all die of starvation, cos there seems to be nothing safe to eat anymore!

ali xx

[Pipsqueak]

James has rice milk :eek: :eek:

Thanks for that Blaze.

[Heaven Scent]

OMG as I said before in a perfect world there should be no debate over organic -v- non organic - it should be all organic - its greed and ignorance in the past on the effects of these drugs and chemicals that we have been adding to food stuff. God knows what sort of illnesses all these drugs have been responsible for.

[littlepixies]

well they say you learn something every day!

[tinkerbell_85]

I just think, how have we all survived so long????!!!