Food safety

The obesity epidemic: What do chemicals have to do with it?

We are all hearing a lot about obesity these days and more people are obese than ever; one-third of American children and two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese. The American Medical Association has declared that obesity is a disease.

Chemicals and Obesity

While diet and exercise are important factors in the obesity epidemic, an emerging body of science demonstrates that exposures to chemical obesogens may be important contributors. A number of chemicals known to disrupt hormones also appear to affect the size and number of fat cells or hormones that regulate appetite and metabolism. 

Trade Secrets – Draft EU documents reveal trade agenda with U.S.

Transparency and trade negotiations don’t seem to go together these days. Recent revelations in Spiegel disclosed that the U.S.

Trade deal to undermine health, environmental standards

Closed-door trade negotiations on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), set to begin July 8, could significantly lower health and environmental protections as EU and U.S. negotiators work to “harmonize” standards as part of the agreement. A group of 34 family farm, consumer, faith, public health, development and environment organizations from the U.S.

“Two Converging Rivers”: Understanding Shuanghui’s acquisition of Smithfield

Two Converging Rivers—That’s what Shuanghui means in Chinese, apparently. It seems appropriate when we look at the scale at which both Shuanghui and Smithfield operate in their respective countries.

Letter to President Obama from 795 health professionals regarding antibiotics

June 4, 2013 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Obama:

Shuanghui acquires Smithfield: The view from China (part one)

The announcement last week of a bid by China’s Shuanghui International to acquire Smithfield Foods Incorporated came midway through my research trip to Beijing for IATP’s initiative on the globalization of industrial meat production. The responses to the news from back home have been all over the map, albeit fairly predictable. But what are they saying in China?

FDA ignores toxic arsenic in animal feed

Washington, D.C., May 1, 2013 – Today attorneys at Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed a lawsuit on behalf of CFS, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and seven other U.S.

Work in a poultry plant? The good news is you still have a job, the bad news is it may be killing you

Earlier this spring, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) was in the news because of a threat that the agency’s 8000+ inspectors would be furloughed as part of

New petition asks FDA to prohibit yet another unnecessary antibiotic use

WASHINGTON, D.C. – According to a petition submitted today to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), antibiotic use in ethanol production is illegal, unnecessary and adds to the catastrophic public health threat from antibiotic-resistant infections in humans.

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