Bill would warn public of mood-altering drugs in water

Arkansas News, Jan. 24, 2011

LITTLE ROCK — A bill filed today by a freshman state legislator seeks disclosure of additives in public drinking water, including mood-altering drugs.

Rep. Loy Mauch, R-Bismarck, filed House Bill 1205, which would require the operators of public water systems to disclose information about any chemicals additives in drinking water, including their chemical composition.

The bill states that such regulation is necessary in part because “public policy discussions of the prospects of adding lithium to the public water to alter human mood imbalances, and statin drugs to affect human cholesterol … have increased.”

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Is lunch to blame for student behavior?

coastalcourier.com, Jan. 12, 2011

According to the Feingold Association’s research, many schools in the United States serve a stew of synthetic chemicals (most of them made from petroleum) that have been shown to trigger behavior, learning and health problems. Not only are these factory foods overpriced, they are responsible for many of the troubling symptoms that are so expensive for schools to address, Hersey said. In 1979-1983, when the New York City school system removed additives like food dyes and artificial flavors, they found that test scores of all the students rose from the 39th to the 55th percentile.

Schools can continue to use processed foods if they want, but simply switch to those versions that don’t have the Red 40, Yellow 5 and other petrochemicals, the director suggests. They don’t need to buy meat dishes that are loaded with high fructose corn syrup and MSG.

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Natural Extracts Can Cut Chemical Additives in Food Processing

Newswise, Nov. 12, 2010

Extracts from natural sources such as green tea, grape seed and bacteriocins such as nisin could be alternatives for food processors instead of chemicals as a means of protecting against pathogen contamination.

“There has been increasing evidence on the antimicrobial activities of the extracts from culinary ingredients such as green tea, grape seed and spices against foodborne pathogens,” Navam Hettiarachchy said.

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