Curiously Awesome

A Michigan dairy has been illegally selling antibiotic-ridden dairy cows to be processed for human consumption–for past eight years.

Scenic View Dairy of Hamilton, Michigan, is the subject of a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the FDA for selling beef that tested positive for illegal levels of neomycin, penicillin and sulfadimethoxine. The FDA is seeking a permanent injunction against the dairy.

The FDA has warned the dairy at least eight times about unsafe levels of antibiotics in its beef.

It remains unknown to what extent the tainted meat has affected the public.

The USDA does not regulate the safety of eggs. USDA “graders” observe eggs at egg packing plants to ensure they are the proper size and color.

The FDA is in charge of ensuring the quality and safety of eggs. In light of the massive egg recall, the FDA has not been performing its job.

The “Grade A” seal on egg cartons is optional. Many companies do not even participate in this program. Others do participate in order to sell their eggs for more money.

Basically, the seal is a meaningless ploy that tricks consumers into thinking that these eggs are superior to other eggs without the seal.

Much of the fluoride added to municipal water supplies is imported from China and is contaminated with heavy metals.

Fluoride tested in Boulder, CO was found to contain lead levels of 40 milligrams per bag and arsenic levels of 50 milligrams per bag. The bags were imported from China under no regulatory monitoring.

Heavy metal contamination is only one concern over the practice of water fluoridation. Fluoride is a well-known toxic chemical.

Fluoride toothpaste shows a warning that anyone who consumes more than a pea-size amount must contact a poison control center. This amount of toothpaste contains as much fluoride as just eight ounces of fluoridated water.

BPA may increase the risk of asthma in children, according to a recent study.

BPA is a chemical often used in the manufacture of hard, clear plastics like water and baby bottles. You will also find BPA in resins used to line cans of food, beverages and infant formula. Exposure to BPA has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, heart disease, birth defects, and hormonal issues. BPA use in products for young children has been banned in many countries as well as in three U.S. states.

Researchers gave pregnant mice BPA for a week before they gave birth to create a similar BPA level in the mice as pregnant U.S. women have. After the mice babies were born, the researchers exposed the pups of these mice to a common allergy inducer. They then compared responses of mice who had not been exposed to BPA in utero to the mice who had been exposed. They found a greater asthma reaction in the BPA-exposed mice.

A 16-year-old girl lost nearly all of her vision ten days after receiving the second course of her vaccine against HPV. The HPV vaccine is designed to prevent infection by the viruses responsible for cervical cancer and genital warts cases.

The girl who developed a headache on the left side of her head and began to lose vision in her right eye. Over the next 48 hours, the pain spread across her head and she started losing sight in her left eye also.

Physical examinations showed demyelination in her brain and along her optic nerves. When demyelination occurs, the protective myelin sheath around nerve cells degrades. This leads to interrupted nerve signaling.

1.5 years later, the teenager’s vision has not improved.

Does ionizing radiation a cause of breast cancer? Cornell experts say “Yes” and go on to say:

“.. female breast tissue is highly susceptible to radiation effects.”

Then in the next breath they say:

“should not be a factor in individual decisions to undergo this procedure (mammography). The same is true for most diagnostic x-ray procedures.”

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered that radiation exposure can change cells’ microenvironment. This increases the odds that future cells will become cancerous.

The reason: signals from a cell’s microenvironment (when altered by radiation exposure) can cause a cell’s phenotype to change the way a cell uses its genes. The result can be a cell that becomes pre-cancerous AND passes this pre-cancerous condition on to future cells.

Breast reduction operations are becoming rapidly more popular among men. The surgeries increased 80 percent between 2008 and 2009. In 2004, only 22 male breast reductions were performed.

Breast reduction is the fourth most common form of male cosmetic surgery in the US, trailing nose jobs, eyelid surgery and liposuction.

Excess mammary tissue in men can be caused by a variety of underlying conditions including obesity, breast cancer and even the use of illegal or prescription drugs.

Men’s boobs go up and down in size as they gain or lose weight, just as a woman’s does. If a man is a pot smoker and is overweight, just changing his ifestyle might mean he wouldn’t need to have a breast reduction.

Recently the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its unconstitutional ban on the interstate sale of raw milk.

In 1987 when the FDA first restricted interstate raw milk sales, they did this reluctantly because of a court ruling prompted by a consumer group.

The FDA and USDA have shifted their tactics in recent years as well. They now target consumers who purchase raw milk instead of the farmers who sell it. In Georgia recently, officials forced a man to destroy 110 gallons of raw milk that he was delivering to customers who had already paid for them.

The basis of the case is that the FDA is overstepping its constitutional bounds by banning interstate raw milk sales. When customers travel to nearby states to purchase raw milk legally and then cross the border back into their home state where sales are illegal, they are forced to break the FDA’s rules.

The British National Health Service is giving shopping vouchers (worth roughly $70) to girls who get the vaccine. Parental consent is not necessary for girls to participate.

Many governments are now pushing Gardasil on young girls through national campaigns that are designed to scare and entice women into getting the vaccine.

Gardasil is not even effective at preventing the HPV virus in the first place. According to many experts, the vaccine does little to reduce cervical cancer rates.

Merck (manufacturer of Gardasil) has been working diligently to get the vaccine mandated for all young girls. Most recently Merck is even targeting young boys (who do not have cervixes!).

The federal law regulating tap water hasn’t been updated in so long that more than one-fifth of the U.S. population is consuming tap water that the government classifies as toxic. Yet this water is still approved for human consumption.

More than 60,000 chemicals are used in the US each year and the majority are not tested for human safety. The Safe Water Drinking Act regulates 91 assorted toxins. Many of these regulations haven’t been updated for almost 30 years. The law does not consider newer findings about some chemicals being more toxic in combination than separately. Not one chemical has been added to the law since 2000.

New consensus is that numerous chemicals are more dangerous than previously thought. Even so, the EPA still gives them a clean bill of health.