Organic Products that Contain Unapproved Additives are the Source of Controversy

Written by Max Goldberg on March 28, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

When I was at the Expo West trade show recently, I came across Horizon Organic Milk with DHA Omega-3 and was impressed at first glance. I thought to myself that this looks like a pretty interesting dairy product.

Yet several days after returning back to NYC and just as I was about to write a post about this organic milk, I received an email from The Cornucopia Institute, a watchdog for the organic industry.

The Cornucopia Institute has condemned the USDA for allowing products containing unapproved synthetic additives (DHA Omega-3, as one of them) to be labeled “organic” for an indefinite grace period.

Furthermore, The Cornucopia Institute has filed legal complaints against infant formula manufacturers and Dean Foods, manufacturer of Horizon dairy products, for adding unapproved additives: Martek Biosciences Corporation’s omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (DHA/ARA), derived chemically from fermented algae and fungus, to foods with the organic label. Read More »

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The New York Times’ Article on NYC School Lunches is Revealing

Written by Max Goldberg on March 8, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

School lunch is a major topic of discussion these days. Whether it is Michelle Obama fighting against childhood obesity, Jamie Oliver on TV with his Food Revolution show or the anonymous educator on Twitter (@fedupwithlunch) who takes pictures of school food, people have come to understand that this issue can no longer be ignored.

If I had children and sent them to NYC public schools, I shudder to think what they would be served at lunch.

Well, the New York Times recently did an article on this very subject and revealed quite a bit. Read More »

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Top 5 Organic Food Tips for Pregnant Women and New Mothers

Written by Max Goldberg on March 1, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

Even though I do not have any children or a pregnant wife (or a wife, for that matter), I give a tremendous amount of thought as to how I would feed my kids.

And given that many of my friends are now pregnant or already have young kids, it is interesting to observe how these parents make decisions about food.

The one thing that I notice is that organic food becomes much more of a priority when children come into the picture.

For many people out there who are completely new to this area and don’t know where to begin, these are are my Top 5 Organic Food Tips for Pregnant Women and New Mothers.

1) Start Now — While You Are Pregnant This is the biggest mistake I see — women don’t start early enough.

I come across many mothers who are very enthusiastic and adamant about feeding their kids organic food. Read More »

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Federal Court Overturns Ohio Ban on rBGH Milk Labels, A Win for Organics and Consumers

Written by Max Goldberg on October 7, 2010. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

Until recently, the State of Ohio had a ban on all milk labels which contained statements saying that the milk inside did not contain bovine growth hormones. So, a milk that did not have growth hormones COULD NOT SAY that it did not have growth hormones. That was completely illegal.

More precisely, the phrases “rbGH Free,” “rbST Free” and “artificial hormone free” were banned.

rBGH and rBST are commonly known as recombinant bovine growth hormones.  Approved by the FDA in 1993, they are given to cows to make the animals grow faster and produce more milk.

rGBH elevates the levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a naturally-occurring hormone that in high levels is linked to several types of cancers, among other things. European nations and Canada have banned rGBH milk because of the dangerous side effects of IGF-1. As I have written about before, organic milk is absolutely essential.

Fortunately, a federal court recently overturned a district court’s ruling, which said the labels could not be used. The district court concluded that consumers would somehow be misled and consumers would get confused.

The only thing consumers would get confused about was how and why the growth hormones were in there in the first place. Read More »

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Top 5 Organic Food Trends for 2010

Written by Max Goldberg on January 4, 2010. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

edible flower photo

I just knew that the hundreds and hundreds of hours I have spent roaming the aisles of supermarkets and studying menus at organic restaurants would come in handy one day.

But, I had no idea that it would lead to me writing this post.  So, here it goes….

1) More and More Coconuts

Coconuts have taken on much more prominence as of late.  A bunch of ice creams, including Luna and Larry’s Organic Coconut Bliss and Purely Decadent, have coconuts as their central ingredient.  Energy bars, such as those from Raw Revolution, have used them in their products for a while.

In terms of organic coconuts, this is what I foresee.

Organic coconut water: Coconut water is a hot trend in the beverage world right now.  Some people consider coconut water to be the ultimate post-workout drink because it contains electrolytes.

However, nearly all of those boxes of coconut water that are flying off the shelves in the supermarkets are not organic.  It is only a matter of time before we see a shift to organic. Read More »

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