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An Illegal Fungicide Found in Conventional Orange Juice – Another Reason to Buy Organic

Stories about the toxicity of our food supply just keep rolling in.

As I wrote about recently, numerous samples of conventional apple juice were found to have unsafe and illegal levels of arsenic. And now orange juice is having its own set of problems.

Coca-Cola, which makes Minute Maid and Simply Orange, reported to the FDA on December 28th that some Brazilian growers of oranges that are used in the company’s juices and those of its competitors had sprayed their trees with carbendazim, a toxic fungicide.

As a result, the FDA temporarily halted all shipments of imported orange juice while it conducts field tests. Products already on supermarket shelves that have “low levels” of carbendazim (80 parts per billion) may still be sold.

According to CitrusBR, an export trade association, Brazil produces approximately 1/6th of all orange juice consumed in the U.S.

While it is legal in Brazil, carbendazim is not approved for use on oranges in the U.S., as per the Environmental Protection Agency.

Studies have shown that high levels of carbendazim cause fertility problems in laboratory animals. Carbendazim has been banned on fruit trees in Australia and is banned in Europe.

MY TAKE

A few things.

1) While it was very noble of Coca-Cola to self-report these findings, why didn’t the FDA catch any of this?

Well, as it turns out, the agency doesn’t test for carbendazim because it has never been deemed a risk to human health, according to Bloomberg.

2) This is just another reason why people need to be buying organic.

Are even low levels” of carbendazim allowed on organic oranges? No.

Under USDA organic regulations, no synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fungicides are permitted.

3) I am just not buying into these claims that low levels of toxic chemicals are not harmful to human health.

The issue is that humans, quite often babies and young children, are repeatedly and continuously exposed to these low levels. And these low levels accumulate in the body and become high levels.

Hence, that is where there the real problem lies.

4) As consumers, we have to take responsibility for our health because it is clear that our government is incapable of doing it for us.

And the safest, most nutritious food that we can be buying for our families is organic.

—-

Please forward this post to anyone that is still buying conventional orange juice.

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Could Regenerative Organic Coffee Farming be the Key to Reversing Deforestation in Peru?

Nestled in the heart of the mountains in the Andean Paramos region of Peru, there are 182 families who entirely depend on coffee cultivation for their livelihood.

Unfortunately, coffee rust – a fungus also known as “La Roya” — has devastated the coffee trees of 64 of these families, leading to catastrophic economic losses for hundreds of people.

With coffee production their only way to make a living and provide for their families, they have had no choice but to search for nearby land which has not been infected by coffee rust. While this is giving these families a financial lifeline, it has also resulted in the destruction of forests in the region, a territory that cannot that cannot afford this type of displacement.

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Living Maxwell

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Pure Rooms – Setting a New Standard for Healthy Traveling

For those of us who are extremely committed to health and wellness, the reality is that maintaining this lifestyle is very difficult when traveling.

At home, we have much greater control over our environment, but we lose that control when we go on the road, regardless of how aesthetically pleasing the living conditions may be.

Fortunately, the world is starting to change, and there are now businesses entirely focused on meeting the needs of the wellness-minded traveler.

One such company that I recently discovered is Pure Wellness, whose main offering is a Pure Room — a hotel room unlike anything I have seen before.

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Want to Learn More About the Vegan Ketogenic Diet? If So, You’ll Definitely Want This Book

Everywhere you turn these days, you’ll find news and stories about the ketogenic diet.

This low-carb, high-fat, high-protein diet is helping people lose weight and giving them much needed mental clarity.

However, one of the misconceptions of the keto diet is that animal products are an essential component of it. And for people who only eat plant-based, this can be quite disconcerting.

Along with her co-author Nicole Derseweh, my good friend Whitney Lauritsen — also widely known as the EcoVegan Gal — has just come out with a fantastic book called The Vegan Ketogenic Diet Cookbook, and it is a phenomenal resource for people looking to explore this lifestyle.

Not only does it clear up a lot of the confusion about the keto diet requiring the consumption of animal products, but it provides 75 delicious recipes. And when I was sent an early version of the book, I literally read it cover-to-cover in one sitting. I was that impressed by it.

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