Beware & Protect Yourself 03 (Sep 10 - Dec 14)

[winston]

Hiding Objects Within the Home by M. Roberts
The Survivalist Blog

http://lewrockwell.com/rep3/hiding-objects-in-home.html

[winston]

Calbee pulls potato chips over glass shards

Snack food maker Calbee Inc, which sells its products also in Hong Kong, said today it was recalling 5.3 million bags of potato crisps in Japan after fragments of glass were found.

The company said the recall would affect only the domestic market and comes after it received two complaints from consumers.

The glass pieces were mixed with the food after a protection shield on a production line broke at its plant in Shiga, western Japan, the company said.

Calbee sells its brands in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States.


Source: The Standard HK

[winston]

Dangers of mixing grapefruit with drugs rises

The number of drugs when mixed with grapefruit that can lead to serious health problems, including sudden death, has skyrocketed, warns a Canadian researcher who first discovered the toxic link.

http://www.france24.com/en/20121127-dan ... rugs-rises

[winston]

Banned drug in slimming product

The Department of Health today urged the public not to buy or consume a slimming product named "Aulura Energy Balance Dietary Supplement" as it may contain undeclared and banned drug ingredients that are dangerous to health.

A 19-year-old female patient -- who had a history of consuming the above slimming product -- has been treated in Queen Elizabeth Hospital on November 19 because of having psychiatric symptoms of tactile hallucination, according to the department.

"A drug-related adverse effect was suspected," a spokesman said.

Laboratory tests on the product sample showed the presence of two undeclared and banned Western medicines, namely sibutramine and phenolphthalein, the department noted.


Source: The Standard HK

[winston]

Hong Kong issues public warning after suspected 'puffer fish' poisoning

Health officials with the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health in Hong Kong are advising the public not to consume puffer fish following a suspected case of the dangerous poisoning, according to a CHP news release Dec. 4.

http://www.examiner.com/article/hong-ko ... -poisoning

[winston]

Bottled Drinks

Are you a man who drinks bottled water?

Although bottled water may seem like a healthy alternative to tap water on the outside, a recent German study revealed a dark secret that could be sabotaging your manhood.

Here's why...

Two German scientists from the Department of Aquatic Ecotoxicology in Frankfurt, Germany, were curious of commercial bottled waters contained toxic "xenoestrogens" that could affect male hormones.

Xenoestrogens are a synthetic form of the female hormone, estrogen, and have been identified as a major contributor to male hormone problems, such as:

* Low testosterone
* "Performance" problems in the bedroom
* Increased fat (especially around the chest and belly)

In the study, scientists studied commercially sold water bottled in either glass, plastic, or composite (paperboard with plastic coating) containers.

Their findings were very troubling...

A whopping 78 percent of all water that was contained in plastic bottles contained significant traces of estrogen contamination.

That means that if you're a man who drinks bottled water, chances are you're consuming trace amounts of female hormones with every sip you take.

The bottom line is that the more female hormones you consume, the more danger you face in becoming "estrogen dominant" and slowly destroying your ability to naturally produce testosterone.

This is one of the reasons why low testosterone syndrome (also known as "andropause" or "male menopause") is at epidemic proportions in our society and only getting worse.

How can you avoid this?

Well, staying away from water and other beverages that are held in plastic bottles (including composite paperboard with plastic lining) is a good start.

Source: ETR

[winston]

Oolong tea recalled over pesticide residue

Japanese food company Ito En issued a huge recall of Chinese-grown tea after some of it was found to contain illegal levels of pesticide residue.

The company said it was recalling about 400,000 packages of Oolong tea after spot testing revealed pesticide residue levels above Japanese food safety limits. Ito En said it started testing the tea from Fujian province after another Japanese teamaker announced last month it had found similarly high pesticide levels in its China-sourced tea, AFP reports.

“We found the higher levels of pesticide residue after conducting voluntary tests following another company's announcement about Oolong teabags,'' an Ito En spokesman said. But he insisted the findings were not an imminent health risk, adding that there were no complaints from customers.

The spokesman said the tea had passed sample testing in China.

Ito En said it may strengthen its testing of the traditional-style Oolong tea and has sent company officials to China to investigate the matter. “We will suspend sales of the relevant products until we find out the cause.’’
The tea under recall has expiry dates from mid to late November 2013.

Source: AFP

[winston]

Food officials probe plant over gutter oil racket by Candy Chan

A Kwai Chung oil manufacturer is being investigated for allegedly mixing cooking oil with gutter oil and selling the product to local restaurants.

Food inspectors entered the Wing Hing oil plant in Wing Kin Industrial Building yesterday afternoon and collected three samples for testing.

They visited 13 restaurants that reportedly get their cooking oil from Wing Hing, and also Beidahuang Rice Industry group in Tuen Mun, which supplies the alleged rogue manufacturer.

The inspection was prompted by a newspaper report that the plant was selling swill-cooked dirty oil which contains benzo(a)pyrene - an agent that has been linked with cancer.

The report said Wing Hing bought oil from Beidahuang at a wholesale price of HK$16.25 per catty and resold it to restaurants at HK$7.50 to HK$8 per catty.

The newspaper alleged the price was low because the oil is mixed with gutter oil.

Ko Wing-man, secretary for food and health, said the government will not tolerate any food that contains harmful substances.

Chan King-ming, associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong department of biochemistry and environmental science, assisted in testing the oil and confirmed it contained three times the amount of benzo(a)pyrene suggested by the European Union.

"The harmful substances can cause stomach cancer and affect the liver," Chan said.

A Beidahuang official, who did not give his name, said "businessman should have a good heart and should not harm people."

He added: "I will definitely not sell our product anymore."

Ng Wai-kuen, the owner of Kuen Fat Restaurant, said he will stop using the oil.

"We are old customers. We bought oil from [Wing Hing] not because of the [low] price," Ng said.

The owner of Wing Hing could not be reached for comment last night.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department confirmed that 12 restaurants, including Kuen Fat, have stopped using the oil bought from Wing Hing. Another restaurant was closed for renovation.

Source: The Standard HK

[winston]

Grapefruits

The grapefruit connection isn't news.

As I've told you before, a chemical in grapefruit juice creates problems with some drugs. The chemical boosts absorption. That can prompt serious problems.

As a pharmacologist told CBS News, taking a single pill with grapefruit juice is like taking 20 pills with water.

Statins and blood pressure drugs are among the most common drugs that interact with grapefruit juice. But a new report from Canada warns that the number of drugs on the list has expanded from 17 to 43 in just four years.

No doubt, that's a concern. But it was a side note in the CBS report that really jumped out...

A drug expert told the BBC that people need to be more aware of bad interactions between foods and drugs. "For example, milk can stop the absorption of some antibiotics if taken simultaneously."

Well THAT seems like kind of a big deal!

And yet, the report just mentions it in passing. As if milk and antibiotics were so rare they would hardly ever be combined.

I checked the BBC website. Same thing. Just a passing mention. But a little more digging produced a shock.

Tetracycline is the antibiotic. It also happens to be one of the most widely used antibiotics in the world!

Imagine how many people on tetracycline pop their morning pill and then dig into a bowl of cereal.

So the next time a pharmacist asks if you have any questions about a prescription ...


Source: HSI

[winston]

Beef

Now we have one more GREAT reason to avoid almost all grocery store beef.

Most of this meat comes from cows that eat grains instead of grass. Cows don't care what they eat, apparently. But it makes a big difference on your dinner plate.

For years, I've been telling you about the benefits of eating beef from grass-fed cows. The meat contains significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients. It's also less likely that ranchers have fattened these animals with antibiotics and hormones.

They're also less likely to have developed a taste for Cap'n Crunch.

The Institute for Natural Healing reports that many ranchers have started feeding candy, kids' cereal, marshmallows and other sweets to livestock.

The reason is pretty simple. And pretty sad. It's all about money. Corn costs more than $300 per ton. Assorted treats for cattle... $160 per ton.

So instead of feeding the cattle corn, they're feeding the cattle high fructose corn syrup.

I'm going to go out on a limb and make a prediction... This can't end well.


Source: HSI