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According to an Associated Press story, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that some chicken meat may contain small amounts of arsenic, though the agency is stressing that the amount is too tiny to be dangerous to people who eat it.

Most Americans remain blissfully unaware (or don’t care) they are eating genetically-modified (GM) organisms every day. Passivity and blind faith in the USDA, FDA and EPA have largely contributed to this attitude. Perhaps that will change now that a GMO Study reveals an insecticide produced in GM corn actually gets absorbed into the human body. 

According to the U.S. government, the BP oil spill is old news and the Gulf of Mexico is fine. The FDA announced back in August 2010 that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico was safe to eat, and it was seemingly business as usual. Now, a pnj.com article reports that scientists and fishermen are finding an alarming number of fish from this area “with skin lesions, fin rot, spots, liver blood clots and other health problems.”

Last Wednesday, the FDA released details on the agency’s first new rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The FDA now has the authority to detain food products for 30 days simply because it has “reason to believe” they pose a threat to food safety. Signed into law by President Obama this past January, the FSMA gave the FDA new authority to oversee facilities that grow and sell the nation’s produce, including the power to issue mandatory food recalls. As we have seen the FDA’s overzealous raids on raw dairy farms even prior to the enactment of the FSMA, this raises concerns for increased abuse of power.

If you are not actively avoiding genetically-modified foods (GMOs), you are eating them every day. GMOs are in roughly 80 percent of packaged foods sold in the U.S. and Canada, according the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Studies indicate serious health risks are associated with GMO consumption, including infertility, accelerated aging, organ damage and birth defects. Want to know more? 

Think your BPA-free plastic water bottle is safe? A study in Environmental Health Perspectives shows that most of today’s plastics are still leaching hormone-like chemicals.

Just a few years ago, BPA was all over the news because it was revealed that the chemical mimics estrogen. Many plastic food containers contained BPA in the formulation, and studies showed this chemical leached into the contents over time. Companies rushed to replace their plastic formulations with new chemicals, many them with lesser-known effects.

It is still unknown the effects of these small amounts of estrogen-like chemicals on the human body, as most tests have been done on mice and lab rats. The study does not look into this, but focuses on revealing their presence in the products we purchase.

Superweeds, a side-effect of growing Roundup-Ready genetically modified (GM) crops, are a growing problem. Roundup-Ready crops, engineered to tolerate weedkiller, are the most popular variety of GM crop today. However, many native weeds have evolved their own defense to weedkiller and now occupy 10 million acres of US farmland. Despite this issue being a direct result of growing GM crops, the Obama administration and USDA recently made it clear, they firmly stand beside biotechnology.

High-fructose corn syrup has been under siege lately and the Corn Refiners Association is desperate to do something about it. Companies have been advertising their products with the statement “high fructose corn syrup-free” and the CRA recently lobbied the FDA to allow a name change. In a desperate move that will only reflect badly on all parties involved, the Corn Refiners Association hired Mom Central and a few dozen mom bloggers to assist in rebuilding the tarnished name.

There are so many aspects of the GMO debate, one might find oneself at a loss for where to start. There are studies indicating GMOs cause organ damage and infertility. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine released a paper showing more than a causal association between GMOs and adverse health effects.

According to the AAEM,

several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food consumption including infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis, insulin regulation, cell signaling, and protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen and gastrointestinal system.

Then there is the issue of GM crops contaminating neighboring farmer’s fields through cross-pollination. These are all issues that the biotech giants want to sweep under the rug while cheerfully touting that their seeds will save the world. Biotech has had a good run over the past ten years, it promised farmers an easy way to grow crops with higher yields. It did deliver, for a time, but now farmers are beginning to see the promise of a quick fix was not without repercussions.

No, that’s not strawberry ice cream you’re looking at. The pink goo in this picture is on it’s way to getting breaded to become delicious chicken nuggets and patties.