DUE TO HIGH ARSENC LEVELS, FDA WARNS PARENTS TO AVOID INFANT RICE CEREAL

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was taking steps to limit the amount of inorganic arsenic found in infant rice cereal, a main source of arsenic exposure in infants.

The agency released a draft guidance to the industry that would cap inorganic arsenic levels at 100 parts per billion (ppb). Most cereals already meet that limit, or come close to it.

The agency is directing the industry to seek out rice sources that have the smallest amount of inorganic arsenic to use in its cereal products, according to Susan Mayne, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. [1]

Said Mayne:

“Our actions are driven by our duty to protect the public health and our careful analysis of the data and the emerging science. The proposed limit is a prudent and achievable step to reduce exposure to arsenic among infants.” [2]

http://naturalsociety.com/fda-proposes-limit-inorganic-arsenic-infant-rice-cereal-7156/

 

Robert Kraft says he sent Roger Goodell a letter asking for Patriots’ first-round pick back

Robert Kraft apparently has forgotten his stated intention of not continuing the “dialogue and rhetoric” about Deflategate.

More than 10 months after announcing he would not appeal the NFL’s decision to fine his team and take away its first- and fourth-round draft picks in the aftermath of the scandal, the Patriots owner told reporters Monday that he sent a letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell in February asking for the 2016 first-round pick back.

“I personally wrote a letter to the commissioner, responding to his comment that if any new facts came up he would take them into consideration,” Kraft said at the NFL owners’ meeting in Boca Raton, Fla. “And I personally believe that when the league made their decision, they did not factor in the Ideal Gas Law. They admitted that publicly. They’ve had a full year of being able to observe Tom Brady play with all the rules of whatever the NFL was and make any judgments there.

“We have laid it out pretty straightforward, and now it’s up to them to decide.”

Kraft would not say if he had gotten a response from Goodell but stated “I pray and desire” that his team will end up getting its first-round pick back.

“In this age of parity, everything is — the scheduling, the salary cap — it’s very hard to compete without the lifeblood of the draft. And so we understand the importance, and I assure we’ve done everything we can do that has a chance of success.”

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-robert-kraft-deflategate-20160321-story.html

Pentagon criticizes Obama’s plan to open Atlantic coast to drilling

The Obama administration is reworking its plan to open the southern Atlantic coast to offshore oil exploration because of strong opposition from the Pentagon, which says the activity could hurt military maneuvers and interfere with missile tests the Navy relies on to protect the coast.

Early this week, Interior Department officials from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management expect to release an update of its draft proposal to lease federal waters to oil and gas companies off the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. That update will reflect the military’s concerns, officials say.

The Pentagon confirmed Sunday that it provided an assessment of Interior’s map for oil exploration on the coastal outer shelf “that identifies locations . . . areas where the [Defense’s] offshore readiness activities are not compatible, partially compatible or minimally impacted by oil and gas activities,” according to spokesman Matthew Allen.