My Organic Day » News

Toxins in my veggie burger? No thanks.

Christine — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:37:52 +0000

As a vegetarian for over 20 years, I’m appalled to learn that vegetarian soy products and veggie burgers have been disguised as “natural” when in fact they are laced with a toxin called hexane according to a recent Cornucopia report.

What is hexane? It is a neurotoxin, listed as a “hazardous air pollutant” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This report is full of disturbing information, including the lack of oversight by the FDA and EPA in these foods products.The long term effects of hexane have not yet been documented. According to the Cornucopia report, in conventional food processing, soybeans are immersed in what the industry calls a “hexane bath” before they are further processed into ingredients such as oil, soy protein isolate, or texturized soy protein (TVP). The soy protein ingredients in most nonorganic foods such as vegetarian burgers and nutrition bars are processed with the use of hexane. It is not used in organic food processing.

How do you know which products are hexane free? In general, organic tofu products do not have hexane. However, there are a few exceptions of organic soy products that do have hexane. Here is a comprehensive scorecard, and a short summary of conventional veggie burgers and soy meat like products:

Avoid these hexane-laced veggie burgers and soy products:

Amy’s Kitchen
Boca Burger, conventional
Franklin Farms
Garden Burger
It’s All Good Lightlife
Morningstar Farms
President’s Choice
Taste Above
Trader Joe’s
Yves Veggie Cuisine

Products that are hexane-free:

Boca Burgers “Made with organic soy”
Helen’s Kitchen
Morningstar “Made with organic”
Superburgers by Turtle Island
Tofurky
Wildwood

In a future blog post, we’ll evaluate energy bars and infant formula (unfortunately, infant food has hexane too). Ironically, the way I found out about this hexane problem was researching the best organic infant formula for my baby. Stay tuned.

Check out Sigg bottles – non toxic and recylable

Christine — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:52:30 +0000

Many of my friends have started to use Sigg bottles. From Switzerland and made to last, these bottles exceed FDA requirements on preventing harmful chemicals from getting through and have been thoroughly tested to ensure 0.0% leaching.

They are also recyclable, made of alunimum, and trendy, a great combination. But most importantly, Sigg alunimum bottles provide an alternative to the toxic Lexan plastics that Nalgene is made out of. A Canadian outdoor gear company, Mountain Equipment Co-op has pulled all of its Nalgene bottles off its shelves for that reason. The claim is that Nalgene bottles have the chemical, Bisphenol A in the plastic behind it is made out of. I think I’ll start putting my Nalgene bottles away.

Study shows organic tomatoes have twice the amount of flavanoids

Christine — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 01:01:00 +0000

According to the The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, organic tomatoes are twice as high in flavanoids as conventional tomatoes. Flavanoids are used as a deterrent against heart disease. In this study, organic and conventional tomatoes were compared over a ten year period. The organic tomatoes’ flavanoid levels increased over time. Scientists attribute the higher quality of organic foods to the healthier soil on organic farms. Go organic tomatoes!

Whole Foods CEO gets caught using psuedonym on Yahoo Finance

Christine — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:10:00 +0000

Unbelievable. The New York Times has reported that the head of Whole Foods, John Mackey is being investigated by the FTC for creating a fictitious alias on Yahoo Finance, called Rahodeb. Under his alias the last seven years, he insulted the Wild Oats Market, a natural foods retailer that Whole Foods wants to acquire, and made other very strange comments. Check out w hat John Mackey wrote in Yahoo Finance . If this is true, there is potential that Whole Foods can get in a lot of trouble.

Whole Soy organic yogurt food recall

Christine — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 22:31:00 +0000

Warning! This is unfortunate news, but a local San Francisco yogurt company, Whole Soy, is recalling its products after some customers had allergic reactions to its products. Specifically, they are recalling all Blueberry Soy Yogurt with UPC code 664372600086 and all Mixed Berry Soy Yogurt with UPC code 664372600222 in six-ounce containers with “best by” dates of June 22 and June 29. They are recalling the products because of they may contain trace amounts of milk, casein or dairy derivatives. Whole Soy has posted a phone number if you have any questions: (877) 569-6376.

Whales in the Bay

Christine — Tue, 29 May 2007 22:50:00 +0000

You may have heard of the two whales that swam all the way from the Pacific ocean via the San Francisco Bay into the Sacramento River delta. Now scientists and crews are on a mission to make sure the two wayward whales are heading back to healthier ocean water in the Pacific. The whales have made some progress returning towards the ocean. Below is a map from the San Francisco Chronicle which details the whales’ journey. Let’s hope for their safe return back into the ocean!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Christine — Thu, 17 May 2007 16:04:00 +0000

As I was driving home last night, I turned on the radio and listened to KQED’s forum. Michael Krasney was speaking to authors of a new book, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” which portrays how a family moved to a Virgina farm and ate local or homegrown food for one year. Co-authors Barbara Kingsolver and Steven Hopp talk about their changes in eating, how to find local, organic foods, and how to save money on their food. On the air, the authors disparaged getting fresh tomatoes in the winter from South America and how green tomatoes are unnaturally gassed with ethylene to become red which loses lycopene nutrients. They helped callers identify local markets through directories like Local Harvest. It’s worth listening to this conversation on your computer or as an mp3 onto your iPod.

Pet food contamination spreads to meat consumed by humans

Christine — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:40:00 +0000

According to a Washington Post article, at least 2.5 million broiler chickens from an Indiana producer were fed pet food scraps contaminated with the chemical melamine and subsequently sold for human consumption, federal health officials reported from the FDA. Although the article doesn’t mention any human deaths caused by the consumption of this harmful chemical, it is still alarming. Even though I am vegetarian, it makes sense for omnivores to find meats that are organic and locally farmed that contain as few chemicals as possible or try to decrease meat consumption.

Update from Digital Be-In: Biomimicy, Earth Day Event in San Francisco

Christine — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 17:43:00 +0000

What happens when you mix the founder of Burning Man, the founder of Odwalla, scientists, techies, organic farmers and JP Morgan as a sponsor? You get Digital Be-In: an artsy event with speakers, organic food and a party. Over 10 speakers came, with booths, drinks, and later a big party. It was definitely an eclectic mix; I couldn’t see that well in the dark, but about 200 people came to hear the speakers, and more were entering. Urth.tv did a live broadcast of the event on the internet. Here were some interesting things I saw:

The first public unveiling of Wiser Earth, a nonprofit social networking site focused on activism and issues, very similar to Care2.com. It already has a community going and active membership.

Urban Alliance for Sustainability, a nonprofit that focuses on environmental sustainability and building communities, was selling the Green Zebra, SF based coupon book. I took a look inside the book, and it was full of coupons from green businesses like natural food, yoga, spas, and travel. Here’s an example of a coupon inside from one of my favorite places to shop for groceries:

I bought the book for $25, and I know that I’ll already use several coupons inside that payoff the initial fee. If you’re in San Francisco or go often, I recommend buying this. But if you live outside of the city or don’t come often to the city, it won’t be worth it for you.

Other interesting talks included Autodesk’s sustainability design consulting, a group that helps design large scale things like buildings and PAX Scientific, a green research and development tech group.

To be honest, I’m not sure whether I’d go next year, I think the Green Festival and other conferences are a little more organized, but this is definitely a good attempt to get more people in the Bay Area aware of environmental issues by making it fun.

Wall Street Journal’s view on buying organic

Christine — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:59:00 +0000

I had a friend, Justin, forward me this article from today’s Wall Street Journal on buying organic food. It’s very similar to what I have read in the past from Consumer Reports and other consumer groups. Below is a set of buying guidelines the article recommends.

To buy…

Apples, peaches, bell peppers, strawberries, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce, potatoes, carrots:
Conventional versions have higher levels of pesticides than other produce, although still well within safe limits.
Milk and dairy products: Free of the growth hormones that are given to conventionally raised cows.
Meat and poultry: Free of growth hormones and antibiotics. Baby food: Free of pesticide residues found in vegetables and fruits.…
and foods you eat a lot of.

Or not to buy…

Broccoli, bananas, frozen sweet peas, frozen corn, asparagus, avocados, onions: Levels of pesticides are low even in conventional versions of these.
Seafood: No USDA organic certification yet exists for seafood. Even seafood raised in the wild can contain mercury, PCBS and other contaminants.
Some processed foods such as breads, chips, pasta, oils: They often do have whole grains or other healthful ingredients, but processed foods may also contain non-organic ingredients, and processing in general removes many nutrients
and foods you eat only occasionally.

Source: When Buying Organic MakesSense — and When It Doesn’t, BETSY MCKAY, January 16, 2007