In The News

Blinded by Science

Timothy Caulfield August 26, 2011
The unscrupulous know the desperately sick will risk all for potential cures. Experimental stem-cell treatment is but the latest quest in medical tourism, propelled by the internet and social media. Patients with autism, Alzheimer’s and other conditions travel to China, India or Central America seeking treatment from providers “generating false hope, robbing families of their resources, and...

SA Innovation Bears Fruit in the US

July 27, 2011
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved use of ultraviolet light technology for purifying fruit juice, an alternative to pasteurization for eliminating harmful pathogens, reports the Mail & Guardian. SurePure, a South African company that developed the technology says it offers” greater microbiological efficacy than conventional UV systems and is effective for both clear and turbid...

The Ticking Food Bomb

Nayan Chanda July 8, 2011
The globe confronts a perfect storm of challenges this century: climate change, rising inequality, limited fossil fuels and a growing population that put pressure food and water supplies. If population expands to 9 billion as expected, food demand will double by 2050 even as the rate of growth in the agriculture sector declines. Nations, fully aware, recognize that food shortages and price hikes...

BC Eyes Ban on Home Use of Pesticides

Randy Shore July 8, 2011
Flawless lawns without insects are unnatural, but that does not stop homeowners from striving for that goal. Canada’s British Columbia government is preparing legislation that would ban homeowners’ use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes, reports Randy Shore for the Calgary Herald. Lawn chemicals have been linked to leukemia and other cancers, with children especially susceptible. Nearly 40...

Costa Rica’s Pineapple Boom Unhealthy, Warn Experts

Will Ferguson June 7, 2011
Costa Rica is one of the world's top five pineapple-producing nations. With growing demand for the healthy fruit, farmers expand their fields. Concern is emerging among growers in Costa Rica as “the industry has been associated with the deterioration and erosion of soils, the destruction of ecosystems and the contamination of water supplies,” writes Will Ferguson for the Tico Times. Farmers...

Lawsuit Looms Against Germany Over Cucumber Scare

Gregg Benzow, Sarah Harman June 2, 2011
The scramble to identify a deadly food-borne illness can quickly ruin reputations. At least 10 nations have reported hundreds of cases of an infection by a deadly mutation of E. coli to the World Health Organization, raising fear, confusion and speculation about the source. Hamburg, Germany, initially blamed Spanish cucumbers, before conducting tests and backing away from the claims days later...

Bursting Melons Add to Food Woes

May 23, 2011
Chinese television reports of watermelons exploding like “land mines” quickly went global, raising concerns about dyes, growth regulators and pesticides in the food supply. Competitive farmers try to make crops more attractive for market, but learn there can be too much of a good thing. Some of the melon farmers reported using the growth regulator forchlorfenuron, also used in the US. The...