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Uh oh!

5.3K views 23 replies 12 participants last post by  xellil  
#1 ·
Just flipping through the tv channels and stopped on a rep. from the FDA talking about the new danger of Brown rice. He was saying that it's mostly the organic syrup that has elevated levels of arsenic in it..Said it currently most affects organic baby formula. Then he goes onto say that most of the syrup and brown rice in the US is mostly imported but we should be very careful because it's not terribly dangerous for adults, but for babies and pets that consume it, it could cause seizures and liver damage. Apparently there is no recall yet, but to keep a watch on it and your babies or pets health if it's in their food....Right before I switched to Acana, the food I was using had brown rice in it!
 
#2 ·
It's very dangerous to be a baby or a dog these days. I'm sure arsenic isn't the best thing for adults, either. even if we don't keel over dead the minute we eat it.

If they know there is arsenic in it, it should be recalled. It's just insane. I'm not someone who files lawsuits, but I think if these companies were sued into bankruptcy the rest of them would start being more careful.
 
#3 ·
It's interesting you say that about arsenic, I was just talking with a customer this week who gets regular notices from the water company that there are high levels of arsenic in her tap water, yet it is still "safe" to drink. Apparently the levels aren't high enough to cause damage so it is ok according to the powers that be. Insane if you ask me, the way things are going lately. . . I'm trying to decide between being paranoid about everything I touch/consume/breathe etc or just saying screw it and let the fates decide when I die from toxic poisoning.

I am also very glad that I don't have a baby, and never will have a baby to worry about being poisoned buy negligent/ignorant/money hungry companies. Even more so glad that I feed my dog raw and don't have to worry about what is in bags of food.
 
#4 · (Edited)
There is arsenic in most food. They just try to keep the levels down.

The reason it's the big story of the day is because an elevated amount of it detected in organic brown rice syrup. It's is in the brown rice because arsenic used to be commonly used as a pesticide and stays in soil forever. Rice (and most everything else grown in dirt) absorbs what's in the soil. And there you have it: poison in rice.

Sucks, but it's a sad fact of life that we've really messed up the earth.
 
#5 ·
Arsenic is in a lot of foods that we eat- even those labeled as organic. However, the levels found in a few baby formulas were enough to make the news. Sometimes I honestly wonder how many people know much about the baby formula industry, or that it is just as scary as the commercial pet food industry. I wish more women would consider donating their excess breast milk to banks so women with breast feeding problems (yet another product of our industrializing birth....) aren't forced to feed formula. Oh this is a toipc I could go on and on and on about....
 
#6 ·
Maybe this news will be enough to enocurage more women to breast feed their babies. At least any toxic substances in the mother's milk has been filtered through her body first. I breastfed my son until he weaned himself at age 3. I can never really understand why every mother doesn't. I worked a job that required I travel to jails, pooice departments, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc and I dragged my pump around with me and pumped milk wherever I happened to be when it was time. Juts like with my dogs you do what you have to do.
 
#7 ·
Well this sucks. The 2 brands ( Chicken Soup for the Dog lovers Soul and Candiae) of kibble of was considering using for my future dog both have whole grain brown rice in it :( I wish brands like Arcana didn't cost so much lol. I hope it can be counter balanced with some raw feeding? I plan on feeding half an half.
 
#8 ·
I purchased some Chicken Soup for Dogs (canned) to use when I'm on a trip (normally just weekends) I see in the label it contains Brown Rice. I don't think the amount that she would eat would hurt her, maybe just two cans during the weekend. What do you think?
Also I was given a trial size bag of Acana Wild Prairie dry food that looks like real good stuff for those who feed dry food. Says it is made in Alberta Canada. No brown rice in it.
 
#9 ·
I'm not sure how much you would need to eat to be affected. I'm sure some won't be too bad, after all they never said how long this has been going on I suppose it could have been for quite awhile. I used to feed my dogs and cats food with both brown rice and the syrup in it!
 
#10 ·
I don't want kids either but I know a bit about the formula industry. There's high fructose corn syrup, soy.. all sorts of cheap, sugary, bad ingredients and none of the good stuff. I never understood canned baby foods either, especially the ones that are just pureed veggies. Why not just do it yourself?
 
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#11 ·
Cuz buying it in jars is cheap and easy . . . I do it for my snails and mix it with Knox gelatin . . .but if I had kids I would totally make my own. I don't understand why women don't breast feed. I was breast fed, and am glad my mom made that choice, although as an adult I love soy milk and seeing how healthy most Asian cultures are, I don't really buy into soy being bad for you. However, I think babies should have "real" protein, not veggie protein.
 
#14 ·
Because some can't do it. I straight up wouldn't nurse and they tried everything they knew. They started to worry about my health so I was formula fed. I don't have all of the details seeing as I have no memory of that time of my life. Haha. but I know they tried and everyone was all for breast feeding over formula feeding. I have never put a whole lot of thought into the whole formula vs breast feeding debate since we don't plan on having kids so I won't try to act like I know much about it. I probably know less than my husband. I will admit though that I do get kind of defensive when it comes up since "breast fed babies are better than formula fed babies" is ALWAYS said and I always feel like people who say that think there is something wrong with me. Hahaha
 
#15 ·
Have to agree with magicre here. One day it's one study saying something is bad oh wait it's good. Today it was the artificial sweeteners in diet soda causing problems (duh it's chemicals made in a lab!) who knows what tomorrow will bring. Meat is bad, no wait it's good, butter is bad eat margarine, no wait margarine has trans fat! It's enough to make your head spin. My grandfather ate bacon every day and saved the leftover grease to slather on his toast, he lived a high quality of life until almost 100! But you know what, he grew his own fruit, raised his own chickens, had a vegetable garden and he walked everywhere! Wasn't a slug in a cubicle. It's all about trying to eat right, limit the chemicals we eat, walk and keep everything in moderation.
 
#16 ·
I quit believing anything "they" said when something like 30 years ago "they" told us eggs are bad for us. I knew that was a load of crap.

And I'm with you on the bacon thing. My great grandmother lived until 104 and she liked to smoke a pipe - but she didn't do it all the time and she was active and ate natural foods she grew herself. Which included alot of bacon.

It's basically anything in a box that is killing us - processed carbs and hydrolyzed fats. No one's ever going to convince me that eggbeaters are better than a real egg.
 
#18 ·
we can't depend on ethics anymore, although i swear when i first got to this country, there were ethical farmers who used to deliver eggs and milk and butter to our back door...i know. i'm old....
How true! I live on what used to be a dairy farm. I keep a wire crate and some old milk bottles in it on my front porch, just in case I get lucky and a milkman decides to come along and fill me up :)
 
#20 ·
Xellil and Magicre, you guys are a riot! I agree with so much of what you are saying! I swear the American Medical Association is using us as human guinea pigs.. They aren't really sure what all those tests will do to us long term. The last time I took my son to the pediatrician for his physical, the doctor said he needed 6 vaccinations and to be nice,they would give him 3 in each arm! He said they would be good for him and I wouldn't have to worry about missing work because he wouldn't get sick. I told him I needed to research them and went home. Three of those shots were new only introduced in the last 6 months and two of them had reports of lymphomas and seizures! Why would I do that? Flash forward and one of those shots are no longer given due to "problems". Ridiculous! And we believe they have our pets best interests at heart, HA! There was a movie out about two years ago and it was about how they vaccinated all the young girls (or boys I can't remember) prior to entering kindergarten and in the future they found out it had sterilized them and the human race was dying off. Scary movie considering every parent I know here rushes out to be the first to have their kids vaccinated. Doctors say it is called "herd immunity."
Sorry for the rant!
 
#21 ·
I am glad I am old. When I was little we were immunized against mumps, measles, and chicken pox by getting sick with them. There are some vaccines i think are important like polio.

It is scary to me that we give so many vaccines to our children. I also worry about the one they are giving to young girls to protect them against cervical cancer. I am afraid the vaccine will cause something just as bad.
 
#24 ·
i am not a cow, so why is milk appropriate for me? generations for years and years have been fooled by this one....taking calcium actually leaches calcium from your bones....

has anyone wondered why there is more osteoporosis today than ever before? calcium is being leeched out of the bones, because someone is convinced that taking calcium citrate is actually a good thing. no it isn't.
I agree on the milk - I actually drink very little of it, although I do like whipping cream in my coffee.

But the calcium citrate? Really? My dr. told me I needed to start taking it a couple of years ago, and so I do. I didn't know it was bad for me.