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Alcoholic Energy Drinks—Caffeine Crackdown
Asbestos Residents in Denial?
Botox Used Off-Label – DUI Defense
Chantix Turned Mother into Momzilla
Energy Drinks—Nothing more than SnakeOil?
Alcoholic Energy Drinks—Caffeine Crackdown
Alcoholic energy drink makers and no doubt hoards of 20-somethings won't be happy with the FDA's warning yesterday to remove caffeine from their products. Four companies, including Four Loko maker Phusion Projects have 15 days to come up with a new recipe or remove their products from store shelves.
The agency's decision to ban the combination of caffeine and alcohol in the products is mainly because the caffeine can "mask cues" that drinkers may use to determine how intoxicated they are. "This means that individuals drinking these beverages may consume more alcohol -- and become more intoxicated -- than they realize," the FDA said.
Gregory Conko of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is a nonprofit group that supports limited government, said the FDA has gone too far. Conko said that the studies government officials used to make their decision are based on mixed drinks, not manufactured drinks, so their research is based on a slightly different product. Conko believes that people can responsibly drink a combination of alcohol and caffeine, but it would appear that his views are outnumbered. From lawmakers to doctors to concerned parents, the caffeine crackdown has been a long time coming.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two leading manufacturers saw their sales increase by 67 times between 2002 to 2008. (These companies will likely take a deep dive after yesterday's decision, and no doubt to Conko's chagrin.)
2002: Wasn't it around this time that teenage binge drinking started hitting the news? And incidents of college students winding up in hospital from car accidents to alcohol poisoning? The CDC has the statistics: People who drink alcohol mixed with energy drinks are three times more likely to binge drink than those who don't mix the two substances together.
And there is more to back up the FDA's decision. The Journal of Addictive Behaviors (April 2010) published a study that found people who drank alcohol mixed with energy drinks were three times more likely to leave a bar highly intoxicated, and four times more likely to try to drive, than bar patrons who had drinks with no caffeine. Recently in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, a study found that high consumption of energy drinks was associated with alcohol dependence and heavy drinking.
Aaron White, a health scientist administrator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, comments succinctly on the FDA's decision: "I think the move [by the FDA] was made in order to protect the public from what could be a real recipe for disaster."
No doubt the makers of "healthy energy drinks", such as FRS, are concerned about this caffeine crackdown. Health Canada is already reviewing new recommendations on energy drinks. A report is soon to be issued that focuses on the safety of energy drinks without alcohol, which are considered to be natural health products and have different rules than food products. Another report looks at caffeine in all foods, including drinks that mix caffeine with alcohol.
Perhaps the FDA will follow Health Canada's new rules, but "healthy energy drink" manufacturers will likely have a few more years to dupe the public into buying their products loaded with caffeine. Back in 2005, the FDA warned manufacturers and advertisers of alcoholic energy drinks not to imply that consumption of the products will have a stimulating or energizing effect, but the warning fell on manufacturers deaf ears, which is evident through manufacturer's aggressive marketing campaigns for their products.
"Energy drinks that combine alcohol with caffeine hardly seem healthy - and could be hazardous. These alcoholic energy drinks foster the illusion of alertness, but in reality impair - leading to car crashes, assaults and other violence and injury."
Although this statement made a few years back sounds like fire and brimstone, a recent study found that young and underage drinkers who combine alcohol with caffeine, are more likely to suffer injury, be the victim of sexual assault, drive while intoxicated, and require medical attention than drinkers who consume caffeine-free beverages. Not to mention the needless burden to the health system. This time, the FDA has my vote.
It is a good indicator that some of these drinks are dangerous when they are referred to as "witches brew" and "blackout in a can".
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Asbestos Residents in Denial?
The bid to buy the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec is the talk of the town. Apparently the mine owners, who are faced with bankruptcy, are close to sealing the deal with some interested Indians. Trouble is, will the deal seal the fate of so many asbestos workers in India?
Hugues Grimard , the mayor of Asbestos was harping on about how its asbestos won't be dangerous if it is used properly on the CBC radio this morning. By 'properly', I guess he means wear full-on safety gear, including respirators. Maybe he should take a trip to India and pay for asbestos awareness education and the cost of kitting out asbestos workers in safety equipment. And while he's at it, stamp a few warning signs on those cargo boxes carrying the stuff. To date, Canada is not legally obliged to do so.
Organizations worldwide--including health experts in India--want asbestos banned! (Read Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) letter to Quebec's Chief Minister)
A resident of Asbestos was also interviewed. The last thing she wants is the mine shut down because it is her family's livelihood. She described growing up in Asbestos and how people would sweep asbestos fibers from the streets, how the kids used to make asbestos snowballs from the fibers with their bare hands. "I'm 62 years old and perfectly healthy," she said. "My husband has been working the mine for years and he's still alive and kicking—and I mean kicking," she laughed. But she won't be laughing if asbestosis or mesothelioma rears their ugly heads a decade or so from now (latency period typically takes 20-30 years.) She also claimed that she knows no one who has died from asbestos disease.
Try telling that to thousands upon thousands of asbestos victims. By 1984, 154 people had been killed from asbestos in Ontario, Quebec's next-door neighbor. And about 454 asbestos victims were collecting workers' compensation at that time. They worked at the John Manville Plant in Toronto (the name was later changed to Manville Corporation when lawsuits started to pour in, and thereby saved themselves millions of dollars at the expense of former workers). What's going on with the workers at the Jeffrey mine—are they in denial? Have they been paid to keep quiet? OK, I'm not going into a conspiracy theory now but it makes you wonder…
Amazingly, Asbestos, Quebec had scheduled the Canadian Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life”, a fund raising event to take place within the town’s streets—where asbestos fibers were swept up decades ago. Not surprisingly, it was cancelled, apparently as a result of political differences arising between the town’s and the Canadian Cancer Society’s positions on the production of asbestos.
Meanwhile citizens of Asbestos are pressuring Quebec’s Premier, Jean Charest, for loans that will keep the floundering asbestos mine open but the CCS is urging Quebec’s Premier to “let [the mine] die.”
“Our mandate is really public health,” says a spokesmen for the CCS, André Beaulieu, “and right now, obviously, the community’s looking from an economic point of view and we understand.” How polite. Isn't it about time Canadians rallied together and stormed the mayor's office, barricaded the Jeffrey Mine?
END
While the whole world seems to be pressuring the town to stop producing cancer-causing asbestos, the town’s residents themselves feel that the mine is not only part of their history, but also important to their livelihood.
“It’s our past, it’s our history, therefore the population is united in support of the mining industry,” says Hugues Grimard, the Mayor of Asbestos.
The town decided to prevent the CCS from conducting the leg of the “Relay for Life” scheduled to occur in Asbestos, choosing instead to support the local population.
“People have stopped me to say, ‘We don’t want to participate in that event anymore’,” says Grimard, “[and] we’re giving [those citizens] our support. We want to work with our partners and not with our detractors.”
Even with the setback of creating new enemies in Asbestos, Quebec, the CCS is respectfully sticking to their guns.
Of course the asbestos industry defends itself by denials and lies. Industry spokespersons in Asbestos (town of) claim that chrysotile is less dangerous than other forms and with care can be used safely. But just about everyone in the know vehemently disagree.WHO claims that all types of asbestos cause asbestosis, cancer and mesothelioma and in a report last year, the former Assistant Surgeon General of the US said that “the chrysotile lobby relies on misinterpretations, false claims, and undocumented statements to advance its global propaganda campaign for the continued use of chrysotile asbestos. . . . Blow away their smoke . . . and truth emerges for all to see: asbestos is deadly . . . and the continued use of chrysotile is unconscionable.”
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Botox Used Off-Label – DUI Defense
No one expects to get caught drinking and driving, but as a precautionary measure you might want to consider getting Botox treatments. A woman in Vancouver, BC used the Botox defense during her trial on a charge of refusing to give a breath sample in provincial court.
Paddi Anne Moore, 51, was given four chances to blow into a breathalyzer the night she was pulled over. The equipment failed to record a sample because she couldn't wrap her lips properly around the roadside device: apparently, the Botox had frozen her face. It didn't stop Ms. Moore from talking though: she acknowledged to Cpl Fred Harding, the cop who pulled her over, that she had indeed been drinking alcohol that night. "If you can speak, you can inhale some kind of air from your mouth," said Harding.
Judge Carol Ellan didn't see eye to eye, or should I say, lip to lip, with Harding. She dismissed the charge against Moore, much to Harding's chagrin.
"I've never seen anyone who had the gall to go into court and say Botox was their defence," said Harding, who might want to consider a few rounds of Botox for another off-label use: headaches! He also said that the Botox defense could open up a new set of defenses for drunk drivers to beat the charge. "The absurdity is hard to fathom."
I've gotta hand it to Ms. Moore—she did her homework before representing herself during the trial. She had her Mexican Botox doctor write a letter, which she handed to the judge in court. He wrote that, "the physical effects of Botox injections to the upper lip and mouth area is that the patient is unable to purse [her] lips or whistle… and it is not uncommon for someone to be unable to wrap their lips around a straw or wide circumference such as a breathalyzer blow apparatus" for up to six months.
Or even a cigarette, which you would know if you watched Joanne Lumley's character in 'Absolutely Fabulous' (Ab Fab) pry her lips apart with her fingers to get a drag of her smoke after a few Botox injections. Maybe Ms. Moore is an Ab Fab fan…
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Chantix Turned Mother into Momzilla
I don't know what's worse: second-hand cigarette smoke or second-hand Chantix. After 62 years of smoking, my 78-year-old mother decided it was time to quit so she asked her doctor to prescribe Chantix. Fortunately for me, my mum lives a few thousand miles away. My crummy sister Jill, who warned me about our mother's sudden change in temperament, is not so lucky—she lives a stone's throw away. I say crummy because it was Jill who suggested that mum visit me for two weeks, just after she finished taking two month's worth of Chantix. Crummy because she warned me just days before mum arrived. If I'd known our mother had turned into Momzilla, I would never have let her get on the plane to visit me. (Good thing she wasn't Steven Slater's passenger—his hissy fit would have likely resulted in fisticuffs!)
Mum arrived August 6th and by nightfall I was drinking heavily. The first thing she commented on was my appearance. "Your hair is too dark; when you get older you should go lighter," she advised. "You'd look better as a blonde." I guess she doesn't know any stupid blonde jokes. "You've got quite the pot," was her next remark, and she wasn't referring to anything in my kitchen.
"I'm thinking about making a new will and leaving everything to your brother because he doesn't have much, what do you think?" she asked/said. I suggested that might not bode well for the rest of us (I have three sisters) and would likely cause a rift in the family. "Well that's what I've decided." Why bother asking me?
She's a bit hard of hearing so the TV was blasting at full volume and always tuned into programs I hate: afternoon soaps, reality shows. I started drinking in the daytime. Cabin fever set in just a few days after her arrival so we went on a road trip. Big mistake. My mother doesn't drive but she sure knows how to instruct.
And she argued with everything I said, right up until it was time to leave. "I have to be at the airport two hours before my plane takes off," she insisted. "OK Mum, but it's a domestic flight so you just have to be there an hour beforehand," I replied. "No, it's two hours." As I was hauling her 200 lb suitcase down the stairs, she said "I don't have to be there until 60 minutes beforehand." I should have told her she had to be there a day beforehand. And the glass was always half-empty. "There probably isn't any parking" or "There likely won't be any seats left" when I suggested we see a movie. "I bet they [the airline] make me pay extra for all this added weight" because I gave her a book for my sister—the crummy one.
Of course I love my mum. Even my friends love her and say she is the sweetest lady. But that was pre-Chantix. I just hope she gets this drug out of her system and back to normal before someone loses their patience. Before she turns her family and friends into raving alcoholics. Of course she is blissfully unaware that she has become Momzilla.
Mum, if you are reading this, it's for your own good. I have to go now and pour myself a gin and tonic.
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Energy Drinks—Nothing more than SnakeOil?
If it weren't for lobbyists such as Public Citizen, Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co. would rule the world. Or at least control everything we consume. Hmm, I guess that does mean ruling the world. ..
I recently read an article in the NYT about Plumpy'nut—an edible paste comprised of peanuts, vitamins and calories—that is given to starving children and is believed by many to solve worldwide malnutrition. In fact it has been credited with greatly decreasing mortality rates in Africa during famines. Wouldn't you know that the all-reaching arm of Pepsi wants part of the action!
According to the Times, Pepsi recently talked about playing "a more decisive role" in bringing ready-to-use foods to needy populations. The article refers to three nutritionists who warned that Pepsi-branded therapies could become "potent ambassadors for equivalently branded baby foods, cola drinks and snack foods." This is precisely what Nestle did years ago when it muscled into the baby formula market in India. Baby formula was given to young mothers in hospitals, right after they gave birth, and guess what? They were given the formula for too long, they couldn't produce breast milk so they had to buy Nestle's stuff.
Anyway, back to Pepsi and how my rant began…
I was looking into the "healthy energy drink" made by the good people at FRS Company. Well, lo and behold, if they aren't in trouble already by claims of false advertising and questionable billing practices, they've gone and sold out to Pepsi! I wonder how long it'll take before their recipes are diluted for greater profits…
FRS purportedly contains a large amount of antioxidants, specifically quercetin and Catechins, and one serving of its "healthy energy" drink is equivalent to 3 servings of blueberries, 6 servings of red onions, or 8 servings of raspberries. That must cost more than soda and sugar to produce (e.g., Coca-Cola's VitaminWater) but critics say it's nothing more than citrus-flavored snake oil…
Then the recent Coca-cola lawsuit, filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, caught my attention. It too has attempted to deceive the public by making claims that its VitaminWater "reduces the risk of chronic disease, reduces the risk of eye disease, promotes healthy joints and supports optimal immune function, and uses health buzz words such as “defense,” “rescue,” “energy” and “endurance” on labels. That's a bit rich, don't you think?
Nutritionists think so. According to those in the know at CSPI, "the 33 grams of sugar in each bottle [of VitaminWater] do more to promote obesity, diabetes and other health problems than the vitamins in the drinks do to perform the advertised benefits listed on the bottles."
After the lawsuit was filed, Coca-Cola said its drinks, like any beverage the company makes, can be part of a healthful diet. Accused of false advertising—and in a pathetic attempt to backtrack—Coca-cola said that "no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking Vitaminwater was a healthy beverage." Are they trying to pull the wool over our eyes twice?
Getting back to FRS, they may think the money is going to roll in with heavyweight Pepsi distributing their products. Perhaps Pepsi promised them the world market, maybe a package deal with Plumpy'nut. According to Mintel research, energy drinks/shots manufacturers are having trouble attracting new customers.
Personally, I'm all for eating fruits and veggies and drinking tap water.
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