CLONING LAWS IN JAPAN TO ALLOW HUMAN-ANIMAL MIX
Japan says it will allow combined human-animal embryos
to be produced through cloning. Ministers hope the move will lead to transplant
organs being produced in specially-bred animals. More at:
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_462557.html?menu=
THE SHEER WASTEFULNESS OF A
LONG-DISTANCE CHRISTMAS DINNER
by Felicity Lawrence, consumer affairs correspondent
People concerned about the environment are turning
to organic food, but the report highlights the extent to which these are
now imported. One shopping basket of 26 imported organic products from
a supermarket could have travelled 160,000 miles and released as much
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as an average four-bedroom household
does through cooking meals over eight months. The report shows "the
enormous damage done by our current petrol-hungry food supply system",
said Green MEP Caroline Lucas.
Guardian, Tuesday December 11, 2001
More at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4317248,00.html
AUSTRALIA: COMPULSORY GM FOOD
LABELLING FROM TODAY
Labels will be compulsory
on food produced from genetically modified ingredients. Food produced
from today will have to comply with the Australia New Zealand Food Authority
rules. But consumers are unlikely to see GM-labelled products on supermarket
shelves immediately. Manufacturers have been given a period of grace,
meaning products packaged before today can stay on supermarket shelves
for 12 months without the explicit labelling.
The Advertiser, December 7, 2001
More at http://www.sustain.org/biotech/News/news.cfm?News_ID=3033
REYNOLDS TRYING TO BUY MAKER OF ORGANIC SMOKE
TORONTO - R.J. Reynolds,
the No. 2 U.S. tobacco company, has agreed to buy Santa Fe Natural Tobacco
for $320 million in cash, topping a bid from Canada's Rothmans for the
maker of organic cigarettes. Rothmans has five business days to respond,
as per its original agreement with Santa Fe, said Maura Payne, a spokeswoman
for Reynolds, based in Winston-Salem, N.C. Rothmans, Canada's second-biggest
cigarette maker, may raise its Sept. 28 bid of $275 million in stock,
cash and debt, said Executive Vice President Bob Carew, the company's
No. 2 executive.
Bloomberg News
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134369865_santafe23.html
ORGANIC TAMPONS
"We want women to know they have a choice about
what they put in their bodies," says La Rhea Pepper, president
of Organic Essentials. Sounds like she's talking about produce - but no.
She's referring to the latest step in the all-natural movement: feminine
products. Pepper claims that about half the women who buy the company's
organic, all-cotton tampons say they're allergic to the rayon-cotton blend
used in most tampons. "Our other customers are making a lifestyle
choice," she says, by staying away from conventionally grown
cotton treated with fertilizers and defoliants.
Health.com Dec 14th, 2001
More at http://www.health.com/cgi-bin/current/wellness/wellness_week.cgi?351
PRINCE CHARLES LAUNCHES HIS OWN ORGANIC MILK
Prince Charles has launched his own brand of organic milk
which will be sold under his luxury Duchy Originals brand. Mirror tea
expert Francine Whale could not tell the difference between Prince Charles's
milk and a supermarket brand in a taste challenge. She said: "To
be honest, I can't tell the difference. It does seem like a lot of money
to pay."
More at http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_463851.html?menu
