The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

How government regulations help consumers

Conservatives rail against government regulations, and the Trump administration is doing its best every day to cut government regulations that corporations hate.

However, government regulations help consumers. A report by the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards lists 10 worker, health, safety, and transportation standards that could help consumers this summer.

“Summer is supposed to be when we take time off from work to spend with family and friends, enjoy picnics, barbeques and cookouts, lay out by the pool, head to the beach, take road trips across the country or fly to far-flung places,” the report says. “But what happens if you’ve been deprived of the wages needed to take time off or travel, if road trips, flights and tour boats are potentially dangerous, if it’s way too hot to work or play outside, and there’s a good chance the food and water may be hazardous to your health? Suddenly, summertime looks less like a dreamy vacation and more like a scorching hot nightmare.”

The regulations discussed in the report are:

Plan to relocate USDA research agencies opposed by food safety groups

Members of the Safe Food Coalition are asking Congress to stop the efforts to diminish the impact of key research agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including moving two of them out of Washington, D.C.

The USDA has announcement of a list of finalists for the proposed relocation of the Economic Research Service or ERS and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture or NIFA.

The Trump Administration has repeatedly proposed dramatic budget cuts to research budgets for the two USDA research agencies. The president’s 2020 budget eliminates the entire ERS budget for food safety research, which was $2.1 million. Congress, however, has maintained its funding for ERS’ agricultural and food safety research, and it continues to support NIFA’s research agenda.

Jury awards couple $2 billion in lawsuit against Roundup

For the third time in less than a year, a California jury issued a verdict against Bayer-Monsanto, finding that the company’s Roundup weedkiller caused cancer in a California couple and awarding them $2.055 billion in damages.

The jury in Alameda County Superior Court found on Monday that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, was the cause of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in both Alva and Alberta Pilliod of Livermore, who have used the herbicide since the 1970s.

It’s the third trial since August 2018 in which a jury found that glyphosate caused cancer. More than 13,000 similar lawsuits have been filed against the company.

Consumer group asks federal agencies to stop the sale of contaminated poppy seeds

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration need to crack down on the sale of contaminated poppy seeds and seed pods following the death of 12 Americans, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said.

The center asked officials at the agencies to clarify that it’s illegal to import and distribute contaminated poppy seeds and that those who do will be prosecuted. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arizona, has introduced legislation, the Stephen Hacala Poppy Seed Safety Act, to amend the law to ensure that contaminated poppy seeds can’t be sold to consumers.

Opiates such as morphine and codeine occur naturally in the opium poppy, which is why it can’t be grown in the United States. The DEA classifies “poppy straw” — all parts of the poppy plant other than the seeds — as a Schedule II controlled substance. While selling and importing poppy seeds is legal, seeds can become contaminated by poppy straw and sap in the fields and during processing. Importing contaminated poppy seeds is illegal.

Opiate contamination can be reduced to safe levels by washing and drying the seeds. However, potentially contaminated poppy seeds are available at several online retailers, including Amazon.com and Ebay. Recipes for poppy seed “teas” can be found on web sites such as Mercola.com and Chewworld.com.

Consumer groups sue over USDA’s roll back of school nutrition standards

The Trump administration violated the law when it rolled back nutrition standards for school meals, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court.

The violations occurred when the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a final rule that weakens nutrition standards on the amount of whole grains and sodium served in school meals, the lawsuit contends. The weakened standards put about 30 million children, including about 22 million low-income children, at greater risk of health issues associated with diets high in sodium and low in whole grains.

The plaintiffs, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Healthy School Food Maryland, represented by Democracy Forward, are asking the court to set aside the rule lowering the nutrition standards and require the agency to follow Congress’s requirement to set school nutrition standards based on nutrition science as reflected in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Lists of fruits and vegetables with the most and least pesticides for 2019

Kale has higher pesticide residues than nearly all other produce found on supermarket shelves, according to the Environmental Working Group’s 2019 Dirty Dozen.

The EWG releases the Dirty Dozen as part of its annual Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. It analyzes U.S. Department of Agriculture test data to identify which fruits and vegetables are most and least contaminated with pesticide residues. The Shopper’s Guide also includes the Clean Fifteen, a list of the fruits and vegetables with the lowest amount of residues.

On this year’s Dirty Dozen list, kale ranks third, after strawberries and spinach.

Jury finds Roundup caused groundskeeper’s cancer

A California jury found in favor of a man who said his cancer was caused by exposure Roundup, a weed killer. The verdict on Tuesday is further evidence that glyphosate, the herbicide’s active ingredient, is carcinogenic to humans, said Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook.

The jury agreed with evidence presented by the attorneys for Edward Hardeman in Edward Hardeman v. Monsanto Co. that glyphosate was the cause of his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“Today’s verdict reinforces what another jury found last year, and what scientists with the state of California and the World Health Organization have concluded: Glyphosate causes cancer in people,” said Cook.

Baby boomers and the art of self-care

Winter is drawing to a close, and spring is coming. It seems people are worn out from the cold weather and lack of sunshine, and maybe even suffering from SAD. So it’s a good time to think self-care . . . and maybe even self-preservation.

This week our baby boomer bloggers offer articles on self-care: using self-compassion, reframing for a different perspective, learning to say no for self-care, processing grief, and sleeping soundly long and often without guilt. Then, there’s information on self-preservation, too: placing a freeze on your credit reports.

Tom Sightings of Sightings Over Sixty reports on these articles in the Best of Boomer Blogs #586. Click here to get the links to the articles. And be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Breaded popcorn chicken recalled by Pilgrim’s Pride because it may be contaminated with rubber

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. is recalling about 58,020 pounds of breaded popcorn chicken that may be contaminated with rubber, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Friday.

The frozen, breaded chicken items, which are not-ready-to-eat, were produced on Jan. 4, 2019. The following chicken is included in the recall:

Whole Foods recalls prepared food items in eight states due to possible Salmonella contamination

In response to a recall by Satur Farms, Whole Foods Market is recalling some prepared foods items in eight states containing baby spinach because of a potential contamination with Salmonella.

The products, including salads, pizza, sandwiches, and wraps, were sold in Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. No illnesses have been reported.

The recalled products are labeled with a Whole Foods Market scale label and can be identified by the information below. Consumers who purchased items containing baby spinach from the salad bars or hot bars at Whole Foods in the states listed above should discard items purchased through January 23, 2019.