Peer reviewed independent study points to increased U.S. deaths since Fukushima

(NaturalNews)A recent article published in the December 2011 peer reviewed International Journal of Health Services (IJHS) examines the excess death rate reported by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) during the fourteen weeks after the Fukushima meltdowns. The death rates reported…

New research finds possible reason for obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemics in kids: lack of vitamin D

(NaturalNews) If there’s one nutrient that has received an amazing amount of attention and research over the past year, it’s vitamin D. As NaturalNews has reported extensively, a lack of the vitamin has been linked to everything from dementia and arthritis to heart disease and breast cancer. What’s more, as scientists have probed deeper into the question of vitamin D deficiency, they’ve come up with an alarming finding — huge numbers of people tested appear to be deficient in the vitamin. For example, researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health released a study showing American youth are facing potentially severe health consequences from a lack of vitamin D, which is also known as the “sunshine vitamin.” (http://www.naturalnews.com/025834_Vitamin_D_teens_health.html) Other top health news stories about children have related the startling findings that both obesity and type 2 diabetes have reached epidemic proportions in the US. Now research set for publication in The Endocrine Society’s January 2012 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM) reveals all these problems appear to be related to the widespread vitamin D deficiency in the population. The new study, conducted by scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, involved both obese and non-obese children. The results showed low vitamin D levels are significantly more prevalent in obese kids and are also strongly linked to risk factors for type 2 diabetes. What’s the specific connection? Previous studies have already shown that obese adults often have vitamin D deficiency and past research has also revealed an association between low vitamin D levels and cardiovascular disease as well as type 2 diabetes. But exactly why obesity and diseases such as type 2 diabetes are related to vitamin D deficiency isn’t fully understood. To try to unravel this mystery, the new study looked for correlations between vitamin D levels and markers of abnormal glucose metabolism and blood pressure. It also looked for links between vitamin D levels and dietary habits in obese children. The scientists measured vitamin D levels, blood sugar levels, serum insulin, body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure in 411 obese youngsters. The study also included 87 non-overweight children in a control group. Dietary information — including daily intake of soda, juice and milk, average daily fruit and vegetable intake, and whether or not they routinely skipped breakfast — was also collected for all the research subjects. “Our study found that obese children with lower vitamin D levels had higher degrees of insulin resistance,” Micah Olson, MD, lead author of the study, said in a media statement. “Although our study cannot prove causation, it does suggest that low vitamin D levels may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes.” Dr. Olson noted that poor nutritional habits like skipping breakfast and drinking a lot of soda were associated with the lower vitamin D levels seen in obese children. “Future studies are needed to determine the clinical significance of lower vitamin D levels in obese children, the amount and duration of treatment necessary to replenish vitamin D levels in these children and whether treatment with vitamin D can improve primary clinical endpoints such as insulin resistance,” he concluded. If vitamin D is the key to preventing and/or treating childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes the benefits could be enormous. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) says the incidence of overweight kids in the US has soared and now over 17 percent of children and teens between the ages of 6 to 19 are overweight. What’s more, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that in the last two decades, type 2 diabetes — a condition that was virtually unheard of in children just a decade ago –is now one of the most common chronic diseases in children and adolescents. Sources for this article include: http://www.endo-society.org/ http://jcem.endojournals.org/ http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/projects/cda2.htm http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/ http://naturalnews.com/vitamin_d.html

Hospitals in Houston requiring unvaccinated employees to wear face masks during entire flu season if they refuse flu shot

(NaturalNews) Memorial Hermann (MH), a major hospital system in Houston, Tex., that employs 20,000 workers at 11 area hospitals, is currently pushing a campaign that aims to vaccinate 100 percent of its workers with the flu shot by Nov. 18. And one of the ways this medical group is not-so-subtly attempting to force full compliance is by threatening those who have not gotten their shots with having to wear face masks at work throughout the entire flu season. NaturalNews was able to locate a Flu Update email that MH sent to all of its employees notifying them that 14,000 employees, or 72 percent, have already gotten their flu shots as part of the hospital system’s “new flu prevention policy.” But with only a few days left in the campaign and roughly 5,000 employees still not vaccinated, the group is apparently hoping that the threat of having to wear a face mask will convince the rest to surrender. “[W]ith only four days remaining in the campaign, approximately 5,000 employees still must either get the flu vaccination or complete a declination form, requiring that they wear a mask during the during (sic) flu season,” says the email alert. MH declination form forces those who do not want the flu shot to lie But the MH Declination of Mandatory Influenza Vaccination itself is illegitimate, as it forces employees to agree with a number of lies about the flu. The form states, for instance, that influenza kills an average of 36,000 people and injures more than 200,000 others every year in the US. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, admitted just last year that these common statistics are flawed and untrue (http://www.naturalnews.com/030170_seasonal_flu_death_estimates.html). The form also forces those who do not want the flu shot, to admit to the false statement that the “consequences of my refusing to be vaccinated could have life-threatening consequences to my health and the health of those with whom I have contact.” Flu vaccines have never been conclusively proven to be safe or effective, and a recent study shows that only 1.5 out of every 100 people who get a flu shot derive any perceived benefit (http://www.naturalnews.com/033998_influenza_vaccines_effectiveness.html). Nowhere on the form is there any admission about the potentially deadly side effects that accompany the flu shot, or any admission that many people who get the flu shot still get the flu. But the form does warn that if employees fail to wear their masks as instructed, they could be fired from their jobs. You can view a copy of the ridiculous MH declination form here: https://insite.mhhs.org/employee_resources/my_benefits/healthserviceplan/Flu_Vaccination_Declination.pdf This flu hysteria stunt being promoted by MH is really nothing more than medical mafia coercion predicated on lies and pseudoscience. And the nonsensical punishment for those who refuse to comply with such nonsense is even more egregious, as it basically “brands” non-compliers as villains. Face masks, after all, do not necessarily prevent the transmission of flu — but they sure do embarrass and ostracize those who decide to embrace health freedom of choice and think for themselves by refusing the flu shot!

Global health organization to purchase millions of toxic HPV vaccines to administer to women and girls in third-world countries

(NaturalNews) At its recent board meeting in Bangladesh, the GAVI Alliance, formerly known as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations, announced plans to bring the deadly human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines Gardasil (Merck and Co.) and Cervarix (GlaxoSmithKline) into the third world. A pro-vaccination group backed by the World Bank, UNICEF, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the vaccine industry, GAVI’s stated goal is to vaccinate 240 million children by 2015. As many as two million women and girls in nine unidentified developing countries could soon receive one of the two HPV vaccines, even though HPV is potentially linked to only one percent, of all cervical cancers, according to some reports (http://washingtonexaminer.com/node/104241). The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, has stated that “HPV is not associated with cervical cancer” at all (http://www.naturalnews.com/022404.html). And yet the vaccine industry through its various “nonprofit” and government partnership continues to push the deadly vaccine on young girls, women, and now even young boys around the world, despite the fact that it does not work and can cause horrific side effects. According to the latest figures released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Gardasil alone has caused more than 20,000 adverse events and 71 known deaths since it was first unveiled (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaccines/hpv/gardasil.html). These figures are actually higher when taking into account the 26 additional deaths concealed in US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documents that were recently exposed by Judicial Watch, a public watchdog group (http://www.infowars.com/uncovered-fda-documents-reveal-26-more-gardasil-deaths/). SaneVax, a vaccine group that tracks HPV vaccine cases, says there have actually been more than 23,300 adverse events and 103 deaths caused by HPV vaccines, to date (http://sanevax.org/). With all this in mind, it is concerning, to say the least, that GAVI is advocating that the poorest women and children in the world be subjected to this chemical poison. Nevertheless, the group is reportedly working on a deal with both Merck and GSK to get the vaccines at a reduced rate, and the UN World Bank will be issuing bonds to countries in order to fund the whole HPV vaccine campaign. A GAVI press release also states that the group will push rubella vaccines along with the HPV vaccines. The goal is to vaccinate 588 million children against rubella by 2015 (http://www.gavialliance.org/library/news/press-releases/2011/gavi-takes-first-steps-to-introduce-vaccines-against-cervical-cancer-and-rubella/). Sources for this article include: http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111117/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_buying_vaccines

CDC admits not a single person has died from consuming raw milk products in 11 years

(NaturalNews) The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refuses to acknowledge that, based on all available statistics, raw milk produced on clean, small-scale farms is actually far safer than pasteurized milk from factory farms. But the agency did admit earlier this year, after being pressed and warned of a potential Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request if it failed to comply, that not a single person has died from raw milk consumption in over a decade. This may come as a shock to some who, because of all the propaganda about the alleged dangers of raw milk, are convinced otherwise, but it is true — one of the two deaths often cited by the CDC as evidence that raw milk is dangerous was actually linked to the consumption of raw queso fresco cheese, which is currently outlawed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). And the other is likely linked to an adulterated raw milk product as well, rather than to raw milk. After repeatedly petitioning the CDC for clarification about its questionable raw milk statistics and getting nowhere, Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy Company (OPDC) in California, finally threatened to file a FOIA request to get to the truth. Shortly thereafter, he received a response from an unidentified official at the CDC’s information office explaining that the one “raw milk” death that occurred between 1998 and 2008 was actually linked to illegal raw queso fresco cheese. The agency has not yet provided details about the other death, but it is likely that it, too, was linked to some adulterated raw milk product rather than to raw milk itself. If and when the agency finally fesses up to the truth about that case, it will also be inadvertently admitting that it has lied to the public for many years about the nature of raw milk. The CDC’s continual avoidance of talking about the much worse dangers associated with pasteurized milk further illustrates its raw milk bias. In 2006 alone, there were at least 1,300 people who got sick from pasteurized milk just in California — and yet the CDC only talks about the roughly 39 reported illnesses every year in the Golden State that are alleged, but not necessarily proven to be, linked to raw milk. To learn more about the safety of raw milk versus pasteurized milk, check out this FREE chapter from Dr. Ron Schmid’s book The Untold Story of Milk: Green Pastures, Contented Cows and Raw Dairy Products : http://newtrendspublishing.com/PDFS/15MilkFinal.pdf Sources for this article include: http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2011/2/18/the-power-of-numbers-in-the-war-over-raw-dairy-how-the-cdc-c.html

Exposed: CDC deliberately manipulated, covered up scientific data showing link between vaccines containing mercury and autism

(NaturalNews) Deniers of the link between mercury-laden vaccines and autism are going to have a hard time denying the latest findings by the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs (CoMeD). The nonprofit group has obtained critical documents via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that exposes the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) role in deliberately lying about and manipulating a key Danish study that showed a clear link between vaccines containing mercury and autism. In 2003, the journal Pediatrics published a study conducted in Denmark that observed a significant decline in autism rates following the country’s elimination of Thimerosal, a mercury-based component, from vaccines. But thanks to the CDC’s corrupting influence, the published version of the study in Pediatrics actually claimed the opposite, and alleged that removal of Thimerosal brought about an increase in autism rates. According to the documents, CDC officials removed large amounts of data from the study that showed a decline in autism rates following the removal of Thimerosal. The agency then twisted the remaining data to imply an increase in autism rates following the removal of Thimerosal, and suggested that there was no link between Thimerosal and autism. Upon submission of the CDC’s tainted version of the study to Pediatrics , the study’s authors contacted CDC officials to let them know that the agency had incorrectly interpreted the data. They tried to tell the CDC that its figures and conclusions were wrong, and that corrections needed to be made. The CDC allegedly responded by saying that it would take a look at the incorrect data, but proceeded to submit the corrupted version of the study to Pediatrics anyway. After encouraging the editors of Pediatrics to perform an expedited review of the corrupted study, the CDC ended up convincing the journal to publish the fraudulent study, which it did in 2003. Now that this critical information has been officially released for the world to see, CoMeD is pressing the CDC to conduct a full criminal investigation into the matter, and make a formal declaration about whether or not scientific fraud was involved. CoMeD is also calling for a full, immediate retraction of the corrupted study from Pediatrics . “This should not be tolerated by those who are entrusted with our children’s health and well-being,” says Lisa Sykes, President of CoMeD. To learn more, visit: http://mercury-freedrugs.org/ Sources for this article include: http://www.anh-usa.org/cdc-mercury-in-vaccines/

CDC advisory panel declares that young boys should be vaccinated against HPV, cervical cancer

(NaturalNews) In a shocking display of utter corruption and ignorance, a US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee has officially declared that young boys and men between the ages of 11 and 21 should be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), the viral infection supposedly linked to causing cervical cancer in women. Despite the fact that males do not even have a cervix, 12 of the 14 CDC committee members decided that vaccinating boys as young as nine against the virus is still a good idea. And in a separate vote, the majority of the committee members also decided that men as old as 26 should be vaccinated against HPV as well, which encompasses practically all young men. The decision is founded in the CDC’s belief that Merck and Co.’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Cervarix, the two vaccines approved for HPV, also help to prevent genital warts and various types of cancers in males. Such claims, though, have never actually been proven. The studies used as proof are skewed, and all of them were funded by the vaccine manufacturers. There really is no solid medical proof that either Gardasil or Cervarix prevent HPV infections, cancer, or the transmission of HPV from men to women, as proponents of the vaccines claim. “Though about 40 other countries have approved the vaccine (Gardasil) for males, there is still no medical proof Gardasil prevents penile cancer or other HPV-associated cancers in men,” says an Associated Press (AP) report from 2008. “There also is no evidence the vaccine prevents the spread of HPV from men to women” (http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2008/11/study_mercks_gardasil_may_prev.html). But the CDC advisory committee cannot let the facts get in the way of the pro-HPV vaccine agenda. A recent CNN report on the announcement even admits that the sudden push to vaccinate boys against HPV has little to do with actually stopping the spread of disease, and everything to do with getting as many people vaccinated as possible. “One reason for the push now is that girls aren’t getting vaccinated in the numbers doctors had expected,” says the report. And the reason girls are not getting vaccinated is because HPV vaccines are linked to a host of very serious and deadly side effects, and have never been proven to be effective at preventing or treating anything (http://www.naturalnews.com/Gardasil.html). To learn more about the dangers of Gardasil, visit: http://sanevax.org/ Sources for this article include: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/25/health/hpv-vaccine/index.html

How the CDC really spends your tax dollars

(NaturalNews) Recently the research, practices and spending habits of The Center for Disease Control (CDC) have been under harsh scrutiny, and with good reason. Video and story coverage on CBS proves that the CDC is utterly corrupt, spending YOUR tax dollars in ways that will blow your mind. Watch the video here and see where your money really goes: (http://naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=61B80CA8D8292D96E2CCB37F37557F9F) Although the CDC’s main mission is supposed to be to prevent disease, a shocking investigation from Congress claims the profiteering agency has been squandering hundreds of millions of your tax dollars on Hollywood scripts, posh fitness clubs and amenities, parties and more. The CDC uses tax dollars to push propaganda on Hollywood The candid scrutiny of the CDC budget begins in Hollywood, where the agency reportedly pays a liaison to help TV dramas and soap operas write “accurate medical plots.” That’s right folks, that means the CDC actually pushes its propaganda onto Hollywood scripts . This service is completely free of charge to Tinseltown tycoons, all thanks to the generosity of $1.7 million of your tax dollars . Talk about a SERIOUS waste of taxpayer dollars! Outlandish spending first exposed in a Congressional report: “CDC Off-Center” In 2007 Senator Tom Coburn issued a report, titled CDC Off-Center, which cites an outrageous amount of improper spending on multiple non-disease related expenses. All the while, the agency continues to be unable to explain exactly how they are doing their job of preventing disease. The CBS special report on Coburn’s investigation claims that even back in 2008 the CDC was asking the U.S. Government for an ADDITIONAL billion dollars to add to its $10 billion dollar budget. Clearly it plans to continue finding ways to exploit the hard-earned money of taxpayers — in ways that have absolutely nothing to do with disease prevention. Where the agency’s funding REALLY goes What exactly are these non-disease related expenses? How about the CDC’s new $109 million headquarters that it has filled to the brim with nearly 10 million bucks in furniture? Apparently the figures work out to be about $12,000 worth PER PERSON in the building. The agency’s beyond-frivolous spending doesn’t stop there, however. Let’s not neglect to mention the new $106 million communications and visitors center which comes complete with waterfalls, plasma televisions and much more. A $200,000 fitness center boasts $30,000 saunas, “quiet rooms” and “zero gravity chairs” that provide “mood-enhancing light shows” for CDC employees. The Congressional report mentions that taxpayer dollars that are actually being spent on disease prevention almost always yield “disappointing results.” Disappointing is an extreme understatement. AIDS grants given to the CDC have reportedly been put toward workshops on erotic writing, how to flirt and how to throw an alcohol party. In fact, the crooked agency supposedly spent $5 billion over the course of seven years on AIDS prevention. But the infection rate didn’t drop the slightest bit. And after it spent $269 million worth of YOUR tax dollars on its efforts to eliminate syphilis, syphilis rates WENT UP 68 percent . CDC Director Julie Louise Gerberding wouldn’t agree to an interview, the CBS report claims, “from CDC’s new state-of-the-art television studio or anywhere else.” However, the agency issued a statement saying “CDC takes seriously the need to wisely and appropriately use its resources,” and that the report gives an incomplete view of its “excellent public health work.” Excellent public health work? That must include lying to the public for years about how dangerous vaccines are. Read more here: http://www.naturalnews.com/033902_CDC_vaccines.html In fact, the CDC vaccine scientist who downplayed links to autism was indicted by DOJ earlier this year in an alleged fraud scheme: http://www.naturalnews.com/032216_Thorsen_fraud.html According to the CDC, the new facilities and equipment it has spent millions on “have led to scientific advances and strengthened our ability to respond to public health emergencies.” More like, they have drained the pocketbooks of taxpayers that have no idea where their money is actually going! (As we can see, it’s certainly not toward successful disease prevention.) Read more about the corruption of the CDC here: http://www.naturalnews.com/033347_vaccines_Dr_Poul_Thorsen.html Sources include: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3010130n http://www.naturalnews.com/033902_CDC_vaccines.html http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=f016bd58-8e45-45d4-951a-b6b4d1ef3e70

CDC caught in blatant lies about pandemics and vaccines

(NaturalNews) The CDC relies on an authoritative presence to influence not just USA health policy, but world health policy. This prestigious presence also demands more federal funding, which is being questioned. It seems that the CDC’s research, practices, and expenditures have been under scrutiny lately. Although very few know of what has been hidden from public view regarding CDC investigations, there may soon be too much dirt for the White House to cover up completely. Remembering the 2008 swine flu hoax Remember all those pandemic forecasts from the CDC when different high numbers of swine flu outbreaks were reported? A CBS News program called “Washington Unplugged” wanted to know more details on how those figures were derived, but the CDC stonewalled that reporter. To his credit, he went around the CDC by surveying each individual state’s health agency, and he discovered that very few swine flu cases reported by the CDC were confirmed as swine flu. Most were actually a normal “seasonal” flu. The discrepancy between CDC swine flu statistics and actual confirmed cases was too large to considered sloppy record keeping. Upon further pressure from “Washington Unplugged” news producer, the CDC clamped down more and decided they couldn’t track swine flu cases anymore because “it was too difficult.” The CDC quit doing what they’re supposed to do because they got caught cooking the swine flu stats. This was a rare case of kudos for the mainstream media. For those paying attention, it flagged the CDC’s bogus promotion of swine flu shots for a flu that hardly existed and that many considered less dangerous than a normal seasonal flu . CDC lies about mercury in vaccines From investigative reporter Tim Bolen of The Bolen Report’s two part article “The CDC Has Known All Along How Dangerous Vaccines Are – And Has Covered It Up” (sourced below). As early as 1998 the CDC knew that there were problems with using thimerosal mercury in vaccines. This was especially true with the ever increasing childhood vaccination schedule. Their own researchers turned in a internal draft stating this. The CDC decided to cover this up by hiring fake studies to explain away those mercury links to the rising autism rates. The earliest misleading study was the “Danish Study,” masterminded for the CDC by Kreesten Madsen, whose partner Paul Thorsen has recently been indicted for fraudulent funding activities. This epidemiological study became the cornerstone for the foundation of lies “proving” thimerosal was not a factor for causing autism or other childhood developmental disabilities. Bolen adds, “Even the US Congress began to smell the CDC stink and investigated.” A congressional committee released a 2003 report called Mercury in Medicine – Taking Unnecessary Risks . The report pdf can be seen here: http://vaccines.procon.org/sourcefiles/Burton_Report.pdf Congressman Dan Burton headed the investigation. He had a grandchild who was vaccinated then became autistic, and he was ruthless with vaccine industry and CDC representatives while he presided over hearings. The appropriate findings and excellent suggestions were ignored by the Bush administration and the CDC. Bolen wondered where anti-vaccination activist Bobby Kennedy, Jr. got a one in six figure for developmentally challenged children. Then he came across a bulletin from the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics issued in 2004 entitled Autism A.L.A.R.M. (source below) which stated that one in six children had developmental/behavioral issues while one in 166 were diagnosed with an autistic disorder. Tim Bolen estimates that from 1998 to 2011, close to 12 million children worldwide have been afflicted with autism, making the worldwide autism ratio one out of 111 children. The CDC claims they don’t understand how this is all happening. They just know it is. The full title of the CDC is Center for Disease Control and Prevention. They’re very heavily funded but clueless about autism and developmental disorders on the rise? Ten billion and asking for more In 2007 Senator Tom Coburn issued a report titled CDC Off Center (source below). The report cites huge mismanagement of funds for non-disease related expenses, generous payrolls, overly lavish facilities, and trips wasting funds on frivolous disease control issues while unable to explain how they are preventing disease. CBS did a special report on Coburn’s report, and mentioned that even then (2007) the CDC was asking the US Government for an additional billion dollars to its $10 billion dollar budget. See where the money goes on this TV report here: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3010130n David and Goliath A Ph.D biochemist, Brian Hooker, whose son became autistic after a series of vaccinations, has recently filed a suit against the CDC for violating the Freedom of Information Act by not releasing data he has been requesting since 2005 regarding CDC studies that dismissed mercury vaccine dangers. According to Bolen, Hooker is going in with top gun lawyers in the Washington, DC loop. He has given the CDC an ultimatum to release the documents he wants by late October 2011. This could be interesting. Sources for this article include: Bolen Reports CDC thimerosal cover up part 1 http://www.bolenreport.com/Geier/foiasuit1.htm Bolen reports CDC thimerosal cover up part 2 http://www.bolenreport.com/Geier/foiasuit2.htm CBS 2008 CDC Swine flu investigation http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/cbsnews_investigates/main5404829.shtml Senator Tom Coburn’s CDC Off Center report http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=f016bd58-8e45-45d4-951a-b6b4d1ef3e70 Autism A.L.A.R.M. http://www.ewg.org/files/AutismAlarm.pdf

Listeria does not grow on cantaloupes: Why the ‘deadliest food outbreak’ of the decade is yet another food scare campaign

(NaturalNews) Disease outbreaks associated with the US food supply have become an all-too-common occurrence these days, with at least six major outbreaks having been reported just this year alone. And with the most recent listeria outbreak affecting Colorado-sourced cantaloupes, where at least 13 people have died and 70 others have been sickened thus far, officials and the media are once again working the public into a frenzy about food safety. On September 14, 2011, Holly, Co.-based Jensen Farms announced a recall of more than four million Rocky Ford cantaloupes it had shipped to at least 17 US states between July 29, 2011, and September 10, 2011. The recalled cantaloupes are said to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes (listeria), a bacterium not typically associated with produce, and customers are being urged to discard the dangerous fruit. Since the recall announcement was made, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the mainstream media have been repeatedly warning the public about the tainted melons, and citing purported death and injury numbers to apparently scare the public into paying closer attention to the issue. On one hand, such warnings are necessary and helpful in preventing further injuries and deaths, and can be considered a public health benefit. On the other hand, they conveniently help promote the government’s agenda to seize more control over the food supply through expanded “food safety” regulations. Factory farming is responsible for spreading disease to produce Strangely missing from all the hubbub surrounding the cantaloupe outbreak is any talk whatsoever about what actually caused the outbreak in the first place. Listeria does not just appear on produce, after all — it is typically introduced by outside sources like factory animal feedlots, whose manure cesspools run off and contaminate nearby agriculture fields on a regular basis. Remember the massive Iowa egg recall from last year? Filthy conditions at the facilities where the eggs had been produced were, of course, responsible for the salmonella outbreak. And yet the FDA tried to use the incident to push for more power over the food supply, including the passage of S. 510, the infamous “food safety” bill (http://www.naturalnews.com/egg_recall.html). As far as the cantaloupes are concerned, a nearby factory farm is likely the source of the listeria outbreak as well. And yet instead of fully investigating the situation to determine the precise cause, government authorities will likely use this outbreak to push for even more regulatory control.

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