Hot News!
Federal Register -- December 21, 2007
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing
an opportunity for public comment on its intent to reevaluate the
scientific evidence for two previously authorized health claims
(dietary lipids (fat) and cancer; soy protein and risk of coronary
heart disease) and two qualified health claims that were the subject
of letters of enforcement discretion (antioxidant vitamins and risk
of certain cancers; selenium and certain cancers). The agency is
undertaking a reevaluation of the scientific basis for these authorized
health claims and qualified health claims because of new scientific
evidence that has emerged for these substance-disease relationships.
The new scientific evidence may have the effect of weakening the
substance-disease relationship for these authorized health claims
and either strengthening or weakening the scientific support for
the substance-disease relationship for these qualified health claims.
Read more
here.
of Valerie Ann James and 214 others, submitted with the support
of SoyOnlineService. 14-Dec-2007
The committee heard evidence on 17 October 2007
from Valerie Ann James, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority and
the Ministry of Health.
"Conclusion: We support
the petitioner's request for more accurate labels on soy-based
infant formula, which highlight the potential long-term risks of
feeding soy-based infant formula to infants. We accept that there
is evidence that soy-based formulas have a high phytoestrogen content
that may pose a risk to the long-term reproductive health of infants.
We acknowledge that the current labels do advise consumers to consult
a doctor or health care worker for advice. However, we believe it
would be prudent to supplement this advice with more specific wording
which points out that the high phytoestrogen content of soy-based
infant formula may pose a risk to the long term reproductive health
of infants."...
. Read the full report
here
'Functional Foods' - also known as 'neutraceuticals' or 'designer
foods' - must be monitored to assess long-term safety and effectiveness,
say a group of scientists writing in today's British Medical
Journal. Nynke de Jong, project director at the Duth Institute and
colleagues, focused on the potential risks of cholesterol lowering
margarines and yoghurts. These products, he wrote, could trigger reactions
in people taking statins - drugs that do the same job but act more
powerfully - which might actually increase their risk of heart disease,
the Dutch experts say. The margarines contain plant sterols which
lower cholesterol but when eaten by people taking statins, the level
of plant sterols in their blood is raised. There are concerns that
this could increase the thickening of the arteries - and the risk
of a heart attack - and Canada has banned the sale of these product.
Download the British Medical Journal
article here. Also see a related
article in the NZ Hearld, 21st May 2007.
-
- New York Times; May
21 2007, by NINA PLANCK.
WHEN Crown Shakur died of starvation, he was 6 weeks old and weighed
3.5 pounds. His vegan parents, who fed him mainly soy milk and
apple juice, were convicted in Atlanta recently of murder, involuntary
manslaughter and cruelty.This particular calamity — at least
the third such conviction of vegan parents in four years —
may be largely due to ignorance. But it should prompt frank discussion
about nutrition. Read the full
article here.
... Click here to view a short news article that aired
on Australia's Prime TV on the health warning to cancer patients
and the potential harm of soy products
Download the cip here (6MB)
| The Cancer Council NSW will issue
guidelines today, warning about the dangers of high-soy diets
and soy supplements for cancer patients and those people in
remission from cancer. "The Cancer Council does not support
the use of health claims on food labels that suggest soy foods
or phyto-oestrogens protect against the development of cancer.''
Read the article here! |
An American Heart Association committee
reviewed a decade of studies on soy's benefits and came up with
results that are now casting doubt on the health claim that soy-based
foods and supplements significantly lower cholesterol.
Source: Sunday Star Times 14 May 2006,
By EMILY WATT
A soy milk with over 1000 times more iodine than
other brands left five people sick, and many more may have been
unaware they were ill. Authorities did not alert the public to the
health risk once it was discovered, despite the likelihood others
were similarly poisoned. Read
more on this here
12/20/2005
The Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human
Reproduction (CERHR) announces availability of the two draft expert
panel reports on genistein and soy formula on January 16, 2006,
from the CERHR
Web site or in printed text from CERHR. CERHR invites
public comments on sections 1-4 of both draft expert panel reports.
The expert panel meeting for genistein and soy
formula will be held at the Radisson Hotel Old Town, 901 N. Fairfax
Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314-1501 (telephone: 703-683-6000,
facsimile: 703-683-7597).
Comment Invited:
Comments on the draft expert panel reports and any other correspondence
should be sent to Dr. Michael D. Shelby, CERHR Director, NIEHS,
P.O. Box 12233, MD EC-32, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 (mail),
(919) 316-4511 (fax), or shelby@niehs.nih.gov
(e-mail). Courier address: CERHR, NIEHS, 79 T.W. Alexander Drive,
Building 4401, Room 103, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.
More information on these reports and how
to comment can be found here.
from
Soyatech.com - ,
according to a study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) and Syracuse University. Read
the article here.
Veggie
burgers and tofu might not be so great at warding off heart disease
after all. An American Heart Association
committee reviewed a decade of studies on soy's benefits and came
up with results that are now casting doubt on the health claim that
soy-based foods and supplements significantly lower cholesterol.
Read
More about this here.
From NIH News - National Institutes
of Health
January 10, 2006
Genistein, a major component of soy, was found
to disrupt the development of the ovaries in newborn female mice
that were given the product. This study adds to a growing body of
literature demonstrating the potentially adverse consequences of
genistein on the reproductive system.
“Although we are not entirely certain about how
these animal studies on genistein translate to the human population,
there is some reason to be cautious,” said Dr. David A. Schwartz,
Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS). “More clinical studies are needed to determine how exposure
during critical windows of development can impact human health.”
Genistein is the primary naturally occurring estrogen
in plants (called phytoestrogens) and can mimic the effects of estrogen
in the body. Genistein can be found in foods containing soy such
as soy-based infant formulas as well as over-the-counter dietary
supplements.
The results of this study conducted by researchers
at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS),
part of the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with
an investigator at Syracuse University, are published in the January
issue of Biology of Reproduction.
The NIEHS researchers previously showed that mice
given genistein immediately after birth had irregular menstrual
cycles, problems with ovulation, and problems with fertility as
they reached adulthood. The new study looks at the direct effects
of genistein on the ovaries during early development.
“We knew genistein was linked to reproductive
problems later in life, but we wanted to find out when the damage
occurs,” said Retha R. Newbold, MS, a developmental endocrinologist
at NIEHS and an author on the study. “The study showed that genistein
caused alterations to the ovaries during early development, which
is partly responsible for the reproductive problems found in adult
mice.”
Female mice were injected with three different
doses of genistein during their first five days of life. The genistein
given to the mice was comparable to what human infants might receive
in a soy-based formula, which is approximately 6-9 mg/kg per day.
The researchers examined the effects on days 2 through 6.
The researchers found effects at all levels. Mice
treated with the high dose (Gen 50 mg/kg) were infertile and mice
treated with lower doses were subfertile, meaning they had fewer
pups in each litter, and fewer pregnancies. Mice receiving the highest
level of genistein, 50 mg/kg per day, had a high percentage of egg
cells that remain in clusters, unable to separate and therefore
develop abnormally. The researchers explain that oocytes that remain
in clusters are less likely to become fertilized based on previous
research. The largest difference between the genistein treated and
normal mice was found at six days of age where 57 percent of the
egg cells in the non-treated ovaries were single or unclustered;
and only 36 percent in the genistein treated group were single.
We think genistein inhibits the oocytes or egg
cells from separating apart,” said Wendy Jefferson, Ph.D. of NIEHS
and lead researcher on the paper. “Since there are many egg cells
in the same follicle instead of just one, the resources from the
surrounding cells are spread too thin and they can't get the support
they need to become a mature functioning egg cell.”
“You need at least one good healthy single oocyte
that is ovulated and fertilized by a sperm to get a healthy baby.
Genistein seems to have a way of making this task very difficult,”
said Newbold.
“I don't think we can dismiss the possibility
that these phytoestrogens are having an effect on the human population,”
said Dr. Jefferson. “They may not show their effects or be detected
until later in life, but chances are they are having an effect.”
Note: The National Toxicology
Program, Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction
(CERHR) will hold an independent expert panel meeting on “Genistein
and Soy Formula” on March 15-17, 2006, at the Radisson Hotel Old
Town, Alexandria, VA. http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/GenisteinSoyMtg.pdf.
The NTP is an interagency program headquartered at NIEHS.
NIEHS, a component of the National Institutes
of Health, supports research to understand the effects of the environment
on human health. For more information on environmental health topics,
please visit our website at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/home.htm.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The
Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary Federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common
and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs,
visit http://www.nih.gov.
Reference: W
Jefferson, E Padilla-Banks, R Newbold and M Pepling. Neonatal genistein
treatment alters ovarian differentiation in the mouse: Inhibition
of oocyte nest breakdown and increased oocyte survival. Biology
of Reproduction, January 2006.
W Jefferson, E Padilla-Banks and R Newbold.
Adverse Effects on Female Development and Reproduction in CD-1 Mice
Following Neonatal Exposure to the Phytoestrogen Genistein at Environmentally
Relevant Doses. Biology of Reproduction 73(4):798-806, 2005. Epub
Jun 1, 2005.
Nov 10 /2005
The FDA confirmed on October 4 that
the Solae Company has withdrawn its petition for a soy protein and
cancer health claim. Had this health claim been approved, it would
have doubled the sales of soy protein in this country, bringing
huge profits to the soy industry while putting American men, women
and children at risk.
"This represents a major blow to the soy
industry," says Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, author of The Whole
Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food. "The
FDA advised Solae on at least one occasion that it had not convincingly
established that soy can prevent cancer and that it had failed to
counter massive evidence that soy can cause, contribute to or accelerate
cancer growth."
Dr. Daniel joined the Weston Price Foundation
to present much of the scientific evidence against soy that led
to the FDA's questions and to Solae's withdrawal. The Weston A.
Price Foundation has been a leader in alerting the public to the
fact that soy protein and soy oil in the food supply have been linked
to digestive distress, thyroid damage, reproductive problems, infertility,
ADD/ADHD, dementia, heart disease and cancer.
Solae first petitioned the FDA for a health claim
in February 2004. Food manufacturers put health claims approved
by the FDA on labels and packages to increase sales because they
encourage consumers to make "healthier"
purchases. The FDA had hoped to announce its final decision on October
23, 2005.
Between June 2004 and April 2005, the Weston A.
Price Foundation submitted three detailed and heavily referenced
documents to the FDA that refuted the claims for soy and cancer
made by the Solae Company, a joint venture of Dupont and Bunge.
This summer the Foundation drew the FDA's attention to a July 2005
health advisory issued by the Israeli Health Ministry that warned
that soy infant formula should not be given to infants, that children
should be fed soy foods no more than once per day to a maximum of
three times per week and that adults should exercise caution because
of increased risk of breast cancer and adverse effects on fertility.
In addition, the Foundation spearheaded a write-in
campaign to the FDA earlier this year that brought in over 1,000
comments by our members requesting the FDA to not approve Solae's
petition. You are all to congratulated for this fine effort.
In its petition to the FDA, Solae contended that
a qualified health claim was warranted because of "substantial
scientific agreement" among experts that soy protein reduces
the risk of breast, prostate and colon cancers. "No such consensus
exists," says Dr. Daniel. "Scientists at the FDA's own
Center for Toxicological Research have warned of soy protein's carcinogenic
potential and of the health dangers of excess soy-food consumption.
We showed the FDA that Solae was highly selective in its choice
of evidence and biased in its interpretations. We reported on the
fact that they had omitted many studies proving soy to be ineffective
in preventing cancer, emphasized favorable outcomes in studies with
mixed results and excused the results of the few unfavorable studies
that they included to give the illusion of balance. Most importantly,
we drew the FDA's attention to the fact that Solae excluded many
studies showing that soy protein can cause and accelerate the growth
of cancer, particularly breast cancer."
In addition to the recent soy warning issued by
the Israeli Health Ministry, expert scientists with the British
Committee on Toxicity, Swiss Federal Health Service and other government
agencies have all expressed concern about soy's potential to disrupt
the digestive, immune and neuroendocrine systems of the human body
and its role in rising rates of infertility, hypothyroidism and
some types of cancer including thyroid and pancreatic cancers.
Soy is also highly allergenic. Most experts now
place soy protein among the top eight allergens, and some rate it
in the top six or even top four. The Swedish Health Ministry has
warned that allergic reactions to soy are increasingly common, ranging
from mild to life threatening, and that fatalities have been reported.
"People are finally starting to hear that
soy is not a 'miracle food,'" says Dr. Daniel. "More and
more expert scientists are issuing warnings about soy.
The FDA made a big mistake in 1999 when it kowtowed
to the soy industry and allowed a soy-and-heart-disease health claim.
Today's FDA is under intense scrutiny because of the Vioxx debacle
and could not afford to approve an unfounded soy-prevents-cancer
health claim. Solae withdrew its petition because it knew that its
science was unconvincing and that the FDA had no choice but to turn
them down. The bottom line is that soy does not prevent cancer."
October 3 2005
Solae
withdraws soy/cancer health claim petition By
Jess Halliday - FDA's record on qualified health claims
approvals is causing companies to re-think their petitions. In the
light of recent decisions the FDA has handed down, The Solae Company
has decided to temporarily withdraw its soy/cancer prevention claim.
Read about it here.
|
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