Thursday, February 7, 2013

Dangerous nano-particles in popular food products - WHY ?


Dear Citizen for Health,

Yesterday we informed you that an allied organization of Citizens for Health called As You Sow found titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the white powdered sugar on Dunkin’ Donuts.
These nanoparticles are one-millionth the size of a grain of sand, and because of their small size, they are able to go places in the body that larger particles cannot. When eaten, nano-sized titanium dioxide passes into the blood and reaches bone marrow, lymph nodes, the liver, the heart, and the brain.

The New York Times took notice as well! Read the article here. So how do we know if these additives are in our food? We don’t – unless someone tests for them.

As You Sow is a nonprofit organization that has been fighting to get toxins out of consumer products for 20 years. They need your help to raise $9,000 to test more sweets that they suspect contain nanoparticles: M&M’s, Pop-Tarts, and Trident gum. They plan to go public with their results and pressure these companies to stop using nanoparticles until we know it’s safe.
All donations are tax-deductible and there are many perks for donating, including voting on the next products to test and having nano-free donuts with their research staff. Please help them figure out if these products contain nanomaterials so you can protect yourself and your family.
Background

Untested nanomaterials are being used in kid-friendly food products to produce creamy liquids that contain no fat, enhance flavors, improve supplement delivery, brighten colors, and keep food fresh longer. But there are no studies proving that nanoparticles are safe for use in our food — especially for kids. So they decided to start testing Dunkin’ Donuts. Laboratory results found titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the white powdered sugar that coats the donuts. They want to start testing other products to get to the bottom of this issue.

The Campaign
If this crowdfunding campaign is successful, they’ll begin testing popular kid-oriented foods including M&M’s, Pop-Tarts, and Trident gum so that parents can make informed decisions about what they are feeding their children. They’ll present the findings to the public and to the companies that make these products to get these unproven and potentially unsafe additives out of the food supply.

Do your friends and family know they might be eating nano? Email, Facebook, or Tweet them a link to http://www.indiegogo.com/nanoays. And come join the conversation with us on Facebook and Twitter!

As always, thank you for your participation.
The Citizens for Health Team

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