Search Results for: Environmental health

BY MONICA DOBIE
BEN & Jerry’s has been accused of falsely claims by labelling some of their ice cream and frozen yoghurt products “All Natural.” Not so, because they contain hydrogenated oils and alkalised cocoa powder, claimed the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a US health and food safety advocacy group.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Bank has approved a US$18.5 million-loan to Uruguay to support its Foot and Mouth Disease Emergency Recovery Project, an emergency operation to help alleviate the economic impact of the recent outbreak of the disease. The project will pay for comprehensive vaccination, improved disease surveillance and border health checks.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
GERMAN insurance group Gerling is providing financial and managerial support to a ground-breaking environmental initiative in the hope that it will be copied and that the company will be asked to underwrite similar initiatives because of its expertise.…

BY MARK ROWE
ENVIRONMENTAL organisations and an American local authority have issued a lawsuit against the US government for its contribution to global warming, a move that may have important repercussions for the insurance industry.

A lawsuit filed in the US District Court in San Francisco claims that two American export credit agencies illegally provided US$32billion in financing for oil fields, pipelines and coal-fired power plants over the past 10 years without assessing their contribution to global warming.…

BY MARK ROWE
A VERMONT maple syrup producer has joined forces with environmental groups to sue the American government for recklessly contributing to global warming, claiming it has damaged his business.

A lawsuit filed by Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace in San Francisco claims that two American export credit agencies illegally provided US$32billion in financing for oil fields, pipelines and coal-fired plants over the past 10 years without assessing their contribution to global warming, as required by national law.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union scientists have attempted to lay the ghost of the theory that sheep have developed a special form of BSE, distinct from the known brain disease scrapie. Brussels’ scientific steering committee has ruled that sheepmeat is BSE free and so “sheep casings should not be included in the list of specified risk materials in relation to BSE.”…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice’s Court of First Instance has ruled that EU member governments have the right to ban four antibiotics as additives in animal feed, saying this was “not a disproportionate measure given the need to protect public health.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has asked EU ministers to approve new health checks and movement restrictions for sheep and goats during an outbreak of diseases such as foot and mouth, rabies, anthrax or brucellosis. The proposed regulation also includes toughened quarantine controls on animals imported from outside the EU.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ENVIRONMENT committee of the European Parliament wants a review of the safety levels of food additives used in confectionery to check whether they are safe for children. It backed a report by Swedish liberal MEP Marit Paulsen, which calling for a European Commission act within three years, because such additive levels are set with the health of adults in mind.…

Keith Nuthall
WEARABLE technology and customised clothing for health-care, sports, quality-of-life and entertainment needs is to be displayed at a European Commission-funded conference in Brussels, on October 15. “The EU apparel business goes high-tech” will educate businesses how to use information society technologies to boost productivity and competitiveness, and added-value, such as 3-D body scanning, “virtual” trying on of clothes, mass customisation, multi-functional clothing and on-line retailing.…