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☆ Norway, Finland battle rapid spread of bird flu
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Louise Rasmussen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] People wearing protective suits collect dead birds, as there is a major outbreak of bird flu, in Vadso municipality in Finnmark in Norway, July 20,2023. Oyvind Zahl Arntzen/NTB/via REUTERS/File PhotoCOPENHAGEN, July 28 (Reuters) - Norway and Finland face record outbreaks of bird flu this year which have killed thousands of seagulls and other species, put livestock at risk and restricted travel in some areas, officials said. Avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has circulated throughout Europe in recent years, leading to a cull in May and June of millions of birds on French farms alone and affecting the supply of poultry meat and eggs. The H5N1 virus strain has spread among poultry and wild birds for years but there have been sporadic outbreaks reported globally in mammals such as cats, mink and otters. Neighbouring Finland also said wild birds were heavily affected and that the H5N1 strain has now been found in 20 fur farms, up from 12 earlier this week.

Persons: Oyvind Zahl, Ole, Herman Tronerud, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik, Toby Chopra Organizations: Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Norwegian Food, World Health, Thomson Locations: Vadso, Finnmark, Norway, COPENHAGEN, Finland, Europe, Norway's Finnmark, Norwegian

[1/4] Diet Coke is seen on display at a store in New York City, U.S., June 28, 2023. Aspartame, used in products from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars' Extra chewing gum and some Snapple drinks, will be listed in July as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" for the first time by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization's (WHO) cancer research arm, the sources said. Pepsico removed aspartame from sodas in 2015, bringing it back a year later, only to remove it again in 2020. Listing aspartame as a possible carcinogen is intended to motivate more research, said the sources close to the IARC, which will help agencies, consumers and manufacturers draw firmer conclusions. But it will also likely ignite debate once again over the IARC's role, as well as the safety of sweeteners more generally.

Persons: Coke, Shannon Stapleton, Health Organization's, JECFA, Nozomi Tomita, Zsuzsanna, Germany’s Bayer, Frances Hunt, Wood, Mars Wrigley, Kate Loatman, –, Jennifer Rigby, Richa Naidu, Michele Gershberg, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, International Agency for Research, Cancer, Health, Joint WHO, Food, Agriculture Organization's, WHO, Reuters, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour, Welfare, Food Safety Authority, U.S, International, Association, Cargill, International Council of Beverages Associations, Ramazzini Institute, EFSA, Pepsico, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, United States, Europe, Geneva, France, Italy, sodas

JECFA, the WHO committee on additives, is also reviewing aspartame use this year. The first group includes substances from processed meat to asbestos, which all have convincing evidence showing they cause cancer, IARC says. Like aspartame, this means there is either limited evidence they can cause cancer in humans, sufficient evidence in animals, or strong evidence about the characteristics. Pepsico removed aspartame from sodas in 2015, bringing it back a year later, only to remove it again in 2020. Listing aspartame as a possible carcinogen is intended to motivate more research, said the sources close to the IARC, which will help agencies, consumers and manufacturers draw firmer conclusions.

Persons: Coke, Shannon Stapleton, Health Organization's, JECFA, Nozomi Tomita, Zsuzsanna, Germany’s Bayer, IARC, Frances Hunt, Wood, Mars Wrigley, Kate Loatman, –, Jennifer Rigby, Richa Naidu, Michele Gershberg, Mark Potter, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, International Agency for Research, Cancer, Health, Reuters, Joint WHO, Food, Agriculture Organization's, WHO, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour, Welfare, Food Safety Authority, U.S, International, Association, Cargill, International Council of Beverages Associations, Ramazzini Institute, EFSA, Pepsico, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, United States, Europe, Geneva, France, Italy, sodas

☆ Silvio Berlusconi’s memorable quotes and quips
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here are some of his memorable quotes and quips:DEC 2022: Berlusconi tells players of his Monza soccer team he would bring "a bus of whores into the locker room" if they managed to beat a top Serie A rival. FEB 2006: "I am the Jesus Christ of politics," Italian media quoted Berlusconi as telling supporters. Mussolini sent people on holiday in (internal) exile," Berlusconi tells Britain's Spectator magazine, replying "yes" when asked if he thought the World War Two dictator was "benign". You'd be perfect," Berlusconi told German lawmaker Martin Schulz, who was heckling him during his debut at the European Parliament. OCT 2001: Berlusconi causes outcry in the Muslim world when he says the West "should be conscious of the superiority of our civilisation."

Persons: Silvio Berlusconi, Berlusconi, Vladimir Putin, Putin, de Silvio Berlusconi, Remo Casilli, Barack Obama, Christ, Tarja Halonen, Mussolini, Mr Schulz, You'd, Martin Schulz, Josep Pique, Conor Humphries Organizations: Monza, Serie, Food Safety Authority, Britain's Spectator, Rome, Thomson Locations: whores, West, Ukraine, Milan, Abruzzo, Rome, Italie, United States, Finnish, Italy, Spain

☆ Erythritol, an ingredient in stevia, linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —A sugar replacement called erythritol — used to add bulk or sweeten stevia, monkfruit and keto reduced-sugar products — has been linked to blood clotting, stroke, heart attack and death, according to a study. “If your blood level of erythritol was in the top 25% compared to the bottom 25%, there was about a two-fold higher risk for heart attack and stroke,” Hazen said. Clots can break off and travel to the heart, triggering a heart attack, or to the brain, triggering a stroke. “There appears to be a clotting risk from using erythritol,” Freeman said. In all three populations, researchers found that higher levels of erythritol were connected to a greater risk of heart attack, stroke or death within three years.

Persons: ”, Stanley Hazen, ” Hazen, “, erythritol, Andrew Freeman, ” Freeman, Robert Rankin, ” Rankin, Hazen, “ It’s, Erythritol, Hazen’s, Oliver Jones, ” Jones, You’ll, Health’s Freeman Organizations: CNN, Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, People, Nature, Jewish Health, European Association of Polyol, Cleveland Clinic’s Center, Human, RMIT University, National Health, European Food Safety Authority, Food and Drug Administration Locations: Denver, United States, Europe, erythritol, Australia

☆ French agency orders halt in some uses of Syngenta weedkiller
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Sybille De La Hamaide | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS (Reuters) -French health and safety agency ANSES on Wednesday ordered a halt to some uses of one of the most widely used weedkillers in France, S-metolachlor, which is produced by Swiss chemicals company Syngenta, after finding excessive levels in groundwater. FILE PHOTO: Corn grows on a field in front of a plant of Swiss agrochemicals maker Syngenta in the northern Swiss town of Stein July 23, 2015. “This will reduce environmental contamination by this substance and thus help gradually restore the quality of groundwater,” it added. Farm office FranceAgriMer said it was too early to estimate the potential impact of the decision on crop production. Anti-pesticide group Generations Futures welcomed ANSES’ decision despite the withdrawal not being total, saying it anticipated a likely European ban on the substance.

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