Jash Botanicals Natural Health Corner

I was watching KQED last night when a program came on in regard to the plight of the sea otters, so I decided to see what they had to say.  I have to say that I was glad that I did and wanted to share it with you.

It seems that a California Democratic Assemblyman (Dave Jones) and his family took a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium not too long ago.  During their visit, they were made aware of the fact that 200 + dead sea otters were showing up on the coastal shores.  In case you are not aware of this already, sea otters are on the endangered species list, so to have that many show up dead is not good news.  Autopsies were performed and one thing kept coming up in common with almost all the dead sea otters. 

The common thread is a parasite called Toxoplasma gondi, and is a resilient and cunning one-celled freeloader that forms cysts within its host, usually in the brain and muscles.  Here is where the problems occur.  In its egg-like condition, the parasite is very strong and sturdy and withstands just about anything.  In fact, Pat Conrad, a professor of parasitology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, says you can soak them in pure bleach for hours and hours and they still come out fit and ready to move on to other things. 

The next topic of conversation blew me away because I was guilty of the crime and didn’t even know what I was doing was causing a problem.  How many of you flush your cat poop down the toilet?  I know I did.  I would scoop out the cat feces so that the cat had a clean place to go and flushing it down the toilet seemed the most appropriate thing to do.  Well, here is the rest of the story.  When you flush your cat feces down the toilet, it actually survives all the chemical treatments your sewage plant has to offer and arrives alive and ready to find a host in our oceans.  That has been a grim consequence for sea otters, which have not been doing so well anyway.  A team that was led by Pat Conrad, examined 305 dead sea otters and 257 live ones between 1998 and 2004.  Of the dead ones, 52% were infected with Toxoplasma and 38% of the live ones as well.

First of all, I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to Calfornia Assemblyman Dave Jones, his Son Will and Assemblyman John Laird for the following assistance they have given to help the plight of the sea otters.  A bill was approved by lawmakers, signed by the governor and went into effect January 1^st that establishes a voluntary check-off on state income tax returns to raise funds for the otter protection and research.  In addition, the bill requires that cat litter sold in California carry a label suggesting that cat poop be put in the garbage rather than down the toilet.

I for one, will never put my cat poop down the john again, and I am hoping that you will do the same. 

I am a big fan of the hormone melatonin, but I was surprised to read about a particular downside to this particular supplement.  If you have asthma that takes a turn for the worse at night and is keeping you from getting any sleep—melatonin is not the answer. 

Our bodies manufacturer the hormone naturally (a lot more when you are younger), and a study done by the researchers at the National Jewish Medical Center in Denver, found that people with nighttime asthma have a tendency to manufacture more of it as their symptoms intensify.  In addition, studies also revealed that melatonin increased inflammation in animal studies of asthma.  Considering that airway inflammation is one reason people with asthma have a hard time breathing, then using this particular hormone sounds like a bad idea.  The same researchers measured the melatonin levels round the clock for 7 days using three different groups of people with asthma.  The first group had asthma whose symptoms worsened at night, the second were asthma sufferers that had it worse during the day, and the last group did not have asthma.  What they found was all three groups had melatonin levels that were the highest at night, but the asthma sufferers whose attacks were mostly nocturnal had the highest numbers of all.  According to the researchers, "these findings suggest that naturally produced melatonin increases inflammation in the airways and makes lung function worse." (This may explain why melatonin supplements appear to worsen sleep apnea, too.)

The hormone that is secreted by the pineal gland in the brain is critical in regulating the circadian rhythms in the body, and in particular—sleep.  It is delivered to the right places at night, generally at the onset of the evening hours before bedtime, peaking half-way through the night, and ending up just about the time you wake up.  I use it every night, and think it is just wonderful for a restful, deep sleep, but then again—I don’t have asthma.

The best way for nighttime asthmatics to sleep better, says pulmonologist and lead study author E. Rand Sutherland, is to treat the asthma itself.  As far as a supplement that will help you sleep without the hormone, try a good herbal extract that incorporates herbs such as valerian root, lemon balm, and hops flowers.

One night not too long ago, I was watching TV when they released a few tidbits about what was coming up on the news at ten.  When they mentioned that Peter Coyote was going to do a bit for The Breast Cancer Foundation, I decided to stay up and watch what one of my favorite actors had to say.  I was surprised when he announced that he had agreed to have his body tested for toxic substances and proceeded to let us know what they had found.  Among a list of heavy metals and assorted chemicals that I will write about at another time, the one that peaked my interest was Teflon.  Being a former non-stick cookware user, I was curious to see what they had to say…

According to what I learned from the 10 o’clock news and my research is that manufacturers of nonstick cookware have known for years that heating their products past 600 degrees may cause fluropolymers in the coating to break down.  And guess what?—as these chemicals degrade, they release toxic gases, some of which can generate a temporary flu-like condition and some of which are carcinogenic, into your air.  What did DuPont (the maker of Teflon) have to say about that?  Well, they recommend that you cook at temperatures at or below 500 degrees.  Well, we can all do that, right?  Not quite. 

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental watchdog, stated that their study revealed a generic nonstick frying pan left empty on an electric burner set at high heat, reached 736 degrees in just 3 minutes and 20 seconds; a Teflon pan topped 700 degrees in 5 minutes.

The EWG appealed to the Consumer Product Safety Commission to insist on a warning label on nonstick cookware, but alas, you can all guess where that went.

“If you use them, it’s going to introduce something into your body that has the potential to cause adverse effects when it’s not necessary," says Diane Henshel, an associate professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs who focuses on sub-lethal health effects of environmental pollutants.

"DuPont is saying ‘Oh, it doesn’t break down like that,’ but that’s not true," she says. "Under ideal laboratory conditions, it is very slow to degrade, but no one would ever call a cooking situation an ideal lab situation.

"Everything breaks down with time and those coatings are going to be more likely to break down as they are being scraped, which happens in cooking situations, or when they are being used to heat something that could promote the breakdown of acids such as those in tomatoes, wine, or alcohols."

You know what I did when I found out?  First I had myself tested to see what I did have in my body, and yes, Teflon was just one of the culprits.  I then went out and bought myself a set of cast-iron cookware and geared up to detox, detox and detox.

When I opened the newspaper this morning and sat down to have my cup of green tea, a headline grabbed my attention.  Thought you might be interested in the latest pharmaceutical fiasco.  According to a new study conducted by scientists at the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine, the use of the anticoagulant warfarin, which rose in the 1990’s, produced an upsurge in the number of drug-induced intracerebral hemorrhages—particularly in senior citizens over 80.  They maintained that elderly people who take the popular blood-thinning medicine to prevent heart attacks or strokes might be at greater risk for serious brain hemorrhage.

“We’ve had no idea how often this was happening,” said Dr. Matthew Flaherty, lead author of the study that appears in the journal Neurology.  Utilization of the blood thinner escalated after many studies showed warfarin was effective at inhibiting ischemic strokes in people with atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm.

The latest study indicates warfarin, which is sold under numerous brands including Coumadin, may bring about problems of it own.  “The benefit comes with a potential price, the risk of a brain bleed,” Flaherty said.  Ischemic strokes are triggered by a blood clot that forms in the brain or travels to the brain.  The less common type of stroke (less than 10% of all strokes) is an intracerebral hemorrhage—a blood vessel bursting in the brain.

Preliminary studies indicated that warfarin was a good preventative measure, better than aspirin or placebo.  The Cincinnati scientists, however, were the first to quantify how often a drug-related hemorrhage occurs in a large population.  The scientists checked all the hospital admissions during the late 1980’s and 1990’s and discovered the incidence of warfarin-related cerebral hemorrhages spiked over that time.  In particular, people over the age 80 were especially vulnerable.

From 1988 to 1999, the occurrence jumped from 2.5 per 100,000 patients to 45.9.  When you do the math, it equates to a fourfold increase in the incidence among all ages, from 0.8 to 4.4 per 100,000.  The physicians say the advantages of using warfarin in seniors might not be worth the risk.

“We need to know who is likely to benefit and who is likely to be harmed,” Flaherty said.  The risk of ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation is still much higher than the risk of a drug-related brain hemorrhage, he added.  He cautioned patients to talk to their doctors before making any decision not to take warfarin.

Mmmmm…. I have few vices that I could call my own, but Bija Omega Dark Chocolate truffles can easily be considered one of them.  They are made by Flora Health, the same folks who manufacture Udo’s Choice Oil, a very popular EFA supplement.  My first taste of them was at the Natural Health Expo in Anaheim, California last year… and let me tell you… they are spectacular.  Ever since I mauled the sample tray at the health expo I have been waiting to see them pop up in my local Whole Foods market.  Guess it took them a while to work that out, but it was worth the wait.

Whats different about them?  Well for starters, they managed to work in 8 grams of omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids into each serving. Also, they are organic, and the dark chocolate version is rich in antioxidants.  Very smooth texture on the inside of the truffle, with a hint of hazlenut.  They do make a white chocolate and milk chocolate version, but the dark chocolate is the real winner…

Not to be overdone of course, but makes for a nice tasty treat every once in a while.  Look for them in the refrigerated section next to the oil supplements.

Who would have thought that the yummy element in pesto can also double as a wrap to keep food fresh?  Basil has long been recognized to have bacteria-fighting assets, so scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Israel have been trying to incorporate it into plastic wraps to preserve foods.  The whole idea came about when the researchers read about studies utilizing basil in foods as a preservative.  The research was presented at the annual symposium of the International Packaging Research Institutes in Valencia, Spain by lead researcher Prof. Joseph Miltz of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Faculty of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, and by Profs. K. Sonneveld, S. Bigger and doctoral student Panuwat Suppakul from the Victoria University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.

The extracts methyl chavicol and linalool seep out of the wrapping and decelerate the growth of eight types of lethal bacteria including E. Coli and listeria.  In addition, an added benefit is that the wrapping broadens the shelf life of foods like cheese, meats, fish, baked foods, fruits and vegetables.  The researchers recognized that the bacterium which causes the spoilage is located on the food’s surface, so instead of infusing the food with large amounts of basil as a preservative, they could integrate the basil extracts into the packaging in smaller concentrations.  Soon after, the extracts diffuse onto the surface of the food, killing any microorganisms.  According to the scientists, they use so little basil that there is no worry about imparting basil’s flavor to the foods being wrapped.

What I learned from all this was that adding a little basil to my cooking just might keep the bacteria out of my food.  What’s more, I love New Zealand grass-fed cheeses, and they are not inexpensive, by any means.  I try and keep them wrapped and free of air, but once in a while they grow mold and I end up throwing it away.  After reading this, I bought some fresh basil, and I surrounded the cheese with it before tightly wrapping it.  I have to admit that I have not lost an ounce of cheese since.  You have to love that!

I am not a movie critic by any means, but as a self pronounced skeptic there is one truth I can draw with relative certainty; if I was deeply moved by this film, others will be moved as well.  Besides, movie critics aren’t worth their weight most of the time anyway - my opinion can’t be bought (wink).

An Inconvenient Truth was just that - a deeply moving film that spells out in quite certain terms, the future consequence of global warming should the world [and more specifically the United States] continue to rely so heavily on fossil fuels without regard to environmental impact.  What is the future of our fossil fuel dependance?  Well, to gain a true grasp on the magnitude of the situation, watch the movie, but the long and short of it simply stated - apocalyptic.  And no, we arent talking about thousands of years, or even hundreds of years.  We’re talking decades here.  Scary? You betcha.

For my fellow skeptics out there (and yes, an open mind with a healthy amount of skepticism is a good thing), the film is devoid of consipiracy theory"ish" overtones.  Just hard scientific fact presented with urgency and emotion…

An Inconvenient Truth is authored by Al Gore, who brings his message of urgency to all who will listen.  His charisma, genuine concern, and his ability to convey his message in plain and simple terms are what will ultimately bring it to people everywhere.  If there was ever an environmental documentary that had potential to reach every American household, this is the one; and if you haven’t heard of this movie yet… you will.  My skin is still crawling from what I now know as a result of watching Al Gore

With that said, I leave you with a haunting quote from An Inconvenient Truth, courtesy of Winston Churchill:

"The era of procrastination, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences."

Do you compost?  I do, and have at least two bins going at all times.  One of my biggest complaints has always been the fact that I had to use a plastic bag to put into my holder in the kitchen.  Well, all of that has come to end, because I recently found a product called BioBag that covers not only the compost problem, but any other need for a plastic bag.  It may have been around for a while but it’s news to me!

Technical information will probably bore you to death, so you can always check on the manufacturer’s website if you are more of the engineer type.  First of all, this product is primarily made from cornstarch, which hopefully will evolve all of us into to being more dependent on a farmer in the Midwest than a ruler in the Middle East.  All of the bags from this manufacturer are 100% biodegradable and 100% compostable.  In contrast, plastic bags take 100 years to even begin to break down.

Let’s face it, plastic bags are very rarely recycled, and if you saw what oceanographers are finding way out in the middle of nowhere, you probably would think twice about using them at all.  Thousands and thousands of plastic bags and plastic products are found floating in the ocean and are killing the sea life and damaging the ecology.  Plastic is very cheap, because the makers of these products don’t have any liability past the point of purchase.  The balance of the tab for cleaning up the mess falls on you!

When natural organic products enter the ground, they are inclined to decompose progressively and disappear.  This marvel is extremely important for the environment, which has to purge itself of waste to make room for new life.  Trees, plants and algae (photosynthetic organisms) soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, with the strength of the sun, utilize it to synthesize sugars and an abundance of other substances present in nature.

For me, this product is a dream come true.  It is a substance that achieves sustainable development and actually merges environmental demands with those of agriculture and industry.  

EPA and additional reports prove that average Americans harbor carcinogens, industrial compounds, pollutants and chemicals in addition to other destructive forces of health in their fat tissues.  Cadmium, aluminum, mercury, antimony, lead and arsenic are only a few of the toxic metals released into the food chain via pesticide runoff, incinerator emissions and manufacturing smokestacks.  In addition to the above, there is also data that arbitrary blood screening of physicians’ patients shows the presence of numerous toxic heavy metals in their bodies.

These problems begin with negatively impacting your cells, destroying their energy and outer membrane, in addition to destroying their capability to perform vital functions.  This damage is called “oxidative stress” and it extends from your cells to your tissues to your organs and ultimately to all parts of your body.  These toxins devastate your body’s ability to detoxify them while gradually accumulating.  We don’t get seriously ill with degenerative diseases overnight—we spend our lifetime stockpiling for them.

So, what are you going to do about it?  Well, the first thing you should do is remove the harmful toxins from your environment if possible.  Secondly, you have to make a concerted effort to remove the heavy metal and toxins from your body.  Next, you have to repair the devastation to your cells, tissues or organs.  Finally, you have to construct a strong foundation, beginning with the basic level, by fortifying and sustaining the integrity and vigor of your cells with nutritional support.

Approximately 33% of attention deficit occurrences among U.S. children could be associated with tobacco smoke prior to birth or to lead contact afterward, according to stimulating new research.

Even levels of lead the government deems acceptable seems to increase a child’s threat of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the study discovered.

The discovery developed on previous research associating attention problems, including ADHD, with childhood lead exposure and smoking during pregnancy and presents one of the first estimates for how much those environmental issues might contribute.

“It is a landmark paper that quantifies the number of cases of ADHD that can be attributed to very important environmental exposures,” said Dr. Leo Trasande, assistant director of the Center for Children’s Health and the Environment at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

To a greater extent, the study reinforces suspicions that low-level lead exposure earlier connected to behavior problems “is in fact associated with ADHD,” said Trasande, who was not included in the research.

The study’s assessment is in line with a National Academy of Sciences report in 2000 that alleged roughly 3% of all developmental and neurological disorders in U.S. children are generated by toxic chemicals and other environmental issues and 25% are instigated by a combination of environmental factors and genetics.

“The findings of this study underscore the profound behavioral health impact of these prevalent exposures and highlight the need to strengthen public health efforts to reduce prenatal tobacco smoke exposure,” said the authors, led by researcher Joe Braun of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The study was to be circulated online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

While I spend an inordinate amount of time on the computer (albeit counter-intuitive to healthy living), I often stumble across websites that have an unusual flavor to them.  I thought I would share this one, as I must admit I am still smiling.

I am not going against the importance of a good intestinal cleaning here, but the product name "Herbal Turds" wins the prize.  I don’t know what the prize is, but it should win something right?  The slogan, "A funny name for a serious subject." 

Lisa King, the founder of Triangle Herbs appears to take great pride in her products in addition to being credited with an unusual product name. It looks as though "blunt" product verbiage has worked to Lisa’s advantage.

On a final note, has everyone done their yearly cleanse? 

Being an herbalist, someone is always telling me about a new juice I should try and why.  There is Noni, Pomegranate, blueberry, Gac, Mangosteen and I have tried them all.  Don’t get me wrong, they all have their health benefits, and I try and rotate the juices, so that my family is either drinking one or the other.  

Acai (pronounced ah-sigh-EE) is one of the latest, hot new health food findings from the Amazon rainforest and asserts that it possesses remarkable qualifications as a source of omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, vitamin A, C, and E.  It additionally boasts 50 other antioxidants, in particular anthocyanin—the powerhouse pigment located in blueberries and wine.

Acai is, in point of fact, the purplish fruit of Euterpe oleracea, which is a short palm located in great quantities in Brazil.  Supporters of the fruit state that this healthful food lowers bad cholesterol and boosts the good, enhances the immune system, combats infections, safeguards the heart, and may control prostate enlargement.

In one particular study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they are looking to add battling cancer to the list of attributes for the acai fruit.  The study, which was performed at the University of Florida, used the pure juice—minus any lipids (EFA’s) and the cellulose material and was utilized on HL-60 human leukemia cells in vitro.  They also tested five other extracts or “parts” of the fruit, which have different mixtures of antioxidants, for their effect on leukemia cells.  What they discovered was that the extracts “reduce cell proliferation from 56-86 percent”.  This was probably accomplished by damaging the cells to the point where it instigated their self-destruction (apoptosis).  

I wish I could tell you that you can run right down to the grocery store and purchase the fruit, but unfortunately, it is too delicate to export.  The good news is that the juice is available—if not at your local health food store, then on the internet.  I have tried two different kinds, which I will share with you.  The first is manufactured by a company called Bossa Nova Beverage and my favorite flavor is passion fruit. And for all of us that are environmentally conscious, Bossa Nova Beverage and the Rain Forest Alliance promise that for every bottle you drink, a rainforest tree will be saved.  The second I purchased from a company called Amazon Thunder and the acai was pure, so I simply used one ounce a day for the benefits.  I like them both; however, Bossa Nova was more of a beverage.

What is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women and the second most commonly diagnosed gynecologic cancer?  If you said ovarian cancer, you were absolutely correct.

Herbal remedies, for example gingko biloba, have generated attention for their possible preventative effects.  Unfortunately, there had been a “lack of scientific evidence” to confirm their application for this purpose.

The good news is that Doctor Bin Ye and his colleagues from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have discovered that gingko biloba was one herbal supplement that had a tangible effect on ovarian cancer.  It was also found that the preventative effect was more evident in women with non-mucinous ovarian cancers.

Based on the data, the consensus is that women who took gingko supplements had a 60 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer.  Doctor Bin Ye stated that, “4.2 percent of ovarian cancer-free women reported taking gingko regularly for at least six months before diagnosis, but only 1.6 percent of women with ovarian cancer reported taking ginkgo.  This suggests that women who are using gingko may be less likely to develop ovarian cancer.”

Doctor Bin and his team procured their evidence and proceeded to take it to the lab.  They wanted to see whether or not gingko, when introduced to ovarian cancer cells, would interfere with cell growth.  During the (in vitro) experiments, it was confirmed that a low dosage of gingkolide caused ovarian cells to stop growing.  The researchers witnessed an 80 percent growth reduction in non-mucinous ovarian cancer cells.  Unfortunately, gingkolides seemed to be less effective against the mucinous type of ovarian cancer cells, which correspond to the findings seen in the epidemiological study.

Doctor Daniel Cramer, MD, ScD and director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital said, “Ovarian cancer is a fatal disease, often only detected in the most advanced stages, so there is an enormous effort to look at new methods of prevention, treatment and early detection.  This is an exciting finding that we will pursue further to better understand what clinical recommendations can be made to women regarding gingko use as a means of ovarian cancer prevention.”

It is also advised that women who run the risk of ovarian cancer and want to try using gingko biloba as a preventative should first check with their physician to make sure that it does not interact with other medications they may be taking.

Source: Brigham & Womens Hospital, October 31, 2005

Well, right now—it is under attack!  Sadly, following an outbreak in the state of Washington, the Federal Drug Administration has issued a warning to the public against drinking raw milk, as it may contain harmful bacteria that can cause life-threatening illnesses.  The outbreak included ten people—three of which were children.

I would like to expound on each of the topics discussed by the FDA one at a time:

• Is it possible for raw milk to be contaminated?  The answer to that is yes, but it is seldom that it happens.  The majority of raw milk dairies are inclined to operate exceptionally clean facilities because of the liability issues.  The most recent incident consisted of ten people compared to the hundreds of E.coli contaminated by meat.  In addition, we frequently witness contamination of pasteurized dairy as well, but the FDA never appears to suggest that we stop eating meat and pasteurized dairy.  It would seem that raw milk just does not possess a large enough lobby to support it.

"E. coli O157:H7 is one of hundreds of strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Although most strains are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals, this particular strain can make us sick. E. coli O157:H7 was first recognized as a cause of illness in 1982 during an outbreak of severe bloody diarrhea; the outbreak was traced to contaminated hamburgers. Since then, most infections have come from eating undercooked ground beef.  According to the CDC (Center For Disease Control), an estimated 73,000 cases of E. coli infection and 61 deaths occur in the United States each year and most of the cases have been associated with eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef."

• What are the health benefits of drinking raw milk?  From a nutritional perspective, raw cow’s milk is superior to pasteurized milk in terms of its beneficial enzymes, but must be free of harmful microorganisms.  It is also important to know the quality of the milk.  Modern animal milk generally has 400% more pesticides than an equivalent sample of grains or vegetables.  In addition to pesticides that animals ingest on sprayed plants and fed, livestock raised for meat, eggs, or dairy frequently receive rations of hormones to stimulate growth and production, along with antibiotics to protect against disease.  It is therefore important to make sure that your raw milk is organic.  Now, if you ask the FDA what the health benefits are, they will tell you none.  If all you are interested in is the protein, fat content and added vitamin D, then I guess the FDA has a point, but there are other things to consider.  Let’s bring to light the fact that pasteurization involves heating milk to approximately 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or longer and thus kills all enzymes and beneficial bacteria in the process.  Add to that the factor that pasteurization makes calcium insoluble and unavailable to the body, and that will explain why countries with the highest pasteurized dairy consumption have the highest rates of osteoporosis in the world.  Ok, add that all up and I don’t know about you, but I am right back at raw milk again!

• How about homogenization?  Well, homogenization produces fat particles so small that they are pulled irresistibly into your cardiovascular system, which in turn releases xanthine oxidase to wreak havoc on your arteries.  Oh, by the way, xanthine oxidase is excreted if you drink non-homogenized milk.

So, should you run right out and purchase some raw milk?  Well, I still have a few concerns that don’t make drinking raw milk good for everyone.  There are, for instance, proteins in dairy (pasteurized or not) that are inclined to generate allergic reactions.  I switch off between almond milk and organic whey, but that is simply dictated by my taste buds.  If you are going to drink milk, I still think organic raw milk is a healthier option.

Related Links:

Dairy Operators Question Whether Raw Milk Was the Source of E. Coli

The Safety of Raw Milk 

Guess what the Food and Drug Administration is mulling over now?  It’s all about ice cream and the regulations surrounding the manufacture of it.  In addition to rules concerning pasteurization temperatures, artificial flavor levels and the amount of berry juice in sherbets; they are also contemplating the rules that would apply to utilizing milk from other animals in your ice cream.

What kind of animals, you ask?  These would include animals such as: water buffalo, reindeer, yaks, sheep, goats and other exotic beasts that you and I would never relate to our bowl of hot fudge sundae.  And who, pray tell, has come up with these new ideas?  Well, that would be the International Ice Cream Association, which is composed of companies such as Dreyers, Dean Foods, Kroger, Kraft Foods, Hershey, Nestle and whole lot more of the big honkin’ Corporations.  

“This is about making the process a lot more streamlined and efficient,” said Marci Cleary, a spokeswoman for the ice cream group.  Her line of reasoning has some merit in regard to the way the rules are set up presently.  As it stands now, you require a set of rules for goat ice cream, a separate set for yaks, a different set for sheep and so on and so forth.  The rules that are being suggested would simply state, “exotic animal ice cream”.

What the censors and critics are concerned about is that the new rules may unbolt the door for ice cream manufacturers to begin using milk from other animals and concealing the fact in fine print on the package or maybe not telling you at all.  In addition, there is the distinct possibility that it gives the ice cream makers the option of using cheap milk from overseas.  India’s dairy industry, for instance, is over 90 percent water buffalo—just in case you were wondering.  Water buffalo milk is going for about 12 cents a liter (45 cents a gallon) versus two to three dollars for cow’s milk (retail).

“This ice cream situation is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen,” said Pete Hardin, editor of The Milkweed, a trade publication for dairy farmers.  “Imports from things like water buffalo in India raise sanitation issues and moral issues, like should we be taking food away from impoverished areas,” Hardin pointed out.

The ice cream manufacturers maintain that these worries are out of line and that any such use of exotic animal milk would have to be labeled.  “We are not trying to change the quality of the ice cream,” said Marci Cleary.

The word is that the FDA has been engaging in this discussion for the last two years and they are probably not finished yet.  In the interim, you have until December 27th to generate a comment or argument with the feds—if you are so inclined.  As for me, I will ask Santa to keep a large stash of the real deal for me.