Gei in baby food

Heavy metals in baby food? What parents should know and do

If there is anything you can trust to be safe, it should be baby food, right?

Well… maybe not.

A report from the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform says that commercial baby foods are tainted with dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury.

Which baby food companies are involved?

The report was based on information from just four companies that make baby food: Nurture, Beech-Nut, Hain, and Gerber. Arsenic, lead, and cadmium were found in baby foods from all of the companies; mercury was found in the food from the only company that tested for it (Nurture).

Of note, three other companies (Walmart, Sprout, and Campbell’s Soup) were asked to provide the same information about their baby food products, and did not.

And that is part of the problem: this is just one report, with limited information. It’s hard to know exactly what it means about commercial baby foods in general, but it’s a report that we need to take seriously, because all four of these heavy metals can affect the developing brain. And when you harm the brain as it develops, the damage can be permanent.

Do organic baby foods contain heavy metals?

It’s important to note that organic baby foods aren’t necessarily better, in no small part because many of them contain brown rice. Many rice plants naturally contain arsenic, and brown rice has more than white rice. Over the past few years we have come to understand the problem of arsenic in rice, and both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the FDA recommend limiting rice intake for babies.

What steps can parents take to be sure baby foods are safe and healthy?

The FDA is working on doing better monitoring and regulation of heavy metals in commercial baby foods. In the meantime, it’s nearly impossible to know which are completely safe and which aren’t. Babies don’t need solid foods until 6 months of age. At that time it’s perfectly fine to give them soft table foods instead of baby foods. You can also make your own baby food, using steamed or naturally soft foods and a blender. (Storage tip: you can pour a homemade puree into an ice cube tray and freeze it, and then just grab the cubes you need each time.)

The American Academy of Pediatrics has suggestions for families to help decrease their children’s exposure to heavy metals in their food and drink:

Give your child a wide variety of different foods (the more natural colors, the better).
Vary the grains. As mentioned above, it’s best to limit rice and rice products (check labels — rice is in a lot of foods marketed for babies, like “puffs”). Try barley, oats, and other grains. When cooking rice, it’s best to cook it in extra water and drain that water off, and to use white basmati and sushi rice, which have less arsenic.
Check your water. Old pipes can contain lead, which can leach into drinking water.
Avoid fruit juices. Not only can they increase the risk of cavities and obesity, but many commercial juices also contain heavy metals.
Make healthy fish choices. Fish contains nutrients that are very healthy for the developing brain, but some fish can contain unhealthy amounts of mercury. Stay clear of big, predatory, long-living fish like swordfish, shark, or albacore tuna; it’s better to choose fish like cod, light tuna, salmon, or pollock.

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Earth's Best Organic No GEI Organic Whole Grain Rice Cereal :: Directions for Me

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Baby/Infant Specialised Foods (Shelf Stable)
Earth's Best Organic No GEI Organic Whole Grain Rice Cereal

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Description
Other Description
Nutrition Facts
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Directions

Store in a cool dry place. Use within 30 days of opening. To open: 1. Remove plastic wrap. 2. Pull at corner to peel off seal. 3. Push top tab in. 4. Pull pour spout down. Instructions: Simply mix & serve: 1. Pour desired amount of cereal in a bowl. 2. Stir in liquid (breast milk, formula or water). 3. Mix to desired consistency. 4. Serve as is or warm. 5. Discard any remaining cereal from feeding. For baby's first feeding: Mix 1 tablespoon of dry cereal with 3-4 tablespoons of breast milk or formula. Increase liquid to reach desired consistency. Gradually increase serving amount over next several feedings. Microwave guidelines: 1. Heat liquid of choice** on medium (50%) power for 15 to 30 seconds. 2. Pour and mix heated liquid thoroughly with cereal to even out temperature. 3. Test temperature before serving. ** Note: Breast milk should not be microwaved as it breaks down its composition.

Description

Earth's Best® Organic No GEI Organic Whole Grain Rice Cereal. Grown Without Potentially Harmful Pesticides Or Herbicides. 45% Daily Value Of Iron For Infants. Babies Perfect First Solid Food. Easily Digestible. Iron Fortified. No Genetically Engineered Ingredients. USDA Organic. Net Weight 8 OZ (227 g).

Other Description

All babies begin life 100% pure... feed them accordingly. From the first spoonful on, you can be sure your baby's rapidly developing little body is getting only pure, healthy, organic nutrition. We take extra steps with our cereal and all our baby foods. Organic Certified grown without potentially harmful pesticides or herbicides. Made with no genetically engineered ingredients. No added salt or sugar. No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Only whole grain. 45% Daily value of iron for infants. 10% Daily value or more of three B vitamins. Organic & made with no genetically engineered ingredients: The long term effects of potential pesticide residues are not fully understood, but we do know that the risks are real, especially for infants and children. That's why Earth's Best Organic® brings you only organic foods grown without potentially harmful pesticides or herbicides. Earth's Best Organic® is also made without genetically engineered ingredients. Iron Fortified: We fortify our cereals with iron because it is so crucial to early physical and neurological development. Whole grain natural goodness: Unlike processed grains, whole grains are not stripped of nutrients, giving your baby more naturally occurring vitamins and minerals in a gentle, digestible cereal. Introduce your baby to the whole line of Earth's Best products including organic infant formula, organic jarred baby food, 70% organic gentle baby body care and new chlorine free diapers and baby wipes. Certified Organic by QAI. All rights reserved. To receive more information on the Hain Celestial group's policy toward genetically engineered ingredients, please call (800) 434-HAIN. Comments? Call (800) 442-4221. www.earthsbest.com. ©2015 The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.

Nutrition Facts

Number Of Servings	16
Serving Sizes	4. 0 Tablespoon 14.0 Gram
Serving Size Full Txt	4 Tablespoon (14g)
Energy	50
Trans Fat	0 g
Sodium	0 mg
Carbohydrates	11 g
Dietary Fiber	0 g
Sugars	0 g
Protein	1 g
Daily Percent Of Vitamin A	0
Daily Percent Of Vitamin C	0
Daily Percent Of Calcium	0
Daily Percent Of Iron	45
Daily Percent Of Niacin	10
Daily Percent Of Phosphorous	6
Daily Percent Of Riboflavin	15
Daily Percent Of Thiamin	10
Daily Percent Of Vitamin B6	15
Daily Percent Of Vitamin E	15
Daily Percent Of Vitamin Zinc	4

Ingredients

Organic Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Electrolyltic Iron.

Distributor

Lake Success, NY 11042 USA

UPC

00023923900011

90,000 SpongeBob is now gay. TV channel Nickelodeon ranked the cartoon character as LGBT | Problem | Culture

The protagonist of the animated series "SpongeBob SquarePants" is gay. In this capacity, it was introduced by the children's television channel Nickelodeon.

In honor of the celebration of sexual diversity

The coming out of the cartoon was timed to coincide with Pride month (an annual celebration of sexual diversity, held in June).

Nickelodeon, supporting the action on the official Twitter, published a post where SpongeBob is next to actor Michael D. Cohen from Henry Danger, who is a transgender man, and Korra from The Legend of Korra, who was created as bisexual by the authors.

Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month ⁣
(by @ramzymasri) pic. twitter.com/pENmTaQB0h
— Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) June 13, 2020

Unlike the actor and Korra, SpongeBob's sexuality has not yet been officially announced. SpongeBob SquarePants animated series launched on Nickelodeon at 1999 and over the past 20 years has become one of the most popular animated television programs.

The action of the animated series takes place on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in a small fictional town called Bikini Bottom, the main characters are representatives of the marine fauna. This is due to the fact that the creator of the series Stephen Hillenburg began to create cartoons and drawings on the theme of the life of the inhabitants of the seabed while teaching marine biology at the Oceanographic Institute of California.

In addition to the main project, two full-length films about the adventures of the hero have been released so far, the third should appear in 2020.

July 7, 2009 in the New York Wax Museum Madame Tussauds appeared the figurine of the protagonist of the animated series. SpongeBob is the first cartoon character to be exhibited at Madame Tussauds.

Such a huge secret

In Russia, the show began in 2000. It was broadcast by several channels, and since 2019year, the project began to appear on the children's channel "Carousel".

It is not yet clear how Nickelodeon's current confessions of the hero's homosexuality will affect his future fate.

“To be honest, I had no idea. Theoretically, everyone can think of anything, but when I watched the cartoon, I didn’t have such associations, ”the People’s Artist of Russia Ivan Agapov , who voiced Squidward in the Russian version of the cartoon, told the Gazeta.ru portal. “Although, if they hadn’t made this statement, this would not have arisen in my brains - I don’t know, like in children’s. If we now do that, for example, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet also had some kind of relationship, then - if you rewind - you can say: "Ah, that's it." But in principle, a normal and sane person somehow does not particularly guess about this.

Apparently, the decision to make SpongeBob gay was relatively recent among the authors. In any case, the author and producer of the project Stephen Hillenburg in 2002 in an interview with the Daily Mail rejected any sexuality of the characters: “We never wanted them to be gay. I consider them almost asexual. We're just trying to be funny and that has nothing to do with the show."

"A very strange choice for an LGBT character"

There is no consensus among the English-speaking audience on how to relate to the current revelation of Nickelodeon. While some are happy that SpongeBob is keeping up with the times, others are asking questions: why is it necessary to define the hero’s sexual orientation in a children’s cartoon?

In addition, the current coming out occurred when the person who invented SpongeBob is no longer alive - Hillenburg died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in November 2018 at the age of 58.

Some commentators were quick to point out that Nickelodeon was simply misunderstood and labeled SpongeBob in the LGBT community not as gay but as asexual. But they were rightly objected that such ideological maneuvers around a childish character in any case look strange.

The Russian audience reacted more harshly to the news about SpongeBob:

“Well, well, how the Internet will surprise me this Sunday morning. Yep, SpongeBob is gay. Well, this seems to be another great victory for the tolerant society over the miserable and miserable white retrograde cisgender men. That's how I see it."

“By 2020, the world has slipped into such ... that Nicelodeon's announcement that SpongeBob is gay didn't evoke any emotion in me at all. Like: "Ok, I'll throw it into the work chat, I'll move on." Although this is a very strange choice for an LGBT character, of course."

Isn't a movie a movie now without gays?

The theme of introducing the values of the LGBT community into popular culture has been developing very actively lately. Gay heroes are claimed by the creator of Star Wars, the Marvel universe. The author of Harry Potter J. K. Rowling announced that the mentor of the wizarding school Dumbledore was gay.

In May 2020, Pixar released the first animated feature film featuring a gay character as the protagonist. The premiere took place on the Disney + platform as part of the SparkShorts program.

In a short cartoon called "Out", the main character Greg is preparing to move to the city with his boyfriend Manuel. Greg doesn't know how to announce his sexuality to his parents, who paid a surprise visit to help him pack for the move. As the synopsis summary says, "with some help from a precocious puppy and a bit of magic, Greg can make sure he has nothing to hide."

The example of SpongeBob shows that the authors, in the struggle for tolerance, are ready to create not only new gay heroes, but also to revise popular plots of the past.

I would like to believe that this fashion still will not pass to the Russian expanses. With all due respect to the fighters for equality, I don’t want children to be presented with a new look at Malysh and Carlson, at Cheburashka and Gena in the Blue Car, at Wolf and Hare, as well as at Matroskin and Sharik. Childhood must remain childhood.

Astakhov: gay couples will not adopt children from Russia

February 5, 2013

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Astakhov claims that the French authorities are already promoting homosexuality at the level of textbooks

Children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov believes that foreign same-sex couples should not be given the right to adopt Russian children.

This is how a Russian official responded to the adoption by the French Parliament the first article of the same-sex marriage law.

"This position is already expressed in our basic laws - in the constitution and the family code. It clearly states that marriage is considered the union of a man and a woman. We have nothing else. Period," Astakhov said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, published on Tuesday.

According to opinion polls, approximately 55-60% of French people support same-sex marriage, but only about half approve of the adoption of children by gay couples.

According to the BBC correspondent in Paris, Hugh Scofield, proposals to legalize same-sex marriage in France met with strong resistance, and opponents of this innovation organized a deliberate campaign in the media.

According to the Russian Children's Ombudsman, the French Ministry of Education is even implementing a standard that "assumes the promotion of homosexual families already at the level of textbooks, in which it is explained to children that a family is not only dad and mom, but it can be dad and dad, mom and mom ".

Pavel Astakhov, in turn, refers to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that "a child has the right to a father and mother."

Difficulties with adoption

In Russia, same-sex couples who want to adopt children are now forced to take care of them for one person, since this option is not prohibited by law.

However, as LGBT activist Elena Koroleva noted in an interview with the BBC, it is much more difficult to obtain custody of a child for one person than for a family. "In European countries, everything is going to the fact that these will be full-fledged marital relations, but in Russia the law does not regulate such unions in any way, which is why everything is so complicated," the activist complains.

Another activist told bbcrussian.com that today same-sex couples who raise adopted children in Russia try to hide or "not advertise" this fact, as they are afraid of guardianship authorities.

Representatives of the LGBT community also fear that with the final adoption by the Duma of the law on the prohibition of propaganda of homosexuality, this situation may become more complicated.

Controversy in Britain

A vote to legalize same-sex marriage on Tuesday is also due in the UK House of Commons, where there has been a serious split.

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The British Conservative Party Youth Coalition, Liberal Democrats and Labor are largely supportive of the initiative, but Tory traditionalists do not find favor with it.

Some Conservatives have even called on British Prime Minister David Cameron to delay voting on the bill, noting that the issue could weaken the party and damage its reputation in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

As Astakhov noted, last autumn in Britain he saw a newspaper with a portrait of Elton John with a small child in his arms, and above the picture there was a headline: "The most difficult and main question that I have to answer to my child is:" Where is my mother? "

In 2009, a British singer-songwriter living in a same-sex civil partnership was denied adoption of a child from Ukraine.