Kellogg’s said the packages were recalled because it identified a substance in the package liner that can “produce an uncharacteristic waxy-like off-taste and smell.” They were caused, the company said, because of elevated levels of a common substance that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in packaging. The Environmental Working Group identified the substance as methylnaphthalene, a petroleum-based product.

From an EWG press release: “This compound, methylnaphthalene (methyl-NAP-tha-lene), has been the subject of major, on-going government and oil industry testing and information-gathering initiatives to identify potential safety issues and fill basic data gaps, according to an Environmental Working Group (EWG) analysis of the scientific literature. Kellogg’s has not publicly identified the chemical but provided the information to EWG in response to our inquiries.”

The EWG did a little research on methylnaphthalene and didn’t find much info, but what it did find is troublesome. For example, four years ago the FDA asked for “toxicology information” about the substance. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said it wasn’t easy to get exposure to it unless you lived near a hazardous waste site. Wow.

So we don’t really know very much about a substance that is commonly detected, according to the EWG’s press release, “cigarette smoke, diesel and gasoline engine exhaust, wood smoke, tar and asphalt.” We do know, however — according to the same EWG research — that “methylnaphthalene causes lung damage when exposure occurs via inhalation, ingestion and skin contact. Mice given feed containing 0.075 percent or 0.15 percent of 1- or 2-methylnaphthalene for 81 weeks had lung damage known as ‘pulmonary alveolar proteinosis,’ marked by abnormal lipids, proteins and fluid in the lung.” And to date no one — no agency or organization — has set safe limits for the chemical. And yet there it is in cereal marketing to and made for children.

I don’t know about you, but that completely and totally ticks me off. Completely and totally. The EWG is calling for the FDA to do its job and actually “investigate and regulate all chemicals that make their way from cardboard boxes, plastic bags, metal cans and coated papers into our breakfasts and our bodies.” I say that’s a good place to start.

Does this recall affect what you’ve been buying for breakfast? Do you worry that the FDA isn’t taking our best interests to heart? What can we do to make our food safer? How can we best work with companies like Kellogg’s and other food manufacturers to ensure they are thinking about our safety? I’d like some answers.

This post is my participation in Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Fridays — two awesome campaigns to get people eating real food again. Would love to hear any tips you might have to help keep kids focused on eating. What super-yummy, high calorie foods can you suggest? I’d like to know.

This morning, I was honored to spend time on the phone with Sarah DeFeo and Audra Moran of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Sarah is the organization’s director of scientific affairs; Audra is its CEO. We talked about detection, prevention and ways you and I can get involved. Here’s a transcript of our discussion:

KB: Who is most likely to get ovarian cancer?

Sarah: With many cancers, they appear at any time at any age. Cancer doesn’t discriminate for the most part. Ovarian cancer is a little different, though. The vast majority of people who get it are post menopausal women 55 years and older. We also know that women with certain risk factors get it, too.

KB: How many people get the disease?

Sarah: The current stats say that 22,000 American women will be diagnosed this year with ovarian cancer, and approximately 15,000 will die of the disease.

KB: How can you tell that you’ve got the disease? What are the warning signs?

Sarah: It’s tough, because you don’t have much in the way of symptoms. Plus, right now there’s no method of early diagnosis, which means far too many [people] are diagnosed in late stage disease. If ovarian cancer is caught early at stage 1 or 2 it can be treated effectively and the treatment is quite high.

KB: How can we change that? Why aren’t more women diagnosed earlier?

Sarah: It’s tough because there’s nothing like a pap smear or a mammogram out there for ovarian cancer detection. However, there are early warning indicators. Many women with ovarian cancer report that they did have symptoms, but they didn’t recognized them as ovarian cancer. [These] women had things like abdominal bloating — some women notice their pants seem too tight around the waist — difficulty eating or feeling full quickly. They might not have a desire to eat. Urinary problems are another symptom. Having to go frequently or having problems with urgency. The hard part is any women could read these symptoms and at any time and say, “Oh my God. I am bloated, I have ovarian cancer!” Any woman could have these symptoms at any time and they are nothing. The key is if these symptoms are new and unusual for you and they persist, you need to get them checked out. If you have these symptoms for two weeks, three weeks go to your doctor and be sure to ask about ovarian cancer.

KB: Won’t my doctor or midwife think I’m nuts if I say I think I have ovarian cancer?

Sarah: It’s worth being explicit especially when the symptoms are vague. We hear stories about women who bounce around the medical system for a few months before getting a diagnosis, and that’s what we want to avoid. For example, if symptoms are basically GI problems, a woman could end up going to a gastroenterologist. You need to say it because even though we hope a gynecologist would think to check for it, if it is a younger woman, it might not be top of mind for that doctor if the patient doesn’t appear to have warning signs.

KB: I get a sonogram of my ovaries when I go for a regular checkup. Why doesn’t every doctor or midwife do that?

Sarah: For many doctors the concern is it would lead to some unnecessary treatment. If you screen 100 people you might find something in a few of them. So the next thing you know you’re performing potentially risky surgeries on women.

KB: Why is it so important for people to get involved and donate to ovarian cancer research and organizations like the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund?

Sarah: We’re the largest non-profit in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to funding ovarian cancer research. (There are some government sponsored research programs going on, too.) We’ve been around for 15 years, making grants for 12 years. In that time we’ve made a big impact on the field. Not only in moving the science forward but also helping to grow ovarian research itself. Most people don’t know this, but scientists they will go where they can find money to do research. So if there is no money out there for ovarian research but tons of money for prostate cancer research they will go and do the prostate cancer research instead. What we’re doing is helping them get working and encouraging them to stay in the field.

KB: How can women protect themselves from ovarian cancer?

Sarah: Be proactive about looking for signs of cancer. Also, be extra vigilant if you have any of the risk signs: increasing age, if you have a family or personal history of breast cancer, if you’ve never had children. Oral contraceptive use significantly reduces risk, as does breastfeeding and multiple pregnancies.

KB: How can I get involved?

Audra: There are plenty of ways. You can donate to the fund right on our website. We’ve also got an online shop where vendors have donated beautiful items for purchase. And right now Electrolux, though Kelly Ripa’s Kelly Confidential site, will donate $1 for every banana split you make online.

Do you have someone in your family who is affected by this terrible disease? How do you protect yourself from cancer on a daily basis? Let’s hear it!

In the morning we hit Trader Joe’s to get some snacks and stuff we needed for the weekend. We had just gotten into the car to go home when Big Girl held her leg up in midair and asked me to look at “all the red bumps all over it.” I looked into the backseat and my heart dropped. She was covered in a rash. It was worst on her legs, but she had some on her arms, on her face, on her chest, too. Sigh. I called the doctor and got an appointment for 2:30. And of course we canceled our trip to the bash.

At the doctor’s office everything seemed to check out. He couldn’t find anything wrong with her. No fever. No swollen glands, no redness in the throat. Her ears were clear. He decided to do a quick strep test, though, just to be sure nothing was brewing. Sure enough, Big Girl’s rapid strep test came back positive. The spots were most likely caused by the strep infection. (Vomiting, headache, body aches and throat pain are also symptoms.) And the fact that her nose wasn’t running and she wasn’t coughing was another tell-tale sign. If your nose is dripping and you have the signs of a cold you’re probably harboring a virus — not a bacterial infection.

My husband is convinced she picked it up at the local amusement park. We went there with her Daisy troop on Wednesday. The incubation period for strep is two to five days, so that’s about right. She’s feeling better now. Her spots are fading, and she feels great. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that no one else gets it.

Hey, look up at the top of the screen. See my new tab, Reviews? Well, I am reviewing stuff. Hope you’ll take the time to read it. Also, I’m trying to move up in the TopMommyBlogs rankings. I’m at number 290 right now. Can you vote for me, please? You can vote every day. I do…

I finished the story and just feel terrible. Every day it seems like there is another report and another study linking our environment to negative health problems. And every day companies and organizations such as the Vinyl Institute and the American Chemistry Council — even pro-health organizations such as The American Cancer Society — come out and tell us not to worry. It will all be okay. The researchers don’t know what they are talking about. The studies are all wrong. It’s just really depressing and disheartening.

So today, a day late, I am ending my post with a haiku. (The WordCount Blogathon asked participants to write haikus yesterday. I forgot.)

It is the money
That trumps our health and wellness
We should be ashamed

And…

Chemical exec
A place is waiting for you
In hell and it’s free

And…

I cry for our kids
What are we doing to them
We need to stanch it

And…

Money can’t buy health
It can buy lawmakers though
A very sad state

Please let me know if I messed up the moras or anything. I haven’t written haiku since fourth grade. And since I love participation: How about adding a haiku of your own? Oh, yeah. And see that little brown square to the right? The one that says Top Mommy Blogs? Click on it and vote for me? You can vote every day to help me move up on the list.

The organization assessed 17 different perfumes, which listed “fragrance” on their labels. On average, there were 14 different unlisted ingredients in each of the perfumes. The reason: manufacturers are not required to list the chemicals they use to make perfumes fragrant. And some of the perfumes had many more than average. For example, American Eagle Seventy Seven had 24 unnamed ingredients, Coco Mademoiselle Chanel had 18, and Britney Spears Curious and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio both had 17 unnamed ingredients. Almost 2/3rds — 66 percent of the ingredients — have not been tested for human safety. “According to EWG analysis, the fragrance industry has published safety assessments for
only 34% of the unlabeled ingredients,” says the report.

From the report: “The fragrances tested contained, on average, 10 chemical sensitizers, which can trigger reactions such as asthma, wheezing, headaches and contact dermatitis when they are breathed in absorbed into the skin.” (Check out page 9 of the report to see the full list of chemicals.)

It’s not like this all over the world, though. In fact, it seems like the folks in Europe are better protected than those in the States. In Europe, there are 26 ingredients that must go on the label if they are in perfume. According to this week’s report, those 17 perfumes tested by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics had 22 of those ingredients. And 12 of the 17 perfumes tested also contained phthalates: diethyl phthalate, known as DEP, specifically. Phthalates are hormone disruptors that mainly affect the reproductive organs and the brain. Nasty little chemicals. Not something you’d want to be rubbing on your skin or inhaling into your lungs.

An April 2010 study out of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University has linked prenatal exposure to phthalates found in personal care products and perfume to childhood ADHA. Another Mount Sinai study linked phthalates to early puberty in girls. This is a big deal, according to researchers, because it may cause a higher incidence of breast cancer later in life: “”Exposure to these chemicals is extremely common,” Dr. Mary Wolff, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Oncological Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “As such, while the association between chemicals and pubertal development seems small, the impact on the overall population is significant.”

So what’s the take-away? We, as consumers, should be able to avoid phthalates and chemicals that have the potential to hurt us. We can’t do that unless we can see everything that goes into the products we buy. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics wants Congress to rewrite the Federal Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1973, forcing the perfume manufacturers to list every chemicals that’s in a perfume or cologne. It’s tough, though, since the FDA lacks the authority to make this happen. I agree something has to change. What do you think?

Do you wear perfume every day? I don’t — only on special occasions — but this still scares me. My girls have been lying on my mom’s chest since they were born. My mother-in-law’s, too. They “smell like Grandma” when both grandmas leave.

The report explains that, in 2009, more than 1.5 American men, women and children were diagnosed with cancer, and 562,000 died. The experts on the panel seem to think that environmental risk factors are “grossly underestimated.” Here’s an excerpt from the study:

“With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, many of which are used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or understudied and largely unregulated, exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread.” The report then went on to mention bisphenol A (BPA) specifically.

Babies and kids, according to the report, are extremely sensitive to environmental toxins. One of the biggest sources: agriculture. “The entire U.S. population is exposed on a daily basis to numerous agricultural chemicals, some of which also are used in residential and commercial landscaping. Many of these chemicals have known or suspected carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting properties. Pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides) approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contain nearly 900 active ingredients, many of which are toxic.” Many of the pesticides have fillers and inert ingredients, too none of which are required to be tested as to how they might contribute to people getting chronic diseases or long-term illnesses such as cancer. HOW can that be true? How can it be allowed? But it is true, and it is allowed. The report makes that very clear.

The report’s main message is that we need a nation-wide plan to eliminate or reduce the environmental risks out there. In the meantime parents MUST take care of their kids, especially. One of the subheads in the report was pretty clear on this point: “Children Are at Special Risk for Cancer Due to Environmental Contaminants and Should Be Protected.”

It even calls for pregnant women to be more careful, saying babies today are born “pre-polluted” since so many contaminants can cross the placenta. It suggests we find green alternatives to many of the chemicals in use. Until that happens we can take steps to protect ourselves by buying organic — eliminating many of those pesticides criticized in the report. We can also avoid household chemicals by buying green, non-toxic cleaning supplies, and stop buying air fresheners. Clothing and furniture can be toxic, too if it is treated with flame retardant chemicals, so read your labels. Another huge, necessary change: saying no to plastic food storage and packaging. When the government repeatedly says something, in this case BPA, is bad, it’s probably a good idea to avoid it at all costs. Finally, try to keep kids away from chemically-treated lawns and gardens to reduce the number of fertilizers and herbicides they are exposed to. (And yes, it’s absolutely worth going up and talking to your school district about what they use on their laws, in the schools and on the playground.)

I’m impressed that the government is finally telling the public the truth about the chemicals in our lives. Now that it’s in our faces and obvious it’s up to us to do something with this information. It’s up to us to take care of ourselves and our kids.

Do you have a family member with cancer? Do you think there is an environmental link between that disease and the illness? What, if anything, are you going to do with this information?

Vitamin D comes from two main sources: Sun exposure and certain foods like milk and fish. Most days I am locked up like a veal in front of this computer or slathered with sunscreen so I’m not getting my recommended daily allowance of rays. Meanwhile, I don’t drink milk or eat fish. This means my body probably isn’t keeping my bones as strong as they should be. It also means I am compromising my health unnecessarily since, recently, researchers discovered that Vitamin D helps the immune system ward off disease — little sniffles as well as the big C. (Cancer to you and me.)

When our bodies don’t have enough Vitamin D, our T-cells — the body’s big guns when it comes to fighting infection — can’t react the way they should, according to a March 2010 study out of the University of Copenhagen. From the press release: “…when a T cell is exposed to a foreign pathogen, it extends a signaling device or ‘antenna’ known as a vitamin D receptor, with which it searches for vitamin D. This means that the T cell must have vitamin D or activation of the cell will cease. If the T cells cannot find enough vitamin D in the blood, they won’t even begin to mobilize.”

Other studies from this year separately link low levels of Vitamin D to skin cancer, increased body fat and low muscle strength, and heart- and stroke-related death.

The USDA’s 2005 Nutritional Guidelines suggest that women get about 1000IU of Vitamin D daily. (This is a LONG guide, but if you search ‘Vitamin D’ the chart showing the recommendation is the second instance of the term.) One cup of milk provides 38 percent of your daily needs. As I mentioned, I don’t drink milk. Strike one. And milk is really the best option for me since I flat out don’t eat fish.

I’m going to go to the drug store later on and get some Vitamin D supplements. I’m also going to call my dermatologist and ask him what he thinks about the risk/reward ratio when it comes to sunshine. I am so fair I glow. I’m not kidding. Add in the fact that, as a child, my skin took a beating, and I’m not sure it’s worth it to go out sunscreen-free to get my Vitamin D. But I’m also not sure store-bought supplements are enough. So while I’m figuring this all out I’m going to drink a glass of milk. My T-cells and bones, I’m sure, will thank me, but my poor family, who has to deal with my lactose intolerance, will not. (TMI, I know!)

Perfect example: This week my close friend, the one who holds the Seders every year, got some terrible news. Her mother has ovarian cancer. This terrible diagnosis comes on top of the already-heavy load she’s carried for the past five years. You see my friend’s husband has multiple myeloma, a serious blood cancer. He’s been in remission but his numbers are going up, which means the cancer might be coming back. Tomorrow she’ll spend the entire day at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Her mom’s appointment — where she’ll find out a treatment path — is at 9:45. Her husband will get the results of his blood tests in the early afternoon. It sucks.

We spent an hour on the phone last night. I tried to keep her from going to the Bad Place. My friend has an amazing and enviable relationship with her mom. Her mom is her rock. When she is nervous about her husband she can always turn to her mom. Now both of her rocks are ill. How can she make it through with both of them sick, she wanted to know. I didn’t know what to say. It’s just not fair. (And it makes my husband’s intestinal issues seem like a splinter, right?)

During our chat I tried to tell her to remain calm. Not to think the worst. The reporter in me had to look up and report back on all the amazing trials that are going on for those suffering with multiple myeloma. (There are more than 180 in New York State; 61 of them are still actively recruiting.) Then I told her about some of the excellent work that’s being done for ovarian cancer. Intra-abdominal chemotherapy, where they bathe the stomach cavity with chemo while blasting more chemo into your blood stream is getting good results, for example. And the five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer is no longer as dire as it once was. Almost half of the women diagnosed today will live for more than five years. And as a woman, you can do things to boost your own survival rate. A study that came out earlier this month links diet with long-term outcome. Women who ate well had a “survival advantage” over those who didn’t. My friend’s mom is a fighter. She’s going to do everything she can. She’s going to eat right. She’s going to have the best doctors. I don’t even have to think about which side of that 50 percent she’s going to fall into.

Anyway, as you go about your day today, please think good thoughts for my friend and her family. And while you’re at it, send a little love my husband’s way, too. He’s going for a test to see if he’s got long-term damage in his intestines as well as check to see if that fourth surgery he had in February actually worked. In fact, if you pray, say a prayer for everyone. I don’t think God has any pull when it comes to who gets sick or who gets better, but I do think that the power of our minds and our energies combine and can elicit change. Let’s make a little change for my friend’s mom Mrs. S., her husband Mr. B., and Mr. S, my hubby.

p.s. For the portion of my readers who are, at this minute, saying, ‘What the heck!?! This blog is supposed to be about food and health and chemicals and high fructose corn syrup. What’s with two blogs in a row related to religion?’ I say this: This blog is not turning into a religious blog. I promise. Again, I’m not even that religious. Religion and sex are the two things you’re not supposed to talk about and I keep doing both. Sorry, and tomorrow we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled complaints and gripes.

My doctor admonished me, telling me toddlers were sometimes like puppies. They would keep eating for the sheer fun of eating. “Cut her down to one bowl. That’s all she needs,” my doctor said. She said she didn’t want Katelyn, who from birth had always been 95th percentile for height and 50th for weight, to end up at 95th percentile for both height and weight. (That month she had crept up to 75th percentile for weight.) I listened to my doctor’s advice and watched Katelyn’s weight level out at her next check up.

When I told some of my friends they questioned my doctor’s advice. Cutting back her breakfast was tantamount to putting her on a diet, they said. If she was hungry she obviously needed the calories. I thought about it some more and decided my doctor was right. A 15-month-old should not be eating three bowls of dry cereal in the morning. Heck, a 15-year-old shouldn’t be doing that, either. Turns out my doctor may have helped us dodge the obesity bullet.

Harvard University researchers this month published a study that says that risks for obesity may start while a child is in the womb, which is why obesity prevention should probably start then, too.

According to research, moms who gained more than the recommended amount while pregnant had kids who — at age seven — were 48 percent more likely than their peers to be overweight. This varies depending on how much a woman weighs before she gets pregnant, but it’s typically between 15 and 35 pounds, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Whether or not they got gestational diabetes also impacts childhood obesity.

Here’s where my doctor helped me out: Researchers found that babies who gain a lot of weight during their first few years and are disproportionate — they might be in the 25th percentile for height but the 75th for weight — often end up being overweight as children. Starting solids before four-months-old, and not sleeping enough were two other obesity risk factors that were identified, too. (We didn’t have these problems since Katelyn had the thrust reflex until six or seven months old, and she’s always been a phenomenal sleeper unlike her mom, thank goodness.)

Today Katelyn is still on that 95/50 percentile ratio. Her sister is, too. I won’t stop them from having an occasional second bowl of cereal if they want it, but Katelyn especially very rarely wants it. Every once in a while she’s ravenous in the morning, but most days she’ll rush out the door after eating her cereal telling me she’s full. (Usually as I am trying to get her to eat a little yogurt, too.) I think it’s because she’s in the habit of eating about the same amount every day. So thank you, Doctor, for letting me know I was making a mistake. Thank you for not being afraid to tell me the truth. One day Katelyn will appreciate it.

What do you think about limiting what kids eat? How about solid foods? Is there such a thing as giving kids food too early? Let’s hear it.

Get with a group. Having friends is fun, but it can also help you stave off the common cold, according to a study published in Scientific American Mind. When you spend time with good friends your immune system gets a boost, a good excuse to go out for a drink or spend a little time gabbing, no?

Wash your hands. Almost seems stupid to call this one out, but boatloads of researchers agree: Washing your hands is one of the best ways to prevent illness. Make it a habit to wash your hands as soon as you come home, and wash after shaking hands or before touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.

Eat your veggies. Lots of them. A summer 2009 study found that pregnant women who ate at least seven servings of fruits and vegetables daily seemed to moderately reduce their risk of catching an upper respiratory tract infection (better known as a cold).

Drink your milk. Milk is one of the best sources of vitamin D. A February 2009 study found that those people who were deficient in this vitamin were 40 percent more likely to report being recently sick. “People with the lowest blood vitamin D levels reported having significantly more recent colds or cases of the flu,” according to the study. While more work needs to be done to make a direct correlation between vitamin D and wellness, getting your recommended daily allowance of the stuff certainly can’t hurt, right? Here’s a good chart to see how much you need every day. (Scroll down a bit to Table 2.)

Do you have a cold? If so, drinking tea — but not too hot since it can increase the risk of throat cancer — can help you feel better. Tea — green tea in particular — contains antioxidants, seems to reduce the risk of diabetes, improves bone health, helps reduce the risk of periodontal disease, and just plain feels good.

Want to win a big basket of Celestial Seasonings teas? Please leave me a comment telling me what symptoms you usually get with a cold along with your name and email address. One reader will win the following:

• Four wellness teas to ease symptoms associated with the cold and flu – Sleepytime Extra, Echinacea Complete Care, Tummy Mint.
• Two green teas to support a healthy immune system year round – Authentic Green Tea and Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea
• A mug, soothing lip balm, honey sticks and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Bear
• The book “Herbs for Health and Happiness” by Mo Siegel and Nancy Burke

This gift is coming to one of my readers courtesy of Celestial Seasonings — I am not being paid for this. It was just a cool offer so I thought I’d pass it along.

So…tell me about your worst cold. What was it like? How do you usually deal with a cold? How do you avoid them? FYI about the giveaway:
Contest ends at noon pacific time on 3/17/10. Winner will be determined by random.org. Winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.