Irish watchdog likely to recommend that energy drinks are not consumed by children

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   Irish watchdog likely to recommend that energy drinks are not consumed by children

 

Food safety watchdog Safefood has been asked by the Department of Health of review research on the negative health effects of energy drinks.

Research by the World Health Organisation (WHO) this month found that energy drinks will become a significant public health problem if their use among young people is not addressed through a cap on caffeine levels and restrictions on their sale and marketing.
In response to a parliamentary question from TD Billy Kelleher, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said his department had asked Safefood to consider the current evidence and advise his department.
Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, who is Safefood’s Director of Human Health & Nutrition, told TheJournal.ie that two main health effects of these drinks have been recorded in research so far:

A marked increase in blood pressure
• Excessive calorie intake.

“Obviously there are other issues as these products are taken with other substances – specifically alcohol or drugs – and that has been implicated in some serious incidents including suicides,” she explained.
She said an option to request that these drinks are not served in bars and clubs alongside alcohol is “in the mix for consideration” but stressed that it is too early to say what the watchdog will be recommending.
Consumption
Research has shown that levels of consumption of these products are high and are on the rise. A European food safety report in 2013 found that 30% of adults consumed these products, with 16-20% of people drinking them four to five times a week.
Previous recommendations by Safefood in 2002 regarding these drinks included a warning to the public that caution should be exercised when consuming them with alcohol. They also recommended that marketing should be “without ambiguity or association with sport,” Foley-Nolan noted.
“I don’t anticipate that they will change,” she said. It is also expected that the watchdog will recommend that these drinks are not consumed by children. Lithuania banned the sale of energy drinks to anyone under 18 earlier this year and has been encouraging other European countries to follow suit.
“Guidelines are different from policy obviously,” Foley-Nolan added. “We will do what we can to clarify matters and I think fair dues as it’s an important issue”.
It is expected that Safefood will pass its recommendations to the department before the end of the year.

Nigerian dad sues US school after daughter is banned over Ebola fears

A Nigerian father (pictured above) has sued a school in the US, Connecticut elementary school, saying his 7-year-old daughter was discriminated against and banned from school for 21 days based on irrational fears of Ebola because she attended a wedding in Nigeria.

From Reuters

Stephen Opayemi filed the lawsuit in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut. He asked a judge to order the schools in Milford, Connecticut, to immediately permit his daughter to return to her third-grade class.

Opayemi's daughter has not experienced any symptoms associated with Ebola and her health is fine, but parents and teachers were concerned she could transmit Ebola to other children, the lawsuit says.

The school

"We're hoping this will get her back into school as soon as possible," the girl's mother, Ikeolapo Opayemi, said in a brief interview at their home.

Although the mother declined to discuss details of the lawsuit, citing the advice of the family's attorney, she said they had lived in Milford for more than six years. Asked if she was surprised by the school system's actions, she nodded in agreement.

Nigeria had 20 Ebola cases and eight deaths this year before the World Health Organization declared the country Ebola-free on Oct. 19. The epidemic is centered in three other West African countries, where about 5,000 people have died: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Connecticut third-grader, Ikeoluwa Opayemi, traveled to and from Lagos, Nigeria, between Oct. 2 and Oct. 13, according to the lawsuit. Her father, a native of Nigeria, also went.

Jonathan Berchem, the Milford city attorney, said he had not seen the suit and could not comment on it. Elizabeth Feser, the school superintendent, did not return a call requesting comment but said in an email she had not been served with the suit.

African communities in the United States have reported an increasing amount of ostracism since the Ebola epidemic began. At least two speeches by Liberians have been canceled by U.S. universities, and a college in Texas refused admission to Nigerian students over worries about the virus.

A neighbor of the Opayemi family, Prashant Batil, said his 6-year-old plays often with Ikeoluwa and that he believed the school system was overreacting.

"The parents are extremely responsible people, and if they say she does not have Ebola, I would have no reluctance for my daughter to play with her," Batil said in an interview.

Opayemi's suit was filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The law prohibits discrimination based on someone having a physical or mental impairment, or on the belief that someone has such an impairment.

Milford officials refused the father's offer to have both himself and his daughter screened for Ebola, the suit says.

According to the suit, a city health official said in an Oct. 15 meeting that the risk of the girl infecting anyone was minor but that she ought to be quarantined because of rumors, panic and the climate of the school.

City and school officials told Ikeoluwa not to return to school until Nov. 3, the suit says.

The case is Ikeoluwa Opayemi v. Milford Public Schools and City of Milford, U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, No. 3:14-cv-01597.

Family fights for life after puffer fish dinner

A Brazilian family is in a critical condition after eating one of the world's deadliest fish for dinner.

The Souza family cooked and served up the puffer fish, which a friend had caught during a day's fishing.

 

Family fights for life after puffer fish dinner

However, they were all unaware that the fish contains a toxin 1200 times more lethal than cyanide, a drop of which can kill within 24 hours.
The 11 members of the family became violently ill just seconds after they took their first bite of the meal.
Everyone in the family, including four children under the age of six, started to vomit and lost the feeling in their faces, legs, and arms and then became totally paralysed.
Christiane Souza, whose husband Jose Augusto ate the fish, said she invited the whole family to what she thought was going to be a delicious fish feast.
"The fish looked so tasty so we invited the whole family. We fried it and everyone tucked in," she told Brazil's RJ TV.
"They were all saying how delicious it was. I didn't eat it because I was waiting until everyone had tried it.
"My husband was the first to say he couldn't feel his tongue, then his face, and then his arms. Then his legs went dead and he couldn't stand up anymore. It was terrifying."
Grandmother Maria Do Carmo didn't eat the fish either, and said her grandson, daughter and son-in-law were all fighting for their lives.
"We're praying for a miracle," she said.
Puffer fish is considered a delicacy in Japan, but chefs have to undergo two years of training before they are permitted to cook the fish to customers.
There is no known cure for the poison, which paralyses and suffocates the victims while they are still awake, The Metro reports.