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Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

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JD Vance calls for toning down political rhetoric, while calls for his resignation grow because of his own comments. The Secret Service again faces intense criticism, and a right to IVF is again voted down in the US Senate.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Study: What We Eat Linked to Learning Disorders

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Monday, November 23, 2009   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - As Americans prepare to sit down this week to what for most people promises to be one of the biggest meals of the year, a new study says children's diets could be undercutting their brain power. The study shows a link between such diet-related factors as synthetic food dyes, mercury contamination and mineral deficiencies, and increases in child learning and behavioral disorders.

Study co-author Dr. David Wallinga, director of the Food and Health Program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), says the study cited evidence that many common processed foods including high-fructose corn syrup, contain mercury. Dr. Wallinga says the legal loophole that allows food companies to put mercury-containing food ingredients in children's diets needs to be closed.

"We've got rising numbers of kids with chronic diseases and learning disabilities, and we don't know why. So, part of this model is saying, 'Are there things in the food and in the environment that may be contributing?' Yes there are, and we can do something about that."

The IATP is working to reform the way toxic chemicals are regulated nationally to help ensure a healthy food system. Dr. Wallinga says we need to get back to a diet with more healthy, whole, unprocessed foods.

He says that, with increasing health care costs, it's critical that public policy updates our regulatory system for chemicals and food.

"The government regulations, as they stand now, make it possible to make high-fructose corn syrup with food chemicals that are contaminated with mercury, and there's already other ways to make those chemicals. So, it's a little silly that we are still using this outdated mercury technology, but we are."

Wallinga says the average American gets about one in 10 calories from high-fructose corn syrup, which can leave people deficient in zinc.

The study is at
www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com


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