2008

Canned Food D.C. United announced today plansto collect canned food and non-perishable food items throughout themonth of June to benefit the Capital Area Food Bank and Children ofMine. Each month during the 2008 Major League Soccer season, D.C.United will collect items at every home game to benefitpre-determined non-profit organizations within the Washington, D.C.area. Fans who donate an item will receive a "Buy One, Get One Free"ticket voucher, redeemable for that day's match or any other 2008regular season home game, excluding the L.A. Galaxy game on June29. Items will be collected at United's four June home games: June4 versus the Houston Dynamo, June 14 versus the New York Red Bulls,June 22 versus the San Jose Earthquakes and June 29 versus the LAGalaxy. The collection bin is to be located outside RFK Stadium's Gate A,and is open from two hours prior to the game until 15 minutes afterkick-off. Donations are also accepted in the D.C. United offices,located on the fourth floor of Gate A. This season marks theseventh year of the United Drives campaign, which collectsmuch-needed items to help with each beneficiary's mission. ? ? ?

The Globe/CTV testing found traces of the substance in every one of14 samples of canned goods, with levels as high as 18.2 parts perbillion, in tomato sauce, and 17.9 ppb in canned apple sauce. Several of the readings exceeded what Health Canada found this yearin its own tests on canned liquid infant formula. The latter causedthe federal agency to say it would work with baby food makers totry to lower the levels. Last month, Health Canada also said it intends to ban polycarbonateplastic baby bottles, which are also made from the chemical, andput bisphenol A on the country's toxic substances list - the firstcountry in the world to take such action - based in part onconcerns that exposure to infants didn't provide enough of a safetymargin. Bisphenol A, or BPA, is the subject of major scientific controversybecause the synthetic chemical is able to mimic the hormoneestrogen in living things, and has surprised researchers by beingbiologically active at exceedingly small concentrations. There is a growing body of recent scientific literature, based onanimal experiments, linking exposures around or below HealthCanada's tolerable daily intake of 25 micrograms per kilogram ofbody weight, to adverse health outcomes including chromosomaldamage to eggs in ovaries, prostate cancer, breast cancer andabnormal brain development. Under the Health Canada daily exposure standard, established in1995, a child would have to drink about 28 litres a day of aproduct such as apple juice containing the amounts found by TheGlobe and CTV to exceed the safety limit, according to an industryestimate provided to the news organizations. But the lowest-dose animal experiment to date, a 2005 study atBoston's Tufts University, found a daily exposure - equivalent to ahuman drinking less than half a cup of juice in the Globe/CTVsurvey - was enough to double the milk ducts in rodents. These types of findings have led some researchers to be concernedabout even the relatively small amounts leaching from canned foods. "Am I concerned? Absolutely, because babies consuming that amountare clearly in harm's way," said Frederick vom Saal, a professor atthe University of Missouri who is considered one of the leadingauthorities on BPA and whose laboratory conducted the can tests forthe two news organizations. By his count, there are about 40 laboratory studies that have foundadverse health outcomes from BPA around or below Health Canada'stolerable daily intake, or maximum safe exposure amount. Dr. vom Saal contended that Health Canada's exposure standard isflawed because it sets the same safety limit for all ages, eventhough young children and fetuses don't have the same capability asadults to metabolize BPA into a harmless form. But Health Canada's Mr. Godefroy said government scientists lookedat the level as part of its recent risk assessment and concluded achange wasn't needed.

Roasted Bean Coffee What it makes: From its location on Division Street in northeast Bellingham,Tony’s roasts the coffee beans it imports from around theworld. Each source provides a different tasting bean, so thecompany tries to educate customers about how each place producesthe variance in taste, said Wendy De Jong, vice president anddirector of coffee, sales and marketing. For example, Tony’s buys coffee from Sumatra, Indonesia,which is known for beans that produce coffee with a smooth tasteand low acidity. But De Jong traveled to a northern province inSumatra and discovered beans that produced coffee with higheracidity and honey and cherry notes in its taste. De Jong said thetaste difference is attributed to the northern province’shigher altitude, as well as different growing processes. “We talk about the taste of place,” De Jong said.“We talk about making sure the coffee is really showing whatwas great about its growing.” Volume: The company annually purchases 1 million pounds of coffee beans,which go to roasting facilities in Bellingham and San Jose, Calif.,De Jong said. Marketplace: De Jong said the roasted coffee is distributed throughout thePacific Northwest and in Northern California. In Whatcom County,the company sells its coffee at Haggen Food & Pharmacy, FredMeyer and the Community Food Coop, and it has had a coffee shop inFairhaven for years. Production process: Coffee beans are put on an elevator and dumped into the roaster,which applies heat to the beans for 13 to 16 minutes. Darkercoffees are roasted longer than lighter ones, De Jong said. Afterthey’ve been roasted, the beans fall into a cooling tray,where they rotate until they reach room temperature. If the beansaren’t at room temperature in four minutes or less, they willhave cooked too long and will taste poor. Once cooled, the beans are sucked up in a vacuum, which will removeany rocks or objects that were packed in with the beans. The beansthen fall once more, where they can be bagged, boxed and shipped.Tony’s uses bags that have oneway valves that allow theroasted beans’ carbon dioxide gas to escape without allowingoxygen to seep in. This allows customers to get the freshest coffeepossible, De Jong said.