For all the struggle consumers go through to get accurate, complete nutritional product labeling, sometimes detailed labels still leave us in the dark. Who can make heads or tails out of that chemical soup? "I speak English, and some Spanish, but I could not pronounce half the words on food labels and quickly realized that the ingredients on food labels tell us very little," confesses Dwayne Ratleff.

So the sole owner/employee of a San Francisco housekeeping service decided to clean things up himself, researching and creating a $1.99 iPhone/iPod app that provides details on more than 1,500 food additives. Don't Eat That cuts through what Ratleff calls the "eastern urban elite Martian dialect" of labeling language to offer food product definitions, safety standards and research information from the United States and other countries. The data resides on your device, so there's no need for an internet connection while you puzzle things out in the grocery store aisle.

Ratliff's sources include the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), Codex Alimetarius, the American Cancer Society, the International Agency For Research On Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and web sites including Celiac.com. Empowering consumers to make their own decisions about the ingredients they eat is the point. "Err in your favor," urges Ratleff. "If you do not feel comfortable with the science backing the safety of an additive, avoid it, especially if there are alternative sources."

(Photo credit:iLoveButter, flickr)

Prepare yourself: The holiday season is a full contact sport. Packed shopping malls, family gatherings, bustling airports, hectic grocery stores, the party circuit ... No matter how you look at it, you're going to be in close proximity to the unwashed masses over the next month or so—and unwashed they're sure to be, unless there's some new handwashing trend we haven't spotted yet. Frequent, thorough handwashing remains your best defense against catching whatever bug is going around in your neck of the woods. But when you can't make it to a sink with soap, sanitizing lotions can help fill the gap.

Hand sanitizers aren't magic elixirs. They don't remove chemicals you may have picked up on your hands (such as fire retardants from that brand new electronic gizmo you just unwrapped), so hand-to-mouth chemical transfer at mealtime could still be an issue. Sanitizer ingredients—including the harmful ones such as fragrances and antibacterial agents—remain on your skin after use, giving them the chance to become fully absorbed into your body. (Eww.) We recommend passing up that ubiquitous bottle of Purell and reaching for something with more natural, nurturing ingredients.

Two products we like:

• Clean Well makes a completely alcohol-free, Triclosan-free formula that still claims to kill 99.99% of harmful germs on contact, including MRSA, E. coli and Salmonella. Available in small spray bottles or as wipes, it's kid-safe (no harmful ingredients if kids get some in their mouths), cruelty-free (no animal testing) and 100% biodegradable.
• Surya Brasil sanitizers are a good choice if you prefer the reliable germ-killing properties of alcohol (which can be drying to skin when used frequently). The rest of the ingredients, which include júa and açai and are all from renewable resources, are certified organic through Eco Cert. Even more remarkable is what's not inside: no mineral oil, parabens, petrochemicals, carbomer, synthetic fragrance or artificial coloring. This product is also cruelty-free.

(Photo credit:lusi, SXC)

Is the very food we eat making us sick? Mother of four and food allergy crusader Robyn O'Brien thinks so. In The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food is Making Us Sick—and What We Can Do About It, she lays bare the largely unregulated tie between Big Food and Big Money here in America. It's a shocking revelation—and one we think is so important that we're giving away three autographed copies to Super Eco readers.

A Houston native from a conservative family, this MBA and married mother of four was not someone who gave much thought to misguided government agencies and chemicals in our food—until the day her youngest daughter had a violent allergic reaction to eggs, and everything changed. O'Brien's research digs deep:

• What every American consumer needs to know about genetically modified foods (and what consumers around the world already know)
• The truth about so-called "government" and "university" studies on the effects of food production methods (largely unregulated studies that are often funded by the food industry itself)
• Substances (from artificial colorings to high fructose corn syrup) that are banned in Europe but rife in the American food supply
• Recipes and an action plan for weaning your family off dangerous chemicals one step at a time

Get your own signed copy directly from the publisher. All you have to do is make a comment on this post, below, using a valid e-mail address by 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Giveaway for U.S. residents only, please. We'll choose three commenters via Random.org and contact the winners via e-mail. Good luck—and here's to healthier foods!

(Photo credit:Random House)

There's nothing fishy about fish oil supplements. A new study shows that Omega-3 fatty acid supplements may boost brain power—a benefit roughly equal to having the learning and memory skills of someone three years younger, according to researchers. This finding lands atop established research showing that DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) in fish oil can lower triglycerides, slow the buildup of arterial plaques and lower blood pressure.

But stinky, slimy fish oil ... Gulp. Really? Yes, really. Similar benefits have been touted for ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) found in nuts and vegetable oils, the scientific evidence is less compelling and the benefits may be less pronounced.

Supplements also allow you to dodge concerns about mercury and PCB contamination in fish. Contaminants aren't much of a concern in quality-controlled products, notes a recent report in The New York Times, and the Environmental Defense Fund offers a page where you can review quality tests of dozens of U.S.-manufactured fish oil supplements.

Not a fan of fish? A good supplement gets the medicine down with no stinky smell or slimy taste at all. We recommend Nordic Naturals—a little pricey, admittedly, but impeccably clear of contaminants and free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives as well as gluten, yeast and dairy derivatives. Not only is the taste and smell inoffensive, but even picky eaters and kids who balk at pills and liquids give a thumbs-up to the children's products. (We know a certain little girl who comes running, squeeing with delight, at Omega-3 Fishies time.)

(Photo credit:laszlo-photo, flickr)

I would not put an anti-bacterial agent like Triclosan on my countertop, no less in my mouth!

Yet there are mouthwashes and toothpastes that contain Triclosan and many other harmful agents. I was recently surprised to find that alcohol in mouthwash has been linked to oral cancer.

Good oral hygiene, like flossing and brushing throughout the day--each day--is so important to maintain good health.

 You can achieve that “fresh” feeling, naturally, here are some tips and links that you may find helpful:

1. Support Eco-friendly toothpaste companies that support the environment by not polluting it via you and your daily oral hygiene. Companies that do not include Triclosan, Parabens, Artificial food colorings and Artificial sweeteners in their formulations.
   
2. When brushing turn the water off and hum a little two-minute tune in your head. Two minutes is recommended as a good amount of time to brush and you definitely do not want the water running that long.
3. Use earth and mouth friendly mouthwashes to gargle, if gargle you must. I like to gargle with simple salt water each day, it is very soothing.
4. Recycle or re-purpose your toothbrush when it is spent. There are so many wonderful uses for old toothbrushes!
5. Support companies that do not test on animals, our fine furry friends will be ever so grateful!

Keep those pearly whites "green" and have an ever so beautiful day!

(Photo credit:jelene on flickr)

What's in a name? At cosmetics megastore Sephora, suspiciously little. Despite a high-profile Natural & Organic initiative featuring more than 1,400 products and 30-plus brands, Sephora's naturals appear to be more (greenwashing) style than (green) substance. With its own dodgy definition of the term "natural"—the "Naturally Sephora" seal—the company has managed to loop green-leaning consumers into meaningless semantics ... and some very not green products.

The problem with the term "natural" is that it's essentially meaningless; there's no set definition of the term. Neither the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nor the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate what a cosmetic may or may not contain in order to be labeled as "natural."

In fact, Sephora has come up with its own definition. "As you probably know, the term 'Natural' is not regulated by the FDA (meaning any beauty product can use that term, no matter what it contains!), so we formed an internal committee that worked hard to set our own Natural standards," says Sephora on its blog. "And here are the results: Our Natural products contain fewer to no parabens, petrochemicals, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate and synthetic fragrances and dyes."

"Fewer" hazardous chemicals—does that sound natural to you? It didn't to Slate, which listed Sephora among its four biggest enviro-scams. And it didn't to Terri Bly at Feelgood Style, who tore into Sephora's claims with the zeal of dyed-in-the-wool cosmetics fan who's simply begging to be proven wrong. Bly found ingredient lists packed with petrochemicals, parabens, synthetic fragrances ... toxins ranked moderate to high in the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep cosmetics database.

For now, Sephora continues to hole up behind the green screen of its own definition of what's "natural." But until consumers can get straight answers and clear labeling, better safe than sorry: check every product and brand against the EWG database, and don't be hornswoggled by a meaningless store certification.

(Photo credit:EWG Skin Deep cosmetic safety review)

I'm a big fan of cheat sheets. People seem to think of writers as people who become experts in their fields of specialty, soaked in all those interviews and explanations and facts and figures. While it's true that we do soak up a lot when we're immersed in one field or topic for any length of time, I tend to think of us more as librarians. It's our job to put our fingers on the facts our readers need. For me, if I move on write about similar material, it's all good—but if I shift to a different topic altogether, it may not be long before I can no longer rattle off those top 10 lists from memory.

Enter cheat sheets. Cheat sheets help you make savvy choices even if you can't remember all the details. It's like being a librarian: you don't have to know all the information in the world, just how and where to find it. And with cheat sheets—wallet and cell phone tips for buying eco-safe fish, pocket guides for which produce to buy organic and which is safe to buy conventional, even the best green books for kids—you're not stuck flopping about in front of store displays, desperately trying to remember which product is the healthy choice and which one is made with the nasty stuff.

If you're like me, you need something fairly global for the grocery store, something that steers you around the vicious labeling tricks. Here's some ammunition: Super Eco's list of the Top 20 food additives to avoid.

1. acesulfame-K
2. artificial colors Blue 1,2; Red 3; Green 3; Yellow 6
3. artificial flavorings
4. Aspartame
5. BHA
6. BHT
7. brominated vegetable oil (BVO)
8. high fructose corn syrup
9. hydrogenated oils and trans fats
10. monosodium glutamate (MSG)
11. Olestra
12. potassium bromate
13. propyl gallate
14. propylene glycol
15. saccharin
16. sodium nitrate and nitrite
17. sulfites
18. sulfur dioxide
19. THBQ
20. Xylitol

(Photo credit:Matthew Bland, flickr)

If you’re sucking on an artificially raspberry-flavored candy, you might want to spit out before reading on. All done? Good. Here comes the bad news: that wanna-be raspberry tang you love probably comes from a beaver’s back end, technically his anal glands. Mmm, tasty!

Essence of beaver behind isn’t really all that far off from sweet, sweet bee spit, which most of us happily lap up in honey. Disgusting animal (and human) bodily leftovers lurk in a motley crew of prefab foods. Then there's the gritty stuff—tar and sand (silicon dioxide). While we’re at it, let’s add pucker face sweets like Nerds and Good ‘N Plenty to the list of processed junk that puts bug guts and other nauseating ingredients (crushed cow ovaries!) on the tip of our tongues. Um, 'last I checked, pregnant horse pee isn’t kosher.

Here, have a heaping taste of five more hidden nasties lurking in junk food (you know you want to):

1. L-Cystine—aka human and animal hair, or, more precisely, amino acids derived from them. It’s used in breads, croissants, bagels, donuts, melba toast, etc. Bonus: cow horns and chicken feathers also put that special hairy something in pizza crust.
2. Beetle juice—slippery secretions from the Lac beetle. We know it as confectioner’s glaze—that shiny coating on “time release” pills and candies like Skittles and M&M’s. Those poor Laccifer laccaso bugs are the reason they “melt in your mouth and not in your hand.”  Would you eat wood finish and vinyl records too?
3. Coal tar—aka Blue No. 1 food coloring, a carcinogenic additive already banned in most European countries. But the FDA still thinks its safe for Americans??? Nerds Rope, Jelly Belly beans, Skittles, M&Ms and an ocean of blue drinks/sodas, yogurts and ice creams are also all tarred-up.
4. K-Carmine—aka E120 or Crimson Lake. The blood red hue comes to us care of dried, then boiled female cochineal bugs. The sacrificed buggers are in candy, yogurt, soda, lipstick, blush, paint and pen ink.
5. Lanolin—greasy yellow earwax-like secretion from sheep and other wool-bearing animals. We smear liquid wool grease and sweat on our bodies after showering (lotion), and we chew it in popular bubble gums, too.

You know what they say: You are what you eat. I don’t know about you, but I’m all set with "being" anything that oozes from pores, human or animal.

(Photo credit:robstephaustralia's, flickr)

The peanut butter scare, the pistachio scare, the ground beef scare ... People seem awfully scared of food these days. Yet a potentially even more alarming food scare has been building for years, rarely reported and often dismissed as too "radical" to be true: Is there a link between the dramatic rise in childhood allergies and our increasingly "engineered" approach to food production?

Robyn O'Brien, a mother of four and food allergy crusader, thinks there is—and she exposes how and why in her new book, The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food is Making Us Sick—and What We Can Do About It. The Unhealthy Truth is both the personal story of how O'Brien learned to cope with life-threatening food allergies in her children and a larger exposé of the largely unregulated tie between Big Food and Big Money.

• What every American consumer needs to know about genetically modified foods (and what consumers around the world already know)
• The truth about so-called "government" and "university" studies on the effects of food production methods (largely unregulated studies that are often funded by the food industry itself)
• Substances (from artificial colorings to high fructose corn syrup) that are banned in Europe but rife in the American food supply

I first met O'Brien last year when I was researching an article on the effects of chemical exposures on children. Many might describe her as "savvy, "whip-smart" or a "firecracker"; I think those terms just might be a polite understatement. O'Brien began investigating the truth about what's in America's food supply after her youngest daughter nearly died from an allergic reaction to eggs. I found it telling that while she's been hailed in the media as "the Erin Brokovich of food," the real Erin Brokovich has actually weighed in: "You don't have to be a doctor or a scientist to look into whether our food supply is safe, and Robyn O'Brien's courageous pursuit of The Unhealthy Truth is an example of how we can all do our parts to protect the health of our families."

Read more about food allergies at O'Brien's web site, Allergy Kids. The Unhealthy Truth goes on sale May 5.

(Photo credit:Random House)

Her lard, said the woman behind the pork at Sweet Briar Farms, wasn't white enough. A recent convert to using lard from well-cared-for animals in my cooking, I was at her farmer's market booth to buy another package of leaf lard to render into the fat known for its excellence in pie crusts (and my fave for sautéing veggies). She showed me a can of her rendered lard; it was snowy white and smooth and lovely. She had been trying to sell the lard in stores, but the USDA told her she needed to add a chemical whitener.

"It's white!" she said, laughing when I asked, shocked, if the USDA really governs the color of our food? "Yes!" The nitrates required for bacon, she said, were to make it pink (you'd have to request nitrate-free bacon specially if you wanted to buy it from her). She's applied for an exception; if she can't get it, she says, she won't offer the lard in stores. "I told them I was selling natural pork products," she said, "I'm not going to add chemicals." Sweet Briar raises pork in the most environmentally-conscious way possible, using heritage "Duroc" pigs and eschewing antibiotics and all other feed additives.

What is this? Does the USDA really govern the color of our food? It does. A search turned up this regulation from the USDA [pdf link], which describes the characteristics required to label a product as lard. "Products... must have the following identity and quality characteristics to insure good color, odor, and taste of finished product: (1) Color ... White when solid, Maximum 3.0 red units in a 5 1/4 inch cell on the Lovibond scale." Our government is making sure we don't buy foods that aren't the right color, no matter how many chemicals are required in the execution of this vital duty. Unless you're buying direct from a farmer, that lard you're using probably has both a chemical whitener and preservatives to keep it shelf-stable. And you can thank the USDA.

(Photo credit:sarah gilbert)