Gatorade

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/gatorade-listens-to-a-teen-and-changes-its-formula/?ref=health

PepsiCo announced Friday that it is removing an ingredient in Gatorade after many consumers have complained about the ingredient. Brominated vegetable oil has been used in citrus versions of the drink to prevent the different flavorings from separating. Studies have shown that there are several possible side effects, like neurological disorders and altered thyroid hormones. The petition was started by Sarah Kavanagh, a 15 year old girl from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. PepsiCo has stated that they have been testing alternatives for the chemical for about a year due to feedback from customers, but has not found a serious health risk with B.V.O. It will be replaced by sucrose acetate isobutyrate, which is said to be more safe by the Food and Drug Administration. B.V.O. Is banned as a food ingredient in Japan and the European Union. The ingredient is also present in other drinks such as Mountain Dew, which they say they have no plan in removing it from.

I personally do not like having big long named ingredients and drugs in my foods. I've always tried to keep an idea of what. But this took me by a surprise like a lot of other things have in the past. My dad has told me that in some parts of Europe brominated vegetable oil is used in fire retardants, which scared me a lot. I'm greatly relieved that they are taking this out of the drink, and it's one step closer to banning it from our foods and drinks like it has been in Japan and the European Union.

Algerian Conflicts

Article Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/world/africa/algeria-militants-hostages.html?hp&_r=0

Video Link: http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/01/18/world/africa/100000002013034/algerias-response-to-a-hostage-crisis.html?ref=africa#100000002013034

 A gas-producing complex in Algeria was taken over by attackers and many people were taken hostage in the past week. The Algerian military has recently announced that the complex has been liberated from the attackers. The death toll, however, has been steadily rising. A senior Algerian official said that “a good twenty” more bodies were found at the plant on Sunday. So far their has been confirmed 23 dead hostages, but that number is expected to continue rising. Over a dozen hostages are still missing as of Sunday, and many of the bodies have yet to be identified. The attackers were a multinational group from six countries that have not yet been given out to the media. They were believed to have connections to Al Qaeda in Northern Aftrica. So far there have been 32 identified dead attackers. The total number of people that were taken hostage is still unknown, but several were American. The Algerian government has been greatly criticized of late for one, using very aggressive tactics against the attackers and also for not consulting many Western leaders before making military action that involved hostages from their countries.

I am very, very, very glad that this hostage crisis is ended. Whenever I think of things like this I wonder how I would feel if it were one of my family members or friends that was a hostage. I wouldn't want anyone else to have a feeling like that. I'm relieved that the people are free now, but my heart also is heavily weighed down by the number of people that aren't able to go home. Over 20 people are dead, many of them Americans. What also bothers me is that the Algerian government took action against the attackers without even consulting the other countries that were involved. A global threat like this has become should be dealt with globally and not as single countries.

About Me

About Me

I was born in Burnsville, Minnesota and grew up in Lakeville and in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area. We didn't live far from my mother's parents and visited them often. We lived in Lakeville through first grade for me and then we moved here to Omaha where my dad's parents live. I went to Trinity Christian School, now Lifegate, for second and third grade. I attended Boyd Elementary through sixth grade, and then McMillan Magnet Center for seventh and eighth. I have two brothers and one sister. I am the oldest and one brother is in 8^th grade and the other is in 5^th grade. My little sister just turned five years old. I've played basketball since I was in second grade and played football through eighth grade. I love to go camping, hunting, water skiing, and just generally being out on a lake. That is probably the one thing that I don't like about Nebraska compared to Minnesota and that is the lack of lakes.