Author: patd

Washington Post:
‘Large and extremely dangerous’ tornado rips through Kansas, causing multiple injuries and ‘catastrophic’ damages

A “large and extremely dangerous” tornado carved a path of destruction through parts of northeastern Kansas on Tuesday night, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a “tornado emergency” for several counties and the heavily populated Kansas City metropolitan area.

No fatalities have been reported, but at least 12 people suffered storm-related injuries and more than 13,000 were left without power, according to the Kansas City Star. While the full extent of the damage remains unclear, photos and videos from affected areas show what has been described as “catastrophic” scenes. The tornado is the latest product of a pattern of severe weather that has ravaged the central United States in recent days, devastating parts of Oklahoma, Ohio and Missouri.

The Guardian:

Banned bread: why does the US allow banned additives that Europe says are unsafe?

Give us this day our daily foam expander. It may sound odd, but in America, you may find in a loaf of bread ingredients with industrial applications – additives that also appear in things like yoga mats, pesticides, hair straighteners, explosives and petroleum products.

Some of these chemicals, used as optional whiteners, dough conditioners and rising agents, may be harmful to human health. Potassium bromate, a potent oxidizer that helps bread rise, has been linked to kidney and thyroid cancers in rodents. Azodicarbonamide (ACA), a chemical that forms bubbles in foams and plastics like vinyl, is used to bleach and leaven dough – but when baked, it, too, has been linked to cancer in lab animals.

Other countries, including China, Brazil and members of the European Union, have weighed the potential risks and decided to outlaw potassium bromate in food. India banned it in 2016, and the UK has forbidden it since 1990. Azodicarbonamide has been banned for consumption by the European Union for over a decade.

But despite petitions from several advocacy groups – some dating back decades – the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still considers these to be Gras or “generally recognized as safe” to eat, though plenty of experts disagree. [continues]