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The pizza box, not just the pizza, is health hazard, FDA says
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The classic brown pizza box is as hazardous to your health as the gooey saturated fats inside it, the FDA said this week. Its filing will likely force restaurants to devise new ways to package pizza for take-out and delivery. - photo by Jennifer Graham
Bad news for pizza lovers: The Food and Drug Administration says the classic cardboard pizza box is almost as bad for us as the gooey, saturated fats that sit inside it.

The FDA announced this week its intention to ban the use of three chemicals commonly used to make pizza boxes and other food packaging. There is no longer a reasonable certainty of no harm from exposure from the chemicals used to keep grease from seeping through pizza boxes, the agency said.

The chemicals, also used to make microwave popcorn bags and pet-food packaging, are diethanolamine salts, pentanoic acid and perfluoroalkyl substituted phosphate ester acids, The Blaze news website reported. A public comment period is required and will run through Feb. 3.

In its filing at the Federal Register, the FDA said the chief danger posed by the chemicals is biopersistence, which The Blaze calls the accumulation of the chemicals the body isnt able to digest completely.

The FDAs action came after years of lobbying by environmental and health advocacy groups that include the Center for Food Safety, the Breast Cancer Fund, the Childrens Environmental Health Network and the Center for Food Safety. They had formally petitioned the FDA to ban the chemicals in October 2014, noting that much of the harmful packaging is manufactured overseas and shipped to the U.S.

This week, however, the groups said the action is too little, too late, and called for the FDA to more aggressively address toxins in additives and packaging.

This is another egregious example of how, all too often, regulatory actions under the nation's broken chemical laws are too little and too late to protect Americans' health. Congress needs to ensure that chemicals that make their way into food, either as deliberate additives or as contaminants from packaging and other outside sources, are thoroughly investigated, Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook said in a statement to Bloomberg News.

And Erik Olson, director of the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) health program, told Food Safety News that the FDA's action is "just a first step."

"Now it should act on our petition to ban the seven other chemicals we believe and government agencies such as the toxicology program at the National Institutes of Health have found cause cancer, Olson said.

So far, there's been no response from the nation's leading pizza chains, who are gearing up for the No. 1 pizza delivery day of the year: Feb. 7, Super Bowl Sunday.
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Have You Seen This? Street musician slays with clarinet
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Better than almost every face-melting guitar or drum solo. - photo by Facebook video screenshot

THE BIG EASY — Yeah, yeah, we all know that New Orleans is stuffed to the gills will incredible musicians.

But knowing that fact and then hearing that fact are two different things. You can step into any number of jazz clubs on any given night on Bourbon Street, and you’ll probably be impressed with virtually every act. Or you can sit at home on your comfy couch and watch this featured video.

In the video, you’ll see a woman who is in the groove. She is swinging hard, and wailing on her clarinet with a practiced expertise that makes it sounds so easy.

From note one you’ll be drawn in; your appreciation will grow with every second, and then your face will melt off when you realize how incredible she really is.

If you’ve never played a woodwind or a brass, you may not know everything that comes with a performance like this. Lung capacity and breath control are huge factors in keeping your notes clear and loud, and hitting those high notes is especially difficult.

So when this woman hits that high note and holds it for several seconds, you know you’re dealing with an exceptional musician. It means she has worked hard for years to develop skill on top of her natural talent, and we get to benefit.

It kinda makes you wonder how we let people get away with mumble rap and autotune when talent like this exists in the world.

I wish this video were longer, and I wish I had more information about this woman, but as it is, we’ll just have to appreciate the little flavor of New Orleans jazz posted by the Facebook group Clarinet Life.

Martha Ostergar is a writer who delights in the ridiculous that internet serves up, which means she's more than grateful that she gets to cruise the web for amazing videos to highlight for your viewing pleasure.
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