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masonshmason · 10 months

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Blitzø, BPD, and the importance of positive mental health representation

NOTE: Before I begin, I want to make it very clear that I am only one person with borderline personality disorder, or BPD. There's a spectrum of how the disorder affects its sufferers and those around them. I'm not pretending to be an expert nor do I condone any form of self-diagnosis. If you feel that you exhibit the symptoms of BPD, please contact your mental health provider or community center.

TW for mentions of depression, s****de, ableism, and self-harming behaviors. It's gonna get heavy in here. Also I have no spoons to go image hunting so I will try to avoid text walls as much as possible I'M SO SORRY

So, what is BPD?

Borderline Personality Disorder or BPD, according to the DSM-V, is "a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotion, as well as marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts".

There are nine diagnostic criteria for BPD, but I'm going to cover the symptoms that I feel in my personal opinion that Blitzø exhibits most often throughout Helluva Boss:

Emotional instability in reaction to day-to-day events (e.g., intense episodic sadness, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)

Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.

Impulsive behavior in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (in Blitzø's case these are gratuitous spending and sex)

A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by extremes between idealization and devaluation (also known as "splitting")

Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)

Insert precautionary "demons in hell, it's a comedy, etc" arguments but this is actually very important. I see so much of myself in Blitzø that even if the fact that he meets the diagnostic criteria is completely unintended by Spindlehorse, it's so important to have this level of representation as someone living with BPD.

BPD is not a "nice" disorder to have. It's not quirky, or innocuous, or cinnamon roll status, or something that is easily supported by mental health awareness allies. I would argue that no mental health disorder is. However, in the media and in some circles online, BPD sufferers are overwhelmingly stereotyped as toxic, obsessive, and sometimes even outright dangerous and violent.

I have found only one book worth its salt about BPD that speaks to the person who actually HAS the disorder, instead of directing its message to those around us--the wonderful I Hate You, Don't Leave Me by Jerold J. Kreisman and Hal Straus. Books for supporting friends and family are important too, but the vast majority of support literature reduces us to a burden inflicted upon those we care about, instead of people who feel immense guilt and shame when we lash out at people we love. Or like Blitzø, push them away out of fear of being rejected and abandoned again when we inevitably do lash out.

To have a character who not only displays the worst of the worst symptoms of the disorder and is still treated like a person, like everyone else, is so important and I am so glad to have this weird little gremlin of an emotional support imp.

#helluva boss #blitzo #mental health #weird essay idk

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yagirlpurplefox12 · 2 years

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Imagine: Being Best Friends w/Lloyd Hansen

Male Reader Insert

Lloyd Hansen x Male Reader

Thin line between platonic and romance

————————————————————————

You know he hates your guts but you’re glad on why every time you walk in the room he gives you a chilling glare. It’s because he loves you. This psychotic, narcissistic, “straight”, white male killer loves you. You’ve known each other for years—way before he joined the CIA. You went to high school together and eventually college. After, though, you both went your separate ways to only end back with each other. He had many flings while you settled down and had three kids (now 16, 13, 7). When your second child was born you reunited unexpectedly with Lloyd in Paris while you were on a business trip and sadly a year after your last child was born, you’re wife got into intense drugs. After years of trying but failing to get her clean, you filed for a divorce and got full custody of your children.

“Hey sunshine, need me to powpow Jerold?”

“Keep your bloody hands away from my babies,” you growl, already annoyed by your son and now you have to deal with Lloyd’s stupid mouth.

“What? They’re clean,” he laughs with a smirk.

“You know what I mean asshole!”

He chuckles and get’s up from his seat, limping as he makes his way. “What happened out there? Got shot in the ass?”

“Bingo.”

“Haha—wait? For real?”

He snares at you as he makes you coffee, “He got away again. Some bitch shot me in the ass with a dart.”

“Oh…well you’ll get him next time and hey, at least it was a dart and not a bullet!”

“Shut the fuck up Sunshine. Shouldn’t you be parenting right now?”

Huffing, you stand next to him and tell him of your kids whereabouts and how your day was. He listens, something no one expects him to do but considering you two have a past and have this electric chemistry, if someone wants Lloyd to hear something, they tell you to tell him.

Not like you really tell him what others want him to hear.

You’re not a messenger boy.

Just a close friend who was in need of stability and the best person to go to was your best friend.

“Here,” he hands your coffee, “I smell like shit and still sweating. I’m going to take a shower, want to join?”

“…What if I say that I do want to join? Remember Lloyd, right now I’m all about having a good time. Always been until…well…you know…”

“Yeah, I know.”

He puts his big, strong hand on the small of your back and guides you to the bathroom.

“Gotta tell you Sunshine, you’ve been in my dreams more than any man should.”

#lloyd hansen x you #x reader #reader #imagine #male reader #x male reader #lloyd hansen x reader #lloyd hansen x male reader #the gray man x reader #the gray man #lloyd hansen

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axvwriter · 2 months

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Random rabble about my twst fan ocs

Had a couple of twst fan oc ideas, but one was barely thought out and I've seen a couple of people actually make one so I've scrapped Jerold. Who'd be Jerry from Tom and Jerry. The only ideas I had for him is that he'd be a 1st year heartslabyul mouse beastman who's just tries to pull of pranks and mischief without being caught. That was it. Didn't even have a last name idea for him. So I have no problem with just dropping Jerold.

Thank goodness I write notes to myself because with my other fan oc idea, I recalled his first name correctly but I didn't recall his last name correctly. My poor memory recalled his name to be Tuck Tuckerson. Oh so close. My notes say it's Tuck Tinkerson. I've seen people already do the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, but I have an idea that might be fun plus I doubt I'll do a good job pulling from the source material.

Heck so far Paulie is based off my vague recollections of Disney's Peter Pan along with a possible small influence of Once Upon A Time's Peter Pan depiction. Lance I'm completely bullcrapping. There's no loom in Beauty and the Beast; there's no one I'm even pretending to base him off of. I just want a character who makes clothes.

Anyway thank goodness I write notes because I was going to unknowningly rename Tuck to Tuck Tuckerson. Considering how I go about thinking up names, I didn't see anything wrong with that. Heck it's possible that maybe I originally thought Tuckerson but then decided it shouldn't be that repetitive. Like naming your child Rob Robinson. Rub Robinson is clearly better- wait

#random #ramble #twst related

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suburbanlegnd · 1 year

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Thanks for the tag @kingofmylastkiss 🫶

currently reading: I hate you, don't leave me by jerold j. kreisman

favorite color: black, red and phthalo green

last song: the eternal - 2007 remaster by joy division

last movie: Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

sweet/spicy/savory: sweet!!

currently working on: making my bed lmao

np tags: @weeping-in-the-willows @poptart-cat-78 @poppy-inmyhair @astolenkiss @mosaicbroken @margolovescoffeeandbooks @xokristennichole @chloethemachine @iknowitwontwork @vigilantekarma @evermqres @handmeapendarling @moony4pads @ketterdam-snack-bar @ishouldhateyou @goodriddancedeluxe

#tagged

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melblur · 1 year

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Todays rip: 14/06/2023

Everyday Goodbyes (SiIvaGunner Band Cover)

Featured on: Stagg Street Arrangements Also on: GilvaSunner's Highest Quality Video Game Rips: Volume 7: Part mm2wood, Now That's What I Call Quality!, SiIvaGunner: Starter Kit & Essentials Cover by Chaze the Chat, Dee Leggett, The8BitDrummer, Nick Oleksiak, Can of Nothing

youtube

Yesterday, I talked about Weight Will Change (Dancing Star Night Version), a sincere, in-house vocal cover of one of the channel's most cherished Season 1 rips. In doing so I started to think of the people who have lent their vocal talents to rips, which is a rather small list of people all things considered. wolfman1405 certainly stands out and was the vocalist of said rip of yesterday, but especially in regards to the early seasons, there's one name thats inescapable: Nick Oleksiak.

Nick was always kind of an enigma on the channel, because though he didn't often sing, he often still led his uniquely strained vocal performance to more jokey rips. Through this rips and his distinct voice, he became one of the few names that were widely known and identifiable by commenters, with hardcore fans often holding small little celebrations for the small handful of genuine vocal covers he'd do over the season. Unlike other recurring jokes, it never really mounted to having a huge reaction or moving the status quo of the channel: It really was just a guy performing vocal covers for fun, and a small subset of fans enjoying their irregular appearances.

What it DID mount to was part of the Season 1 finale, the now-undone "Channel Ending", which featured a slew of heartfelt and sincere thank-you rips releasing in the last month of the channel. Of these was todays rip, which is one of the few on the channel not even attempting to disguise its intentions: It's a full cover of Everyday Goodbyes by Kara's Flowers, the band that would eventually become Maroon 5. TL;DR, Chaze the Chat was the admin and creator of the entire channel and a hugely outspoken fan of Kara's Flowers, and put together this no-nonsense cover together with other core channel contributors to celebrate the channel's "ending".

Though all these factors combined - Nick's unique yet cherished vocal performance, Chaze's burning passion for an obscure band, as well as getting help from Jerold of 8BitDrummer fame - a group of five came together to perform this cover. And for some reason, despite having no connection to Kara's Flowers beforehand...that really hit me somewhere special. Its one of those rips that I'm not sure really works outside of its buildup and context, without growing so attached to everyone involved in it and being sad over the channel's supposed end.

She tries to look happy, but is slowly running out of smiles...

#todays siivagunner #siivagunner #siiva #kara's flowers #maroon 5 #adam levine #cover #alt rock #Youtube

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7grandmel · 11 months

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Todays rip [First 30 Archive] - 14/06/2023

Everyday Goodbyes (SiIvaGunner Band Cover)

Season 1 Featured on: Stagg Street Arrangements Also on: GilvaSunner’s Highest Quality Video Game Rips: Volume 7: Part mm2wood, Now That’s What I Call Quality!, SiIvaGunner: Starter Kit & Essentials

Cover by Chaze the Chat, Dee Leggett, The8BitDrummer, Nick Oleksiak, Can of Nothing

youtube

Yesterday, I talked about Weight Will Change (Dancing Star Night Version), a sincere, in-house vocal cover of one of the channel’s most cherished Season 1 rips. In doing so I started to think of the people who have lent their vocal talents to rips, which is a rather small list of people all things considered. wolfman1405 certainly stands out and was the vocalist of said rip of yesterday, but especially in regards to the early seasons, there’s one name thats inescapable: Nick Oleksiak.

Nick was always kind of an enigma on the channel, because though he didn’t often sing, he often still led his uniquely strained vocal performance to more jokey rips. Through this rips and his distinct voice, he became one of the few names that were widely known and identifiable by commenters, with hardcore fans often holding small little celebrations for the small handful of genuine vocal covers he’d do over the season. Unlike other recurring jokes, it never really mounted to having a huge reaction or moving the status quo of the channel: It really was just a guy performing vocal covers for fun, and a small subset of fans enjoying their irregular appearances.

What it DID mount to was part of the Season 1 finale, the now-undone “Channel Ending”, which featured a slew of heartfelt and sincere thank-you rips releasing in the last month of the channel. Of these was todays rip, which is one of the few on the channel not even attempting to disguise its intentions: It’s a full cover of Everyday Goodbyes by Kara’s Flowers, the band that would eventually become Maroon 5. TL;DR, Chaze the Chat was the admin and creator of the entire channel and a hugely outspoken fan of Kara’s Flowers, and put together this no-nonsense cover together with other core channel contributors to celebrate the channel’s “ending”.

Though all these factors combined - Nick’s unique yet cherished vocal performance, Chaze’s burning passion for an obscure band, as well as getting help from Jerold of 8BitDrummer fame - a group of five came together to perform this cover. And for some reason, despite having no connection to Kara’s Flowers beforehand…that really hit me somewhere special. Its one of those rips that I’m not sure really works outside of its buildup and context, without growing so attached to everyone involved in it and being sad over the channel’s supposed end.

She tries to look happy, but is slowly running out of smiles…

#first 30 archive #season 1 #siivagunner #siiva #Chaze the Chat #Dee Leggett #The8BitDrummer #Nick Oleksiak #Can of Nothing #mellorine #kara's flowers #maroon 5 #adam levine #cover #alt rock #youtube #Youtube #Bandcamp

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sage-is-in-fact-very-tired · 1 year

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Okay! Finally I have the recent sherb lists (only from Sherbert's stream though- I gotta go check Centross' and the one heyhay mcci one today-)

《▪︎▪︎》

[FROM SHERBERT STREAM "MESSING AROUND IN THE 1.20 SNAPSHOT!"]

-Blood is still faint, but further down their face

- Maniquine (The one with C!Sherbert's fit) is gone from frame

- They open minecaft, light doesn't change

- Among Us are white and red

- Wack Music #1 (A Jack Stauber song started playing)

- Wack Music #2 (Another Jack Stauber song started playing)

- Wack Music #3 (Another Jack Stauber song started playing)

- "It's *my* music, nice." (The only music C!Sherbert listens to is Jack Stauber. Presumably this is why CCC!Sherbert refers to it as "My Music," once again referring to C!Sherbert in first person.)

- Searching up "NETH", really quietly they went, "Netherum?"

- Wack Music #4 (Another Jack Stauber song started playing)

- "I love these songs, they're my songs. I listen to them all the time."

- "Which look most like my converse?" (Refering to C!Sherbert's Yellow/Purple converse as 'my converse')

- "I can make my armor at some point" (Referring to C!Sherbert's armor in 1st person)

- Wack Music #5 (Another Jack Stauber song started playing)

- Wack Music #6 (Another Jack Stauber song started playing)

- Sherbert going "Don't take this as Canon" when trying to remember their wings name. (Implying the rest of this whole bit *is*)

- Wack Music #7 (Another Jack Stauber song started playing)

- "I won't lie, my favorite flower is a blue orchid, but it may change to this."

- Wack Music #8 (Another Jack Stauber song started playing)

- Wack Song #9 (Another Jack Stauber song started playing. This one ran shorter.)

- "Rae is gonna- Rae is gonna ascend." (Talking about the new bookshelves.)

- "Rae is gonna love these. I gotta make him some whenever I- whenever I see him again." (Again, talking about the new bookshelves.)

- "I've never speedrun before." "I've only been to the end once." "I have no idea what I'm doing."

- "It's been a long time since I've had to, I dunno, start over."

- "It's been about a year or so." (Season 2 of Fable went on for about a year before the finale.)

- "I don’t know I’ve never done this before"

- "I guess I killed the dragon that one time but I don’t know."

- "I am birb, I got my little wing ears and everything"

- "Yeah, I'll be used to the thunder, I'm not worried about that."

- "'Funky eyes,' I already have a funky eye, i cant handle more."

- "I am not used to being in a new world, kinda forgot this was a thing."

- "I guess if Momboo’s not here then it won’t rain, huh."

- "Always thunder is a lie. I geuss Momboos not here to do that, so I guess that's fine."

- "We gotta go to the moon again."(Refering to the time they played portal. (Portal!Sherbert))

- "'Turn yourself into a warden,' Uh, that's trauma."

- "I guess we're going to the moon again. I wasn't on the moon for a very long time last time, but i definitely was up there." (Portal!Sherbert)

- Sherbert seems a tad stressed (While trying to get to the moon.)

- "Last time I was here I was just kinda getting rid of a robot." (Portal!Sherbert)

- "Well I guess the dude I left up here is doing pretty good for himself." (Portal!Sherbert)

- "Honestly not the weirdest thing that has happened to me. I wont lie, I've had way weirder things happen to me. Objectively. "

- "Giant warden? But this is just going to give me trauma."

- "I got to go to the moon again." (Portal!Sherbert)

- Goes to sleep at the end, same way they end lore.

《▪︎▪︎》

[FROM SHERBERT STREAM "THIS GAME MIGHT MAKE ME CRY"]

- Blood a little further down their face

- Blood around their eye a little darker

- Scar (C!Sherbert's scar) is back

- When asked what crimes they commited, they listed some thing that C!Sherbert did.

- "Jerold where are you? I thought you left me too..." (..so many things. So many things about that sentence.)

- "At least this box is grey, i think I would be a lot worse if I was in another one of the black boxes." "'No obby.' Yeah, exactly."

- "How long is my sentence I’m not necessarily saying I want to get out."

- "I've spent time in boxes before."

- "Might rip up my clothes a little, but it's okay."

- "At least I have something to do in prison this time."

- "You know. This isn't - This isn't to far off from my communicatior.."

- "'Are things talking to right now?' I mean, sure, yeah. I'm in a prison, not sure how else you would be talking to me."

- "'Charles did it,' Yeah, probably."

- They sound nervous. Very akin to how C!Sherbert sounded when they got put in the prison

- Light Blue and Green/Lime Among us.

- "You don’t have to spend your money on games, I’m okay."

- "I've done this before."

- "Do I get out ever?"

- "Atleast not in the ones I've been in, isn't there supposed to be an outside area?"

- "I'd like to get out I probably have some people I'd like to see, maybe… Maybe…"

-"'You remember the prison?' Yeah I remember a lot of things."

-"I'm pretty sure I have people waiting for me on the outside."

-"'Time seems to go slower when in prison,' Yeah. Something like that."

-"Is that an eye? Ugh….Illuminati confirmed."

- "I'm sure they don't want my eye."

- "'What's you eye doing?' Bleeding like always."

- "You know, my communicatior didn't have games."

- "Me and a significant amount of objects that can speak-"

- "I've done things in the past, but I'm pretty sure in the past - 8 days, not the ones in here, i havent done anything that warrents prison." (The finale was 8 days ago.)

- "'Another almost happy ending.' Yeah."

- When Sherb closes the game, they sorta do their thing they do at the end of lore. (You know what I'm talking about-)

《▪︎▪︎》

[FROM SHERBERT STREAM "ADVENTURE FOR THE LIL CRAB GUY"]

- Blood seems a tad darker

- Orchids have moved (??)

- Scar (C!Sherbert's) is still there

- Among Us are Red and Orange (Differing from the last time they were on Mer - Which was Orange and Green.)

- They opened minecaft and the light changed to lime green

- "'What happened to the purple and yellow Among uss?' These are the Among Us? This is what they've always been."

- Krit finds an emerald with Quixian written on it, Translates to 'MAYBE THIS ONE?' (Ψ⦚⍔⏚⏅ ṽ⌗⌘⏄ ⍕⍔⌮ - FILTH ZAOP ULV - YBEMA STHI NEO - MAYBE THIS ONE) Presumably Quixis attempting to figure out where Sherbert went after they went through the portal. (Though, if they are in charge of the Rave-Room, presumably they do know where the portals go, and would know that they didn't go through the one to Mer after tye Fable one went out.)

- Centross walks into their room, They have a little crab-claw thingy. They click it. A lot, and Sherb goes 'It's like me, Ahhh-' (Acknowledging things IRL while also in character.)

- "'Little Itty Bitty Bell,'" Yeah, for the Bits!" (Acknowledging things IRL things in character.)

- Wack Music #1 (Not the usual ambient Mer music. At least, I don't think.)

- They close minecaft, Lights change back to yellow.

《▪︎▪︎》

#might have missed somethings #i apologize #but these lists are long #and its getting a little annoying to go back between theings and add kr delete things #so if i do cajnge anything #i will #but it probably wknt change anything here #i think that bit with netherrum was a thing only i caught #and #screaming #funky times #wacky times #fable smp #fsmp #a tag to help find my own posts

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spencersammy · 2 years

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Actually, on that last note, here was my birthday party this year: an impromptu performance of Much Ado About Nothing!

Myself as Beatrice/Verges, Keats as Benedick, Belle as Claudio, Louis as Antonio/First Watchman, Stafford as Leonato/Second Watchman, Jeremy as Dogberry, Levi as Conrade, Marissa as Margaret+Borachio combo, Jerold as Don Pedro, Timothy as Don John, Jazlin as Hero, Casey as Ursula

#and his twin brother Louis is 6'3 #captain's log #much ado about nothing #shakespeare #it was an abridged script and everyone got to use one #nobody had to have it memorized #it was like a costumed dramatic reading #with 75 costume changes because i was also Verges and apparently he ans Beatrice alternate scenes so i was RUNNING #stafford the love of my life ugh #stafford is 6'5 so yes they are enormously tall in real life #i am 5'3" on a good day #all wood swords were hand carved by me and Stafford

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xtruss · 6 days

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Some Gelatin (And For Vegans, Agar-Agar or Carrageenan) Products Contain Artificial Dyes For Bold Colors. But all dyes aren't created equal: some artificial dyes found in U.S. snacks are banned or require label warnings in some other Countries. Photograph By Robert Gutowski, Camera Press/Redux

These Common U.S. Snack Ingredients Are Banned or Restricted Abroad

From Making Our Food Look Delicious To Making It Texturally Satisfying, These Ingredients Are Hard To Let Go Of.

— By Leah Worthington | April 03, 2024

Last year, the California Food Safety Act was introduced, prohibiting the use of four key ingredients—Red Dye No. 3, brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, and propylparaben in food in the state. Studies on both animals and humans have linked these additives to possible negative health impacts.

The bill, which was amended and approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom in early October, does not take effect until 2027. Any business who violates the law would face a first fine up to $5,000 and up to $10,000 for each subsequent violation.

While these and other ingredients have been restricted (such as by being subject to warning label requirements) or outright banned in other countries, they’ve remained rampant in the American diet.

Some experts say that at this point, we should be more concerned about super processed foods in general rather than fixating on certain dyes and preservatives. Skyrocketing obesity rates is just one part of a vicious cycle of health effects connected to super processed foods.

“We’re sicker than we’ve ever been because our food is poisoning us,” says Jerold Mande, former deputy undersecretary for food safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). He added that an overemphasis on individual additives ignores the more glaring and well-studied connection between cancer and obesity.

Whether used to improve flavor, texture, color, or longevity, additives have become essential to American favorites and are hard to say goodbye to. These ingredients, some of which are included in the California bill and some which are not, are banned in some other countries or require warnings but are still used widely in the U.S.

The saying goes we eat first with our eyes—so snacks are made to be as appealing as possible. Many popular American snacks get their vivid tones from a host of synthetic dyes.

Since 1969, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of nine artificial colorants in food products, including Red No. 3 and 40 and Yellow No. 5 and 6. Recently included as part of the California bill, Red 3 shows up in some popular sweets and drinks, while Red 40 and yellow dyes give color to certain candies, as well as snacks.

Abroad, in certain countries you may not find these ingredients on labels. With some exceptions, Red 3 is banned as a food additive in Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union.

While some countries in the E.U. have decided to limit the use of certain artificial colors, the European Parliament has yet to impose transnational regulations on banning Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Red 40. However, the E.U. does require foods containing those additives to include a warning that they “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”

Some recent studies have more directly tied synthetic food dyes to negative health outcomes, particularly in children. Consumption of artificial colorants can cause hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in some kids, according to a 2021 report from California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. In 1990, in response to research linking Red No. 3 to cancer in rats, the FDA banned the dye from cosmetics and topical drugs.

For the first time since Red 3 was banned from cosmetics and topical drugs in 1990, the FDA is reviewing a petition to end the use of the colorant in foods and ingested drugs. A final decision is forthcoming, according to FDA Press Officer Enrico Dinges, who added that the carcinogenic effects of Red 3 have been “clearly demonstrated to be specific to rats” and not relevant to humans.

Some experts disagree, however. Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs at the health nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG), called the evidence tying artificial colorants to negative health impacts “compelling,” adding that any amount of risk is too high.

Treats Containing Titanium Dioxide

Artificial dyes aren’t the only additive used to make food more visually enticing. Because of its light-scattering properties, titanium dioxide can be used not only to artificially brighten whites but also make muted tones more vibrant.

Titanium dioxide, an ingredient initially included in the California bill but was later taken out prior to approval by California Governor Gavin Newsome. According to EWG’s website, currently thousands of food products for sale in the U.S. contain titanium dioxide.

Titanium dioxide has been banned as a food additive in the E.U. since August 2022. The decision was based on a 2021 safety assessment from the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA). The ingredient’s controversy stems from whether nanoparticle-sized titanium dioxide can permeate cells and damage our DNA (genotoxicity).

Though EFSA didn’t find direct evidence of genotoxicity from exposure to titanium dioxide, the possibility could “not be ruled out,” says Edward Bray, EFSA media and communications officer. He adds that experts concluded that titanium dioxide “can no longer be considered as safe when used as a food additive.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) recently issued a joint statement which did not find enough evidence showing negative health impacts from titanium dioxide on consumers. “This is an example that the current system in place is working and underscores the argument that there is no need for individual states to take action,” says Sarah Gallo, vice president of product policy at the Consumer Brands Association (CBA), an industry trade group opposing the California bill.

Australia, New Zealand, and Canada have declined to regulate titanium dioxide, citing insufficient evidence of toxicity in humans. In a 2022 safety review, the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) concluded that “there is currently no evidence to suggest dietary exposure to food-grade titanium dioxide is a concern for human health,” according to an agency representative.

The FDA is currently reviewing a petition to ban titanium dioxide, which had been unchallenged since it was declared safe in 1973. In March, a coalition of five public health advocacy organizations, including the EWG, called on the FDA to rescind its approval of titanium dioxide.

Packaged Baked Goods Containing Potassium Bromate

It’s not just brightly colored snacks where additives come into our diet. Potassium bromate, an additive banned by the California bill signed into law, is a slow-acting oxidizer that has long been used in flour to strengthen and increase the rising potential of dough.

First used as a bread dough conditioner in 1916, Dinges says, potassium bromate is still used in certain packaged baked goods, such as in some hamburger buns and dinner rolls.

Certain studies have shown that regular consumption of potassium bromate can have toxic consequences in both rodents and people. In 1991, potassium bromate was listed as a potential carcinogen under California’s Proposition 65, which requires a warning label on any products containing more than certain levels of the additive.

In the U.S., potassium bromate usage has declined significantly since 1991, when the FDA asked companies to voluntarily pull it from their recipes. However, because the flour additive is considered “prior sanctioned” (meaning, substances approved for specific uses in foods prior to September 6, 1958), it’s not regulated by the FDA as a food additive, Dinges says . Facing two pending citizen petitions, the FDA is currently “gathering data on industry practices and use to help determine whether action on potassium bromate is warranted,” he adds .

Dinges says that, when used properly, “potassium bromate converts to harmless potassium bromide in the finished food product,” a claim corroborated by Rasma Zvaners, vice president of government relations for the American Bakers Association (ABA). The FDA and ABA worked together to “ensure that bromate residues are well below level of concern for public health, ” Dinges says. According to the EPA, potassium bromide “poses a low toxicity hazard. Its oral toxicity is well known and is very low.”

“Even though potassium bromate at the amounts used in baking may subsequently prove to be of little or no concern, the baking industry still needs to take the necessary steps to reduce any possible bromate residues in finished products to safe levels,” according to Zvaners. “ABA has worked with the FDA to…improve baking technology and testing so that the ingredient is used in a way that minimizes residual bromate levels to ensure safety.”

Abroad, the compound is categorized as a group 2B carcinogen, or “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the European Chemicals Agency classified potassium bromate as a group 1B carcinogen, meaning it is “presumed to have carcinogenic potential for humans.” Since the 1990s, certain countries around the world have banned potassium bromate as a food additive, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, and the E.U.

Faber says potassium bromate is “a perfect example of a chemical that companies will continue to use until the regulator tells them that they cannot.” But given the existence of dough strengthening alternatives like ascorbic acid and azodicarbonamide, Faber called the debate around the safety of potassium bromate “silly.”

Living With Current Regulations

George Gray, a professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University, posits the results of years of research hardly show these ingredients to pose significant health risks, especially at the low levels permitted by the FDA.

Many players within the food industry believe the FDA’s current regulations are sufficient. In a 2023 statement opposing California’s recently passed legislation, the American Chemistry Council’s Titanium Dioxide Stewardship Council described the bill as “as an overly broad and unnecessary burden on consumers, manufacturers, and regulators.” The CBA also sees it as government outreach. Gallo says the law “preempts ongoing federal reviews of additives” and “sets a dangerous precedent for circumventing our country’s science and risk-based reviews that prioritize consumer health and safety.”

As government agencies and the food industry butt heads over regulation, much of the onus around healthy eating continues to fall on the consumer. Thomas Galligan, principal scientist for food additives and supplements at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), advises consumers to consult ranked lists like CSPI’s Chemical Cuisine Ratings. And check your labels: most of the ingredients mentioned in this article are required to be listed. (There are exceptions, however. Titanium dioxide, for example, can simply be listed as “artificial color” or a similar term.)

Ultimately, “choosing a healthy diet that's rich in nutritious foods, nutrient dense foods, as recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans should be everyone's first priority,” he says. “Mitigating or reducing your exposure to harmful additives is an important consideration after that fact.”

#Science #Snake Ingredients #Banned #Restricted 🚫#Abroad #Making Food | Delicious #Texturally Satisfying #Addiction #Obesity #Cancer ♋️#Food 🍲 🥘 🍱 | Food Culture

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jolieeason · 1 year

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WWW Wednesday: March 15th, 2023

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading?What did you recently finish reading?What do you think you’ll read next? I am not doing a personal or reading/blog section this week. I have been and still am super busy these past couple of weeks. I will be back to normal updates within the next couple of weeks (I…

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#C.J. Archer #Even the Moon Has Scars #Jerold Last #meme #Peril in Paradise: A Roger and Suzanne Mystery #She Who Became the Sun #Shelley Parker-Chan #Steph Campbell #The Fake #The Glow of the Dragons Heart #The Watchmaker&039;s Daughter #Willa Hart #WWW Wednesday #Zoe Whittall

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6ghassan · 2 months

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Dubai Marina by Jerold Paterson Via Flickr: I arrived at the start of the blue hour but couldn't really find a spot for a composition I liked or was a bit 'new'. Finally gave up and went for a bit to eat at the food court on top of the Dubai marina shopping mall and couldn't find a place to sit, so went outside. This is the view from there.... Found a shot at last but the sky has turned black. Photo details: Exposure 3 sec at f/5.6 (ISO 200), Camera E-M1MarkII with a OLYMPUS M.12mm F2.0 lens at 12mm. (Photo by: Jerold Paterson, copyright ©2023 all rights reserved)

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jacobsvoice · 1 year

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Visiting the Temple Mount: Much Ado About Nothing

Jerold S. Auerbach

This past week, The New York Times ran an ominous sounding headline: “Hard-line Israeli Minister Visits Jerusalem Holy Site; Palestinians Seethe.”

What made them seethe? Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s new minister of national security in the Netanyahu government (identified as an “ultra-nationalist”), had the temerity to make “a provocative visit” to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s old city. As its name suggests it is the site of the ancient Jewish temples, millennia before Islam existed to challenge it. But Times correspondent Isabel Kershner reported that Palestinian leaders were provoked by the visit into “a furious reaction.” Why? Because Muslims claim the Mount as exclusively their own.

Ben-Gvir’s visit (at 7 a.m.) lasted less than fifteen minutes, time enough for him to condemn “racist discrimination” against Jews who are prohibited from praying on the Mount. But that was long enough for the Palestinian Foreign Minister to condemn it as “an unprecedented provocation” and a “flagrant assault.” Rather than dismiss this absurdity, Kershner cited Ben-Gvir’s visit as an example of ”the uncompromising approach to the Palestinians that has been promised by the new [Israeli] government.” Worse yet, it comes “at a time of growing violence in the occupied territories.”

Kershner did not identify (Palestinian) responsibility for the violence. Nor did she note that “occupied territories” are a favorite Times misnomer, to which she contributes, for Biblical Judea and Samaria. To her credit, however, she is aware that the Temple Mount is “the holiest site for Jews” – but only “the third holiest for Moslems.” Yet while Jews and non-Moslem tourists are permitted to visit, “they are not supposed to pray there.”

To understand why not it is necessary to return to the Six-Day War (1967), when the Israeli army reclaimed the Western Wall and Temple Mount – a joyous moment in Jewish history. But it quickly became a self-inflicted Jewish calamity. No sooner had Lt. General Mordechai Gur proudly proclaimed that “the Temple Mount is in our hands” than Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, meeting with Moslem leaders, agreed that while Jews could visit the Mount only Moslems could pray there. Astonishingly, Dayan had surrendered the holiest Jewish site: the Temple Mount had become the Mosque Mount

The Biden administration, predictably, has affirmed that capitulation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that “disruption to the historic status quo at holy sites” could undermine the prospect of a two-state solution – which, he fails to notice, Palestinians have repeatedly rejected. Jordanian King Abdullah II warned of a conflict if Israel attempts to change the status of the Temple Mount. Other Arab states – Saudi

Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – have also condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit. Even the Israeli Supreme Court has capitulated, having ruled last year that the Temple Mount must remain a Mosque Mount, where Jews may visit but cannot pray. They are only permitted to visit the Mount during designated times and must walk on a defined route. Why, it might be asked, should the government of a Jewish state accept the exclusion of Jews from their ancient holy site to appease Palestinians who, if they had the opportunity, would expel Israelis from their Biblical homeland?

Nor is this the first time that an Israeli government has surrendered an ancient Jewish holy site. Following the horrific 1994 massacre by Dr. Baruch Goldstein of 29 Arabs at prayer in the Machpelah burial place of the Biblical patriarchs and matriarchs in Hebron, Jews have been prevented from praying in the magnificent Isaac Hall where the rampage occurred, except for several days annually.

Palestinians, to be sure, are free to claim any ancient Jewish holy site they wish. It is, however, revealing of their own brief history as a self-defined people that they must embrace Jewish history in the ancient Land of Israel – especially holy sites in Jerusalem and Hebron – to bolster their identity.

Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount is hardly trespassing. His claim that the Temple Mount is “the most important site in the world to the Jewish people” may be “provocative,” according to the Times. But millennia of Jewish history in Jerusalem justify his claim, no matter how offensive it may be to Israelis on the political left – and to The New York Times.

Jerold S. Auerbach is the author of twelve books, including Print to Fit: The New York Times, Zionism and Israel 1896-2016, selected for Mosaic by Ruth Wisse and Martin Kramer as a Best Book for 2019

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