Eurozone Chief says - Savers will be raided to save euro in future crises - Spain, Italy, and others -

Eurozone Chief says - Savers will be raided to save euro in future crises - 
Spain, Italy, and others - 


Savings accounts in Spain, Italy and other European countries will be raided if needed to preserve Europe's single currency by propping up failing banks, a senior eurozone official has announced.

The new policy will alarm hundreds of thousands of British expatriates who live and have transferred their savings, proceeds from house sales and other assets to eurozone bank accounts in countries such as France, Spain and Italy.
The euro fell on global markets after Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch chairman of the eurozone, announced that the heavy losses inflicted on depositors in Cyprus would be the template for future banking crises across Europe.
"If there is a risk in a bank, our first question should be 'Okay, what are you in the bank going to do about that? What can you do to recapitalise yourself?'," he said.
"If the bank can't do it, then we'll talk to the shareholders and the bondholders, we'll ask them to contribute in recapitalising the bank, and if necessary the uninsured deposit holders."
Ditching a three-year-old policy of protecting senior bondholders and large depositors, over €100,000, in banks, Mr Dijsselbloem argued that the lack of market contagion surrounding Cyprus showed that private investors could now be hit to pay for bad banking debts.

"If we want to have a healthy, sound financial sector, the only way is to say, 'Look, there where you take on the risks, you must deal with them, and if you can't deal with them, then you shouldn't have taken them on,'" he said.
"The consequences may be that it's the end of story, and that is an approach that I think, now that we are out of the heat of the crisis, we should take."
The announcement is highly significant as it signals the mothballing of the euro's €700bn bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which Spain and Ireland wants to be used to recapitalise their troubled banks.
"We should aim at a situation where we will never need to even consider direct recapitalisation," he said.
"If we have even more instruments in terms of bail-in and how far we can go on bail-in, the need for direct recap will become smaller and smaller."
The eurozone had been planning to roll out the ESM as a "big bazooka" in mid-2014 that could help save banks and prevent financial turmoil in countries such Spain or Italy, a development that has been delayed by German resistance.
Mr Dijesselbloem's comments will alarm countries like Ireland and Spain that had been hoping to access the ESM in order to restructure banks without killing off their financial sector by inflicting huge losses on investors.
"I think the approach needs to be, let's deal with the banks within the banks first, before looking at public money or any other instrument coming from the public side," he said.
"Banks should basically be able to save themselves, or at least restructure or recapitalise themselves as far as possible."
In a note published on Monday following the Cyprus bailout deal, Barclays warned that "the decision to bail in senior bank debt and large depositors will likely have a price impact on equity and credit instruments of those euro area banks that are perceived as the weakest".
Mr Dijsselbloem acknowledged that "there is still nervousness" but claimed that any jitters on financial markets caused by the new approach would be a good thing because it would raise the cost of borrowing for unsound banks, an argument unlikely to win friend in Madrid or Rome.
"If I finance a bank and I know if the bank will get in trouble, I will be hit and I will lose money, I will put a price on that," he said.
"I think it is a sound economic principle. And having cheap money because the risk will be covered by the government, and I will always get my money back, is not leading to the right decisions in the financial sector."
Last night, the Dutch finance minister tried to row back from his comments by insisting that "Cyprus is a specific case".
"Macro-economic adjustment programmes are tailor-made to the situation of the country concerned and no models or templates are used," he said.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades admitted the eurozone bailout deal he struck in Brussels on Monday was painful but said Cyprus could now make a fresh start after having come a "breath away" from collapse. He also said there would be a criminal investigation into the crisis.
Banks in Cyprus will remain closed until Thursday, the nation's central bank announced. It had said earlier that banks would reopen today after a week-long shutdown, except for Laiki and Bank of Cyprus.

Read more - 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9952979/Cyprus-bail-out-savers-will-be-raided-to-save-euro-in-future-crises-says-eurozone-chief.html

The 10 worst toxins hidden in vitamins, supplements and health foods -

The 10 worst toxins hidden in vitamins, supplements and health foods - 


I’m absolutely shocked at how many people don’t investigate what’s really in the products they swallow. When something is sold as an herb, vitamin, superfood or supplement, they think it’s automatically safe. And while the natural products industry has a truly remarkable safety record — especially in contrast to the massive number of deaths caused by pharmaceuticals — it still suffers from a lot of hidden toxins that are routinely used throughout the industry.
I know this because I’ve been an investigative journalist and activist in the natural health industry for over a decade. Natural News is arguably the most-read natural health news website in the world, reaching millions of readers a month. I’ve walked the floors of countless trade shows, conducted hundreds of interviews and spent tens of thousands of dollars on laboratory tests to determine what’s in these products. On top of that, I’m deep into organic product formulations and certified organic food production, serving as the supervisor of a USDA-certified organic food production and packing facility.
When I look around the natural products industry, I see examples of super honest, high-integrity companies like Nature’s Path and Dr. Bronner’s. I also see an alarming number of cheats, crooks and charlatans who are only involved in the industry to profit from the explosion of interest in health supplements. In truth, some nutritional products are downright dangerous to your health. My role as a journalist and activist is to help you tell the difference between products that are GOOD for you vs. products that might actually be toxic. Because ultimately, I want you to be healthy, vibrant, intelligent and active. I want you to enjoy life and improve the quality of your life.
Be prepared to be shocked in reading what follows. After reviewing this list, you will probably throw out quite a few products in your refrigerator and pantry. Very few people are willing to tell you the truth revealed here, so some of this may come as a complete shock (see #1 and #2, below).
#1) Maltodextrin (from GM corn)
Let’s start out with the big one first: If you pick up a natural product and the ingredients list says “maltodextrin,” chances are very high that the maltodextrin in the product is derived from Monsanto’s GM corn.
Virtually all the maltodextrin used throughout the natural products industry is genetically modified. Products that are certified USDA organic, however, are not using GMO maltodextrin.

The non-GMO, non-corn replacement for maltodextrin derived from GM corn is tapioca maltodextrin, and you’ll find tapioca starch / maltodextrin in many certified organic, non-GMO products. Corn maltodextrin should be avoided unless it’s certified USDA organic. Look for tapioca maltodextrin instead (or no maltodextrin at all).
#2) Vitamin C / acorbic acid (from GM corn)
Here’s another whopper that’s sure to open some eyes: Nearly all the “vitamin C” sold in vitamins across America right now is derived from GMO corn.
This means that many of the supplements sold at Whole Foods, the vitamins sold on Amazon.com, the pills at your local pharmacy, and especially the products at the grocery store are (nearly) all routinely made with genetically modified vitamin C. It’s typically called “ascorbic acid,” and nearly 100% of the ascorbic acid used in the natural products industry is derived from GMOs.
Sourcing non-GMO vitamin C requires you to go outside the United States. There is no existing supply chain of certified organic, non-GMO ascorbic acid available anywhere in America (at least not to my knowledge). You can’t even run batches of non-GMO ascorbic acid production in the USA because all the facilities are contaminated with residues of GM corn.
Rest assured that all those cheap “vitamin C” pills sold at retail are derived from genetically modified corn.
#3) Hexane-extracted soy and rice proteins
Nearly 100% of the “natural” soy proteins and rice proteins sold in the USA are extracted in China using a hexane extraction method. This is true for brown rice protein superfoods as well as the soy protein used in nearly all so-called “protein bars.”
Here’s a list of many of the protein bar brands currently using soy protein:
http://www.naturalnews.com/032862_soy_protein_food_bars.html
Hexane is a highly explosive chemical. It is not only extremely hazardous to the environment, there may also be trace amounts of hexane left remaining in the resulting protein products. My understanding is that hexane extraction is not allowed in certified organic proteins, so if you have a choice, go for certified organic instead of just “natural” (which means nothing anyway).
Hexane extraction, by the way, is also used in the manufacture of textured vegetable protein (TVP). Read more about TVP here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/033728_TVP_textured_vegetable_protein.html
#4) High levels of Aluminum in detox products
Natural News helped expose high aluminum levels (over 1200ppm) in a popular detox liquid, causing the main U.S. distributor to issue a “recall” notice and provide over $1 million in refunds to customers.
The manufacturer of this product, Adya Clarity, intentionally and knowingly deceived consumers by mislabeling the product and not mentioning the 1200ppm of aluminum it contained. The FDA seized some of the products and ran its own lab tests, confirming the high aluminum level as well as identifying multiple labeling violations.
Adya Clarity is just one of many so-called “detox” products containing alarming levels of aluminum and other metals. Ingesting these in order to “detox” your body may be harmful to your health. This experience also proves you can’t always trust health products sold through online webinars, where manufacturers can ignore labeling laws and fabricate false claims. Buyer beware when it comes to metals in detox products that claim seemingly magical results.
#5) Lead and arsenic in herbs from China
China is the most polluted nation on the planet (by far), yet many fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown in China and exported to North America for use in natural products.
High levels of lead and arsenic are routinely found in various food, supplement and herbal products from China. I’m not concerned about 1ppm or lower, by the way, of heavy metals like lead and mercury. Even aluminum isn’t necessarily a problem when found organically grown inside foods that test at higher levels such as 150ppm. But when lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium get to high saturation levels (or are present in inorganic forms), it makes the products potentially a source of heavy metals poisoning for consumers.
Astonishingly, many of the small and medium-sized companies that import and retail products from China conduct no metals testing whatsoever. I know this as a fact because I’ve talked to people doing this.
For the record, everything packed under my own brand name (Health Ranger Select) and sold at the Natural News Store is independently tested by us to ensure full product safety and regulatory compliance.
#6) Inorganic minerals in cheap vitamins
Would you eat iron filings and call it nutrition? The majority of people don’t know that most of the cheap vitamins sold today are made with iron filings. “Scrap metal,” almost.
The calcium found in cheap vitamins is often just ground-up seashells, and magnesium is often sold as cheap magnesium oxide which may be completely useless to your body’s cells. If you’re buying mineral supplements, you may be wasting your money unless the minerals are in the right form: Magnesium orotate or malate, for example.
When it comes to mineral supplements, you’ll often find trace levels of scary things like barium and lead in liquid supplements, but these are typically at such low levels (ppb) that they are no real concern. But the No. 1 best source for all minerals is, not surprisingly, fresh plants. If you really want to boost your minerals, feed ‘em to sprouts or garden plants, then eat or juice those plants. Your body wants “organic” minerals from plants, not inorganic minerals from rocks.
#7) Carrageenan?
The Cornucopia Institute, a highly-effective food activism group that we’ve long supported, recently published a warning about carrageenan in foods. Cornucopia says carrageenan is linked to “gastrointestinal inflammation, including higher rates of colon cancer, in laboratory animals.”
It goes on to report:
Given its effect on gastrointestinal inflammation, Cornucopia urges anyone suffering from gastrointestinal symptoms (irritable bowel syndrome/IBS, spastic colon, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic diarrhea, etc.) to consider completely eliminating carrageenan from the diet to determine if carrageenan was a factor in causing the symptoms.
Personally, I have never had any problem with carrageenan, and given that it’s derived from seaweed, I also didn’t mind the source. I actually consume quite a lot of carrageenan in Blue Diamond almond milk, which I drink when I’m too busy to make my own raw almond milk. And I’ve never had a problem with it whatsoever. So from my personal experience, I don’t see carrageenan as a worrisome ingredient, but I do understand that some people experience it differently, and it may be troublesome for people whose digestive systems are more sensitive than my own.
For the record, I definitely don’t consider carrageenan to be anywhere near as worrisome as, say, aspartame, GMOs or MSG.
#8) Acrylamides
Acrylamides are cancer-causing chemicals produced during the cooking of carbohydrates. Fried snack chips, for example, contain acrylamides. They don’t have to be listed on labels because they are technically not “ingredients.” They are chemicals produced during cooking or frying. Consuming acrylamides increases kidney cancer risk by 59 percent.
The FDA has published an extensive reference guide on acrylamide levels in foods, revealing that french fries have the highest levels of all. But they are also present in prune juice and even breakfast cereals.
A bag of organic snack chips can have just as many acrylamides as a bag of conventional snack chips. This is why fried snack chips should be eaten only sparingly, or never at all. I’m guilty of eating some of these chips myself from time to time, but I limit the quantity and make sure I’m taking chlorella or other superfoods at the same time to counteract the acrylamides.
Interestingly, it turns out that vitamin C blocks acrylamides from causing damage to your body. But if your vitamin C is from a GMO source (see above), you may want to rethink that strategy. Natural citrus juice, rose hips or even camu camu berry powder is a much better choice of natural, full-spectrum vitamin C.
If you eat fried foods of any kind, make sure you ingest a lot of vitamin C, astaxanthin and chlorella before and after your meal or snack.
#9) Hidden MSG / yeast extract
Hidden MSG is a huge issue across the natural products industry. Pick up almost any veggie burger, and you’ll find it’s made with yeast extract, a hidden form of MSG (monosodium glutamate).
Yeast extract is unbelievably prevalent in the food industry because it looks nicer on the label than “MSG.” Most people are trained to avoid MSG, but yeast extract slips by, so food manufacturers put it into canned soups, dip mixes, snack chips, microwave dinners and especially in vegetarian products, many of which are so loaded with chemicals and additives that I won’t dare touch them. Just because a food says “vegetarian” doesn’t mean it’s healthy.
Hidden MSG is also labeled as “autolyzed yeast extract” or “torula yeast” or even “hydrolyzed vegetable protein.”
#10) Fluoride in green tea
Green tea is famous for being contaminated with high levels of fluoride. This is frustrating, because green tea is phenomenally good for your health. It has been proven to lower “bad” cholesterol levels, and it may even help prevent cancer and neurological disorders. It’s probably one of the healthiest beverages you can ever drink.
The tea plant that produces green tea just happens to uptake a huge amount of fluoride from the soils. So when there’s fluoride present in those soils, the green tea will have a surprisingly high concentration, sometimes as much as 25ppm.
An interesting article on this issue is found at Toxipedia.org:
http://toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Fluoride+Content+in+Tea
While this fluoride in green tea might not be a health hazard all by itself, the governments of the world seem insistent on pumping even more synthetic, chemical fluoride into the water supplies, thereby creating a high risk for fluorosis. Adding green tea to the fluoride consumption you might experience from tap water is a recipe for disaster: brittle bones, discoloration of teeth and even cancer.

Read more - 

http://www.naturalnews.com/039638_toxins_ingredients_nutritional_supplements.html