A Japan Airlines plane was forced to return to Tokyo this week after being refused at a regional airport for arriving 10 minutes after the cut-off time.
Flight JAL 331 left Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at 8 p.m. on February 19 – over an hour after its planned departure.
The plane, which was expected at 8:30 p.m., did not arrive at Fukuoka until around 10:10 p.m.
But because Fukuoka Airport enforces a strict 10 p.m. cut-off time, JAL 331 was not cleared to land and was forced to make a nearly 5-hour journey back to Tokyo.
Fukuoka’s curfew is intended to curb noise pollution. JAL 331 also had to stop at Osaka’s Kansai Airport to refuel, adding to passengers’ and crew members’ misfortune.
According to Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, there were reportedly 335 passengers on the Japan Airlines plane.
Japan Airlines arranged for the passengers to stay in a hotel after they returned to Tokyo. The passengers boarded a flight the next morning and eventually landed at Fukuoka Airport on Monday.
A Japanese Airlines passenger jet takes off at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda on Feb. 2, 2023.Getty Images
Fukuoka and Tokyo are located on opposite sides of Japan. The cities are over 550 miles apart.
It is unknown why JAL 331 departed from Tokyo late on Sunday evening. According to Asahi Shimbun, officials say that planes that land late due to “unavoidable” circumstances, such as stormy weather or congestion, are usually allowed to land past 10 p.m.
Alphabet’s Google is rolling out tests that block access to news content for some Canadian users, the company confirmed on Wednesday, in what it says is a test run of a potential response to the government’s online news bill.
The “Online News Act,” or House of Commons bill C-18, introduced in April by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, laid out rules to force platforms like Meta’s Facebook and Google to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content.
“We’re briefly testing potential product responses to Bill C-18 that impact a very small percentage of Canadian users. We run thousands of tests each year to assess any potential changes to Search,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
The tech-giant confirmed that the time-limited tests, which impact a random sampling of less than 4 percent of the users in Canada, “limit the visibility of Canadian and international news to varying degrees.”
A spokeswoman for Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Canadians will not be intimidated and called it disappointing that Google is borrowing from Meta’s playbook.
“Canadians need to have access to quality, fact-based news at the local and national levels, and that’s why we introduced the Online News Act. Tech giants need to be more transparent and accountable to Canadians,” the spokeswoman said.
Last year, Facebook warned that it might block sharing of news content on its platform in Canada over concerns about legislation that would compel digital platforms to pay news publishers.
A similar Australian law, which took effect in March 2021 after talks with the big tech firms led to a brief shutdown of Facebook news feeds in the country, has largely worked, a government report had said.
Canada’s news media industry has pressed against Facebook and asked the government for more regulation of tech companies, to allow the industry to recoup financial losses it has suffered in the years that Facebook and Google have been steadily gaining greater market share of advertising.
More than 450 news outlets in Canada have closed since 2008, including 64 closures in the last two years.
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For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2023 hub.
California-based actor Ray Buffer has been charged with misdemeanor theft after a comic book store accused him of stealing from their San Diego business back in October.
Buffer, who appeared in shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “ER,” was charged by the San Diego City Attorney’s Office with petty theft, pleading not guilty to the charge in January, a spokesperson for the office told The Post Wednesday.
The spokesperson also confirmed the charge was connected to an incident that occurred on Oct. 4, 2022, at Southern California Comics, which very publicly accused Buffer at the time of stealing hundreds of dollars worth of comics.
A readiness conference in San Diego Superior Court is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28, the city attorney’s office said. The city officials did not provide the date when charges were filed, but a case involving Buffer was filed on Dec. 13, 2022, according to online records.
The comic book store blasted out surveillance footage of the alleged theft days after the incident, which shows a man inside the business who appears to conceal the comics under his shirt.
Actor Ray Buffer was hit with a misdemeanor theft charge after a comic book store accused him of stealing from their San Diego business back in October.therealraybuffer/Instagram
Southern California Comics owner Jamie Newbold told The Post Wednesday he didn’t know Buffer was charged until he received a call from an attorney with the city this week. He said he was pleased the case was moving forward.
“I thought this case got swept under or out of the way,” Newbold said. “Now I realize the case matters, therefore what I’ve had to go through matters.”
“I was losing hope every month I didn’t hear anything from anyone,” he said, after he contacted authorities two days following the October incident.
Newbold explained in an October interview he originally put images up of an unidentified man on social media to warn other comic book stores about the possible thief. Other businesses then claimed the man was Buffer.
Actor Ray Buffer allegedly stole comic books from Southern California Comics in San Diego.Southern California Comics/Facebook
Newbold wrote he was told by the San Diego City Attorney’s Office that Buffer’s lawyer is hoping to settle the case by allowing Buffer to enter a diversion program that would require the actor to pay restitution for the alleged theft.
“He gets off really light if the courts allow him to pay for the crime financially,” Newbold said. “I would prefer that he sees justice.”
Newbold estimates that about 10 comics were stolen worth around $850.
Further information on the case was not made available by the city attorney’s office and the office did not provide a defense attorney for Buffer Wednesday evening.
At least one other comic store claimed Buffer stole from them in September, though it’s unclear whether the accusations led to criminal activity.
Buffer had other minor roles in single episodes of “CSI: Miami,” “Gilmore Girls” and “Cold Case,” according to his IMDb page.
He’s also appeared in multiple movies, according to this profile.
Can you tell me how to get far, far away from Sesame Street?
Santa Cruz residents have been instructed not to engage with a man dressing as the Cookie Monster, who police say has been yelling obscenities and taunting locals enjoying a stroll along the California coastal city’s boardwalk.
Santa Cruz police say the “Sesame Street”‘ wannabe has been harassing parents to pay him to pose in photos with their children.
“We are getting calls from people who say he is ‘creepy,’” police spokeswoman Joyce Blaschke told local affiliate KRON. “Based on his history, we advise the public to not engage with this individual. Steer clear from him.”
Blaschke added, “I would not take a photo with him.”
Santa Cruz police confirmed to The Post the suspect’s name is Adam Sandler, 59, no relation to the “Uncut Gems” star.
The Post reported in 2013 that a man by the name of Dan Sandler shouted anti-Semitic diatribes at NYC tourists while dressed as the red “Sesame Street” muppet Elmo.
He got slapped with one year in jail after threatening to spread false rumors tying the Girl Scouts to a “rape camp” in Cambodia.
“I accept the fact I committed a crime, but I’m not in anyway sorry to the Girl Scouts organization,” he said in Manhattan Criminal Court at the time.
The Post reported he had also been arrested in San Francisco, where prosecutors said he grabbed a kid while panhandling in his furry Elmo costume.
That’s what victims of a 2012 toxic train derailment in Paulsboro, New Jersey are warning residents of East Palestine — as the tiny Ohio town continues to grapple with a devastating spill that leaked the same harmful chemical as the disaster a decade earlier.
News of last month’s freight train derailment in East Palestine quickly triggered traumatic memories for those in Paulsboro where residents were exposed to a cloud of vinyl chloride after 180,000 pounds leaked from a ruptured Conrail-owned tanker car.
The victims, including some who are still struggling with health woes they say are linked to the chemical exposure, are now urging those in Ohio — where 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride leaked following a derailment — to seek out legal advice so they can’t be ripped off by rail company, Norfolk Southern, when it comes to possible compensation.
“My heart goes out to those people,” Cassandra Clark, 54, told The Post this week. “They have every right to be afraid of what’s going on.”
Walt Stevenson and his wife Irma were exposed to the toxic fumes in Paulsboro, New Jersey in 2012 because they live just 50 yards from where the train derailed. Joe Lamberti for NY Post
“Make sure you’ve got lawyers, because I’m telling you, I don’t think they [Norfolk Southern] really care,” she continued. “We had a class action lawsuit, but you don’t really get anything from it. I can’t even remember the amount, but it was book money for my daughter for the first semester. It was nothing.”
In the aftermath of the Paulsboro ordeal, multiple class action lawsuits were filed on behalf of first responders and the hundreds of local residents who lived or worked near the site of the Nov. 30, 2012 derailment.
But some residents claim the rail company paid them off with “chump change” compensation to prevent them from seeking more cash if they developed serious health ailments down the line, including cancers.
Cassandra Clark, 54, said her young son had bouts of unexplained vomiting and diarrhea in the aftermath of the 2012 derailment. Joe Lamberti for NY Post
“People signed letters to get money, but they waived all their rights,” said Paulsboro mayor Gary Stevenson, who was the deputy fire chief in 2012 when the derailment occurred.
“My advice to the [Ohio] residents is understand what you’re singing. You might be signing your life and health away if you do that.”
Exposure to vinyl chloride – a carcinogenic – has already been linked to liver, brain and lung cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The mayor, who lived less than 100 yards from where the train derailed, said he hadn’t heard of anyone being diagnosed with cancer and blaming it on the Paulsboro incident.
Residents in Paulsboro, NJ were exposed to a cloud of vinyl chloride after it leaked from a ruptured a Conrail-owned tanker car when it derailed on Nov. 30, 2012. AP
Still, he said he gets regular medical testing because of his exposure and the unknown long-term health effects which could take many years to emerge.
“I went to a Philadelphia doctor for years after that, and he said, ‘Gary, you won’t see illness right away. It might take 20 years.’ It’s the same thing as people who work with asbestos and get mesothelioma years later,” Stevenson said.
“Up this point I’ve gotten blood tests regularly for my liver count. My numbers are good. But he said that would happen.”
In East Palestine, residents have raised fears about the safety of the air and drinking water after officials carried out a controlled burn of vinyl chloride and other toxic materials in the wake of the Feb. 3 derailment.
The burn, which officials said was to avoid an explosion, sent plumes of smoke into the air and contaminated at least 4,500 cubic yards of soil and 1.5 million gallons of water, Northfolk Southern said on Monday.
Stevenson said he knows the feeling of fear all too well.
In the aftermath, multiple class action lawsuits were filed on behalf of first responders and the hundreds of local residents who lived or worked near the Paulsboro site.AP
“And trust me, the stigma will stay around. People say, ‘It’s still in the air, it’s still in the water, it’s still in the ground.’ Believe me, that stigma will stick around for quite a few years, I know that for a fact,” he said.
Mom-of-two Jacqui Benjamin is convinced her sons — Julian, now 15, and Dorian, now 10 — suffer from ongoing respiratory issues after breathing in the toxic fumes the day of the derailment.
“When the train derailed, this mist of chemicals engulfed all of Paulsboro and everybody breathed that in,” the 39-year-old recalled.
“When it happened, they both were vomiting like crazy. The next week it was the wheezing. We went outside, which we shouldn’t have done, and everyone but I developed asthma.”
She said her eldest still needs an inhaler if he exercises or overexerts himself.
The mom recalled getting compensation from the rail company, but described it as nothing more than “chump change” and a “slap in the face.”
“There’s a connection and it doesn’t want to be acknowledged that these kids have respiratory issues because of the chemicals. It’s just horrible,” she said.
“It’s sad that this is continuing to happen. I feel bad for them [in Ohio] because I know the trauma that the chemicals bring to a family. We experienced that and it’s the kids I’m worried about.”
Kristen Pickel said her late husband, Ronald Morris, who died in a motorcycle crash two years ago, suffered a deluge of ailments after driving through the chemical fog the day of the derailment.
“He was driving through Paulsboro to get to a job and he couldn’t see. It just overcame the vehicle. He was in the fog until he could get out of it,” Pickel, 50, said.
“It affected everything — his body, his state of mind. He wasn’t the same after. He was very sick, kept going back and forth to the emergency room. He went through bouts of depression. Every morning he would throw up. He started drinking.”
Irma Stevenson and her husband Walt still live 50 yards from where the train derailed more than a decade ago. Joe Lamberti for NY Post
She said the symptoms started immediately – and then the anxiety of “what’s going to happen to me?” set in.
“Doctors denied there was anything seriously wrong with him,” Pickel said.
Of the East Palestine ordeal, Pickel warned residents there that it would be “life changing.”
“These people are seriously going to have a long road because it’s not good. They just burned that stuff and let everyone breathe it in,” she said. “And if any of them try to sue, they’re going to get nothing. That’s what happened to us — we sued and we lost, because Conrail has powerful lawyers.”
Cassandra Clark’s son, who was only five or six at the time, had vomiting and diarrhea in the aftermath of the derailment.
“I remember it like it was yesterday. My son had been outside playing before school, and that particular day he got really sick,” she said. “It was really bad. He had never done that ever before or again. We hadn’t even heard about the train derailment yet, so we didn’t know what was going on.
“My daughter had walked to school, and had walked through the fumes. When she came home she just slept all day long, just slept, which was very out of character for her.”
Her son later developed hypothyroidism, which caused substantial weight gain and required medication — and Clarke suspects the toxic chemicals are the cause because thyroid trouble doesn’t run in her family.
“It was a scary time. Of course you’re thinking the worst. Your son develops a thyroid problem and you’re like, where did this come from?” she said.
“You question whether this is something that’s going to reappear later in life. I think about my daughter — is something going to go wrong when it’s time to have children? You think about all that.”
The Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio has sparked fears about the safety of water and air in the area. AP
The mayor’s parents, Irma and Walt Stevenson, live 50 yards from where the train derailed.
Irma, 83, said trains would come by their house regularly and they never thought twice about what they were actually carrying prior to the incident.
“I was a nurse and I knew about chemicals, but I didn’t understand what the vinyl chloride was. I didn’t know what it was doing to my town,” Irma said.
“Being a nurse, I asked about possible health outcomes — brain cancer, liver cancer. How much did we breathe in that day? We were right here. My husband was in the fog, and it looked like the fog was coming up from the ground. Was this going to shorten our lives?”
She called on the federal government to crack down on regulating the rail industry in the wake of East Palestine, adding that the latest incident “breaks my heart.”
“The rail is supposed to have regulations, but are they followed? Are they fortifying the tank cars? Are they really doing inspections on the tracks? We had all these politicians coming promising to pass laws for this, for that. None of it happened,” Irma said.
Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, D, told South Side voters they should not vote at all if they do not vote to re-elect her, but she now insists that she misspoke during the heat of the moment.
During a campaign event over the weekend in Grand Crossing, the mayor said anyone from the South Side voting for “somebody not named Lightfoot is a vote for Chuy Garcia or Paul Vallas,” referring to her challengers.
U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas are the other frontrunners in the election for Chicago mayor.
“If you want them controlling your fate and your destiny, then stay home,” Lightfoot continued. “Then don’t vote.”
But after casting her vote Monday at Northeastern Illinois University, Lightfoot told reporters she did not mean to suggest voters should sit out the election.
“If I said anything other than everybody everywhere needs to vote, then I misspoke in the heat of a campaign rally,” she said. “But I’ve been very consistent all along saying everybody everywhere needs to step up, and they need to vote just as I said today.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said if people don’t want their fate or destiny controlled — to not vote.Getty Images
“This is disqualifying rhetoric for anyone hoping to lead a Chicago that is a multi-racial and multi-ethnic city,” Garcia said, according to FOX 32.
Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who is also running to become the next mayor of Chicago, said residents deserve “real leadership” and are ready to “turn the page” with the election of a new mayor.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot scaled back her “don’t vote” comment, saying that everybody everywhere needs to vote. Getty Images
“Lori Lightfoot telling residents not to vote unless they vote for her shows that she cares more about maintaining power for herself than empowering communities or getting things done for the people of our city,” he said.
Another challenger, philanthropist Willie Wilson, said Lightfoot’s words were “delusional, divisive, dangerous and disappointing.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot casts her ballot at an early voting site on Feb. 20, 2023 in Chicago.Getty Images
Activist Ja’Mal Green, another mayoral candidate, wrote on Twitter that Lightfoot’s “desperation was showing.”
“I just showed this to a bus load of new voters & the video made them more motivated than ever to vote against Lightfoot today,” he wrote.
Russia tested an intercontinental ballistic missile Monday while President Biden was in Ukraine that appears to have failed, according to a report.
US officials told CNN on Tuesday that Russia used a deconfliction line to notify the US in advance of the missile test, which reportedly did not pose a risk to the country.
According to the officials, the US did not view the test as an anomaly or an escalation.
US officials believe the test failed since Russian President Vladimir Putin did not mention it in his State of the Nation address on Tuesday.
According to US officials, Putin’s ICMB test launch was not viewed as an anomaly or an escalation.AP
During his address, Putin announced that Russia will be suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States.
US officials notified the Kremlin on Sunday, through the de-confliction line, that Biden, 80, would be making the voyage to the Ukrainian capital ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the former Soviet state, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday.
President Biden traveled to Ukraine via train from Poland on President’s Day and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.via REUTERS
The reported test launch of the missile designed to carry up to 15 nuclear warheads, as well as hypersonic munitions, is Putin’s latest apparent attempt at saber-rattling aimed at the US.
Last week, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said that the US military intercepted eight Russian fighter jets near Alaska in two separate incidents.
The ICMB reportedly test-launched by Russia on Monday is nicknamed “Satan II.”TV Zvezda/e2w
The first group of four Russian aircraft — which included a Tupolev TU-95 BEAR-H strategic bomber and SU-30 and SU-35 fighter jets — approached the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone on Feb. 13 and were followed by a second quartet a day later, according to NORAD.
In both incidents, NORAD sent US fighter jets and support aircraft to intercept the Russian warplanes.
The Biden administration published a new immigration rule Tuesday that would dramatically shake up the current system and disqualify migrants who illegally cross into the US from applying for asylum.
US Customs and Border Protection officers have been stretched to their limits by the number of migrants who are showing up at the southern border — with a record-setting 2.4 million encounters in 2022.
The new rule would instead require asylum-seekers to apply for protection in any country they travel through before they arrive in the US.
The rule is expected to take effect in May, just before pandemic-era restriction Title 42 is expected to end and last two years, according to the Washington Post.
Asylum seekers lined up outside of El Paso, Texas, hoping to gain entrance to the US.James Keivom
The government’s document announcing the rule states it is being issued “in anticipation of a potential surge in migration at the southwest border of the United States” when Title 42 ends.
Title 42 is a Trump-era COVID-19 policy the federal government has used to eject thousands of migrants back over the border to Mexico. The Biden administration has announced all pandemic policies will expire on May 11.
Under the new rule, migrants would become ineligible for asylum if they enter the country illegally — as they have been doing for the last two years since Biden has been in office — creating what city officials at the border have called an unsustainable crisis in their communities.
Migrants who claimed asylum and passed a security clearance were released into the streets of El Paso.James Keivom
Chief Patrol Agent for the Tucson, Ariz., border sector John Modlin previously described how migrant apprehensions had increased in the last two years, telling a house oversight committee earlier this month: “In 2020, our total encounters were 66,000. That figure nearly tripled in 2021, and then quadrupled last year. We closed last year, 2022, with over 250,000 encounters in Tucson.”
In December, El Paso, Texas, declared a state of emergency as around 2,700 migrants flooded the city per day and surrendered to Border Patrol agents seeking asylum. Those who claimed fear for their lives if they returned to their country were released into the city while their cases play out in court — as is required by US laws.
President Joe Biden walks along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2023.AP
As part of the new policy, migrants would be required to ask for refuge in any other country they stepped foot in when they left their home country. Those who failed to do would be immediately deported without going through an appeals process.
Immigrant advocates, such as the ACLU, have slammed this new policy, claiming it violates long-established laws that guarantee the right to claim asylum to anyone on US soil, regardless of how they got there.
At its peak in December, hundreds of migrants slept on the streets of El Paso, unable to get out of the west Texas city to their final destinations in cities across America.James Keivom
“Critically, our courts have long recognized that a person’s decision not to seek asylum while in transit to the US has no bearing on their need for protection,” the organization said.
The Biden rule has also been denounced by immigrant advocates as merely “rebranded Trump-era policies.”
“With the [Biden] administration, people really think immigration did change, but in reality, it’s worse,” said Crystal Sandoval of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center told The Post. “It’s just rebranding, but they are the same policies we saw under [President] Trump.”
President Trump had previously enacted a “safe third country” rule in 2019 which required asylum seekers to apply for refuge in the first stable territory they came to after leaving their home country but it was struck down in court after numerous challenges.
The Muslim progressive activist who is allegedly pretending to be a person of color has been citing her fabricated “Arab and Latin” heritage for almost 20 years.
“We want it to be something special, not about hype and not about media,” she told the outlet.
Saraswati was born Rachel Elizabeth Seidel and is referred to as “Raquel Evita Seidel” in the article.
Her mom Carole Perone has denied her claims about her heritage, saying the family is “white as driven snow.”
Raquel Evita Saraswati (born Rachel Elizabeth Seidel), pictured in 2008 with her then-spouse Anh Dao Kolbe.
“I call her Rachel. I don’t know why she’s doing what she’s doing,” Perone told the Intercept. “I’m as white as the driven snow and so is she.”
“I’m German and British, and her father was Calabrese Italian. She’s chosen to live a lie, and I find that very, very sad,” the mom said.
Saraswati is the chief equity, inclusion and culture officer of the Philadelphia-based American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a progressive Quaker group that fights “violence, inequality and oppression.”
The chief inclusion officer at a Philadelphia-based Quaker group has been “outed” by her mother, who said she has no idea why her daughter claims to be of Latin, South Asian and Arab descent.Facebook / Raquel Saraswati
The activist, who has been referred to online as “the new Rachel Dolezal,” posted a vague series of tweets Saturday, calling the allegation an “attack,” but later deleted them and made her account private.
“I assure people that as soon as I am capable, I will provide answers to the recent discussion and attack on me. I understand all the reactions you’re having. I am currently taking the time to get to where I can answer in a way that is most helpful and thorough,” she wrote, adding in a later tweet that “more will come”
Human resources official Oskar Pierre Castro who helped hire Saraswati for her diversity leadership role at AFSC said he felt “conned” and deceived” by the revelations.
Castro believed she was a “queer, Muslim, multiethnic woman” because that’s what she said she was.
The organization, however, is standing by Saraswati for now: AFSC spokesperson Layne Mullett told the Intercept the organization has received “documentation alleging that our Chief Equity, Inclusion, and Culture Officer, Raquel Saraswati, has been misrepresenting her identity.”
Raquel Evita Saraswati (born Rachel Elizabeth Seidel), pictured in 1995 in a sixth grade class picture.Windham-Ashland-Jewett High School
Saraswati “stands by her identity. Raquel also assures us that she remains loyal to AFSC’s mission, which we firmly believe,” Mullett said.
Saraswati and her mother could not be reached by The Post on Tuesday.
Everyone loves bread, but it could be a silent killer – and not for the reason you’d think.
Experts warn that an additive not restricted in the US could be making Americans sick. Potassium bromate, the sneaky ingredient in bread that strengthens the dough, is banned from food products in Europe, China and India due to it being a suspected carcinogen.
Erik Millstone, an expert on food additives, claimed that such additives are “almost certainly” causing avoidable illnesses, such as cancer, in Americans.
“There is evidence that it may be toxic to human consumers, that it may even either initiate or promote the development of tumors,” the University of Sussex in England professor told CBS News, adding that European regulations are more restrictive due to food safety diligence.
The Post has reached out to the Food and Drug Administration for comment.
But potassium bromate isn’t the only potentially toxic chemical in our store-bought products. Other substances banned in Europe and allowed in the US are titanium dioxide, brominated vegetable oil, azodicarbonamide and propylparaben.
Additives and chemicals used in American products are advised against in other countries, such as Europe, over health concerns.Getty Images/iStockphoto
Last year, a consumer sued Mars, Inc., over complaints that Skittles contained titanium dioxide, which is used to enhance color. While the lawsuit was dismissed, there have been studies that question the chemical’s safety.
According to Healthline, titanium dioxide is considered safe in the US to be used in food, due to its limited amounts. Additionally, the chemical is used in food packaging, sunscreen and cosmetics, which a 2019 study concluded does “not present any health risk when applied on the skin.”
Brominated vegetable oil is also one of the additives banned across the pond but allowed in American markets. According to the Chicago Tribune, it’s the reason tourists won’t find Mountain Dew in Europe.
Potassium bromate, which is found in bread as a dough strengthener, is one of the additives used in the US that is not considered safe in other places.Shutterstock
Health concerns are centered around one of its components, bromine, due to its ability to irritate the skin and mucous membranes, according to the Mayo Clinic. However, symptoms – such as memory loss and skin and nerve issues – typically occur in soda enthusiasts who guzzle more than 2 liters a day.
Millstone said that many Americans are probably unaware of the chemicals they’re exposed to daily, especially in their own pantries.
“They probably just think, ‘Well, if it’s available or it’s in the store, it’s probably fine,’” he said.
The FDA told CBS News in a statement that they are always reviewing the safety of food and any new information that surfaces. However, they noted that potassium bromate, when used correctly, becomes harmless during the food production process, although it’s not guaranteed that all of the chemical will convert to an innocuous substance.
Earlier this month, a new study suggested that the colorful chemicals used in popular food dyes could have adverse health effects on consumers’ guts. Researchers from Cornell and Binghamton University found that common coloring agents can wreak havoc on the digestive tract.
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