Hanoi has asked the World Health Organization for help to cure a virulent disease affecting children. Symptoms include blistering on hands, feet and mouths accompanied by high fever and eventual organ failure.

­Nineteen children died from the illness in 2011 alone.

The virus spreads through direct contact with an infected person's oral discharges or saliva, the fluid from burst blisters or the stool of infected persons.

The Red Cross mission in Vietnam reports the disease has already infected over 28,000 children this year, which is more than 10 times the number of infected children in the same period last year.

That's what genetic engineering advocates claim. But science (and a shocking number of developing-world suicides) debunk this myth.

BIO, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, says that a genetically engineered crop improves insect resistance, enhances herbicide tolerance, and facilitates the use of more environmentally sustainable farming practices by generating higher crop yields with fewer inputs. They say it lowers the amount of agricultural chemicals required by crops; creates crops with enhanced nutrition profiles that solve vitamin and nutrient deficiencies; produces foods free of allergens and toxins such as mycotoxin; and improves food and crop oil content to help improve cardiovascular health.

Sounds good?

Monsanto even ran an advertising campaign warning of an exploding world population and claiming that its "advanced seeds can help farmers meet the world's demand for food, clothing and fuel - while also helping to reduce the need for water, land, pesticides, and fossil fuels."

Is it really that hard for most people to believe that we are being assaulted on a daily basis by chemical terrorism? Genetically modified foods, artificial flavours, colors, preservatives, emulsifiers, and sweeteners all made with toxic chemicals, all of which are proven toxic to human health. We are being bombarded on a daily basis by an astronomical level of toxicity, all controlled by these chemical terrorists on behalf of the food industry. Worse is we let them.

How many more toxins will we permit in our food supply before we stand united and simply say "we've had enough?" How long will it take until we assertively proclaim that we will not allow any more chemicals or toxins in our foods?

Since food and health regulators cannot properly do their job to protect the public, there will come a tipping point when the people will have to do it for them. We discuss toxic chemicals almost every day, but what percentage of the population is interested enough, curious enough or most of all disciplined enough to actually make the dietary changes necessary to rid all the toxins from the foods they eat? How many people can avoid all processed foods every single day? I would estimate that percentage to be extremely small. Barriers are typically societal pressure, convenience and income. The reality is that we could all have a safe and healthy food industry if we truly wanted it. There are just not enough of us that want it that badly....yet.

Every year or two we have a new chemical terrorist making its way into the food supply almost like clock work. Once the public becomes savvy to the harmful nature of the new toxin, it is then renamed, rebranded and often modified into a deadlier form than its predecessor. Aspartame and aminosweet, and high fructose corn syrup and corn sugar are two excellent examples.

Let's take a look at some of the biggest offenders that are in more than 80% of the foods we eat.

'Earthing' or 'grounding' has been getting a lot of attention of late in certain communities, so about a week ago I decided to take a look. Here, in summary is what I've learned.

What is 'earthing'?

Earthing is the practice of connecting the body with earth by touching skin to a conductive material such as grass (preferably wet), wet sand, a river, lake or sea.

Why would you want to do that?

When the body loses contact with the earth it can carry a positive voltage relative to the Earth. Some people believe this is not good for health and wellbeing. Earthing the body returns the voltage to zero which is, supposedly better for us.

A study published in BioMed Central's Biology Direct journal reports the existence of a previously undetected group of viruses and, more importantly, a new type of viral genome that could have huge implications for theories of viral emergence and evolution.

Viruses are the most abundant organisms on earth, yet little is known about their evolutionary history since they have exceptionally high rates of genetic mutation which are difficult to track. Viral metagenomics, however, is becoming an increasingly useful tool with which to glimpse virus evolution, as it makes available vast amounts of new sequence data for analysis.

A Simon Fraser University researcher is among four scientists who argue that cholesterol may slow or stop cancer cell growth. They describe how cholesterol-binding proteins called ORPs may control cell growth in A Detour for Yeast Oxysterol Binding Proteins, a paper published in the latest issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

The scientists came to their conclusion while trying to understand how cholesterol moves around inside cells in the fat's journey to cell surfaces where it reinforces their outer membrane.

"The assumption was that ORPs bind and transport cholesterol inside cells in a similar fashion to how lipoproteins bind and move around the fat outside cells through the blood stream," explains Chris Beh. The SFU associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry co-authored this paper.

For some time now there has been debate in some nutritional circles about the relative merits of different 'diets'. Certainly, there has been at least two factions here. One argues for a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet which usually includes plenty of starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potato, rice, breakfast cereals and pasta. Others (including me) argue that all that carbohydrate is bad news for many people, and in general terms it helps to put more emphasis on fat and protein in the diet.

The Atkins and other similar diets have often been classed as 'high-protein' diets. Some believe them to be high-fat too. Actually, when individuals adopt such diet they don't tend to eat much more in the way of protein or fat - they just eat less carbohydrate. So, while the percentage of protein and fat will generally go up, the absolute amount of these 'macronutrients' stays more-or-less the same.

One of the rationales for eating a diet relatively rich in protein is that it is the macronutrient which, calorie-for-calorie, sates the appetite most effectively. What appears to be true is that individuals who adopt this type of diet almost always spontaneously eat less (often, several hundred calories a day less). This may have something to do with protein, but it might also have something to do with fat (which many people find is important for sating the appetite properly). It might also have something to do with the better blood sugar stability these diets tend to afford, which will help guard against episodes of low blood sugar which can trigger 'false hunger' and food cravings (usually for carbohydrate).

US, New York - Starbucks Corp. says it will stop using a red dye in its drinks that is derived from crushed bugs.

The Seattle-based coffee chain said in a blog post on its website Thursday that it made the decision to reformulate its drinks after feedback from consumers prompted a "thorough" evaluation.

The company says it will swap out cochineal extract, which is made from the juice of a tiny beetle, and instead use lycopene, a tomato-based extract.

Cochineal dye is widely used in foods and cosmetics products such as lipstick, yogurt and shampoo. Starbucks had used the coloring in its strawberry flavoured mixed drinks and foods like the raspberry swirl cake and red velvet whoopie pie.

The company says the items will be reformulated by the end of June.

An online petition on Change.org asking the chain to stop using the bug-based dye had collected more than 6,000 signatures. The petition was started by a South Carolina woman who wanted to inform consumers that the chain's strawberry drinks weren't vegan-friendly.

Blood-sucking ticks coming to a field and forest near you.

That may sound like the latest horror film, but unfortunately it is a reality due to a surge in ticks that spread Lyme disease this spring.

Fortunately, the media interest in Lyme disease appears to be growing with the threat. At the start of the month I was interviewed on Martha Stewart Living Radio about Lyme disease.

So you regularly spend hours - and what feels likes a week's wages - getting your hair highlighted, you're never without straighteners and you've even tried a Brazilian blow-dry to get the perfect sleek look.

Yet your locks stubbornly remain more lacklustre than luscious. Have you ever considered your shampoo might be to blame?

Research suggests it could be - specifically brands that contain sulphates. These have been used for decades as foaming and cleansing agents. You'll find them in toothpaste and shower gel as well as most shampoos.