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Dyes have been used over the centuries to give food more of an appeal to those eating it. Old foods were sometimes dyed to provide a more palatable appearance. Today food and beverages are generally dyed for the same reasons, to make the product more appealing, satisfying, and occasionally to hide off-flavors arising from the manufacturing process.

Honey has been acknowledged for its medicinal and healing qualities for some time. Its ubiquity of the sticky golden yellow liquid spans time and continents. The substance has been used for treatments of skin disease, cancer, heart diseases, neurological degeneration, and wound healing and is considered anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial.¹ These attributes have been attributed to the minor constituents found within, consisting of phenolics, flavonoids, flavones, and flavonols.²

The Raffinose Family of Oligosaccharides (RFO) are low molecular weight non-reducing sugars. The sugars are connected through α-1, 6-galactosyl extensions of sucrose starting with Raffinose, Stachyose, and Verbascose. These highly water soluble sugars are universally distributed throughout the plant kingdom in roots, seeds, stems, tubers, and some leaves. RFOs are most commonly found in dehydrated legumes, like lentils, soybeans, and chickpeas, and are thought to exist mainly to protect the seed from degradation while awaiting optimal germination conditions. RFO consumption is not generally considered nutritional due to the indigestibility of α-galactosidic linkages by monogastric animals which include humans. When large amounts of under hydrated legumes are consumed by monogastric animals, multiple breakdown pathways are initiated. The gut breaks the molecules down into gases, primarily hydrogen, carbon dioxide, small amounts of methane, and short chain fatty acids.¹ The large production of gastric gasses leads to an increase in osmotic pressure in the gut and promotes diarrhea, cramps, bloating, and overall discomfort.

In humans, cytochrome P450 contains three primary enzymes involved in the metabolism of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP3A4). These enzymes are mostly found in the liver, but can occur in other lipophilic tissues like brain, small intestine, heart, and lungs. THC elimination in the body is dictated by the accumulation of the compound in both adipose tissue and plasma and, due to the lipophilicity of THC, the determination of the concentration through excretion is difficult.1,2 Likewise, states have passed regulations allowing for the legal use of both medicinal and recreational cannabis while workplaces in those states continue to dictate safety regulations with a zero tolerance drug policy culminating in a urine test to determine compliance. With more than 100 THC metabolites, detection of the most abundant, 11-hydroxy-THC, 11-carboxy-THC glucuronide, and 11-carboxy-THC, hold the most focus. Typically, between 80% and 90% of the THC consumed is excreted as carboxylate and hydroxylate metabolites.3,4

Concern over detrimental greenhouse gases produced from the combustion of fossil fuels has been growing for the past few decades. Identification of new and more diverse methods of energy use has been investigated around the world. One such avenue is combustible alcohols produced from biomasses like sugar beet or sugar cane. To reduce dependence on fossil fuels, a concerted effort has been made to develop processes where biomass can be fermented biologically by bacteria or yeast to produce combustible alcohols. Combustible alcohols are desired over other technologies due to the convenience of switching from petrol based fuels. Ethanol is already added to most gasolines to increase octane efficiency. With anywhere from 5–25% ethanol being added to petrol products in most of the world and up to 100% ethanol fuel in Brazil.¹ Additionally, the combustion of these alcohols tend to be more efficient and lead to less carbon monoxide side products.²

Benzodiazepines were first discovered in the 1960’s and reached a peak around 1970 with diazepam (Valium). During that time the drug was prescribed for any kind of antihypertensive, analgesic, or psychotropic medications1. The overall enthusiasm for the benefits of this class of drug has made a growing trend of addiction more difficult to treat and diagnose.

Most natural waters contain natural organic matter (NOM), which is primarily composed of humic and fulvic acids. Natural waters are used both as potable and non-potable sources and both need to be disinfected with an oxidant to deactivate pathogens from either use. The disinfection of NOM with an oxidant produces disinfection by-products (DBP). The disinfection of NOM can be achieved through the use of various oxidation sources, such as: UV, ozone, chlorine, or chloramination. Depending on the oxidant and the source water, various halo DBPs can be formed. Each source generates multiple DBP’s. One of the main components to the nearly 600 identified DBP’s are haloacetic acids (HAA) which have been detected in our ecosystem and affect overall human health. As utility companies utilize more influent waters containing higher salinity or desalinated sea/brackish groundwater, a growing concern has mounted for HAA’s. The higher concentrations of bromide and iodide converted in these waters change the speciation of DBP’s toward their brominated and iodinated analogues rather than their more recognized chlorinated species. These species have been documented as more toxic than the chlorinated analogs and are not routinely tested for by regulatory administrations.

The coagulation benefits of vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) are well known, however, the other congeners of the vitamin series are not as common (K2, K3, and K4), but equally contribute to a healthy disposition. K1 is abundantly found in leafy greens due to its role in photosynthesis. The absorption of K1 can be enhanced if a fat source like oil or butter is consumed with the greens, owing to the vitamin’s inherent lipophilicity.¹ Vitamin K2, or menaquinone’s (MK’s), are identified by their various isoprenoid sidechain lengths (4–13). The MK4 subtype, that is 4 isoprenoid repeating units, can be synthesized through normal gut bacteria, but the other subtypes are primarily produced through non-human gut bacterial modalities.

Essential oils have been a staple of the food, fragrance, and health markets for many years. Owing to their unique composition, essential oils can be used for a variety of applications including antiparasitics, antivirals, bactericides, fungicides, insecticides, repellants, as well as food flavoring and mood enhancers. Market growth, coupled with limited production of naturally occurring products, has led a large segment of industrial essential oil suppliers to turn to the addition of synthetic additives. The production of an essential oil through synthetic routes (arrived at through the use of petroleum products), was adopted for two main reasons; the price of natural oils, and for consistency of products (natural oils can vary in the percentage of individual components from year-to-year). Unfortunately, the addition of these synthetic adjuncts can give rise to a number of health concerns that are generally associated with petroleum products, such as allergic reactions, migraines, asthma attacks, nausea, eczema, and various other sensitivities.