Headlines December
Bilthoven pharma temporarily halts production of polio vaccine after incidents
Pharmaceuticals Bilthoven Biologicals is temporarily halting production of their polio vaccine. This is done at the insistence of the Noordzeekanaalgebied Environment Service. The reason is an incident last month in which the polio virus was found in the sewer near the Utrecht Science Park in Bilthoven. That is where the pharmaceutical is located. An employee became infected and is in isolation, it emerged yesterday. According to the environmental service, there has been a pattern of incidents involving the poliovirus over the past five years. The service said in a statement that it is "insufficiently clear at the moment whether operations and safety are in order". The environmental service has therefore asked the pharmaceuticals to halt all poliovirus-related activities immediately. It is not clear when production will resume. Investigations into the causes of the incidents are also to be carried out.
What is polio?
Polio is a serious infectious disease transmitted from human to human. In 90-95 per cent of cases, it proceeds without flu-like symptoms. But sometimes the symptoms can get worse, with headaches, muscle aches and vomiting. In some cases, polio leads to paralysis. About 2 to 10 per cent of patients with paralysis die because the nerves of swallowing or breathing muscles are affected.
(Source: RIVM)
Health Minister Kuipers has long wanted stricter requirements for companies working with the poliovirus. He is therefore working on a new law, which should be ready in the first quarter of next year. The risk of further spread is otherwise estimated by the RIVM at almost zero, also thanks to the good sewage system in the Netherlands. Polio no longer occurs in the Netherlands, thanks to a large-scale vaccination campaign. Before vaccinations were introduced, polio was more common.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2455778-bilthovense-farmaceut-legt-productie-poliovaccin-tijdelijk-stil-na-incidenten
Oreo biscuits black thanks to large quantities of environmentally polluting ammonia
Cocoa factory Olam in Koog aan de Zaan in North Holland has been mixing large quantities of toxic ammonia with ground cocoa beans to make its famous Oreo biscuits black for years. The factory has kept this secret for years, although the government knew about it. This is according to research by the Noord-Hollands Dagblad, which writes that this makes the factory one of the biggest ammonia polluters in the Netherlands. For the biscuit eater, there would be no health hazard because "no or very little ammonia remains in the final product". The ingredient is listed on the packaging under the name 'ammonium carbonate'. "The use of ammonium carbonate in food does not affect the quality or safety of the product," explained Annick Verdege of Mondelez, the manufacturer of the biscuits. The Oreo maker buys cocoa from the factory in Koog aan de Zaan.
For local residents, the emissions of the environmentally polluting commodity do pose a problem. The cocoa factory in Koog aan de Zaan was never designed to process large quantities of ammonia, a whistleblower tells the newspaper. "There was never enough money invested to do that properly. Too expensive, they thought. So the ammonia seeps out of every nook and cranny, the stench is enormous. The environment? That doesn't interest the company top brass. They do care about the black cocoa powder and what they earn from it." Olam concealed the fact that large amounts of ammonia are artificially added during the process of turning cocoa deep black. The factory created "a fallacy" for local residents by saying that ammonia is naturally released when cocoa beans are treated. The government knew about it, writes the Noord-Hollands Dagblad. The Environment Agency concealed the addition of tens of thousands of kilos of ammonia at Olam's request, according to the newspaper. Olam director Eric Nederhand acknowledges that ammonia is added to the process, but would not clarify how much on an annual basis.
Ammonia is a nitrogen compound that is harmful to nature and health. People who live, work or go to school near a nitrogen source can suffer respiratory problems, reports Milieucentraal. 'Especially people who already suffer from chronic lung diseases, such as asthma and COPD. Long-term exposure to polluted air can also cause cardiovascular diseases.' Ofi reveals that ammonia is an approved food additive. It is used by the cocoa, confectionery and bakery industries, the company said in a statement. The residue in the final product is negligible, the company said. Moreover, report Ofi, a 2021 GGD study indicates that dust does not cause harm to the environment. The food company reports not exceeding the legally permissible values. In addition, Ofi is looking for alternatives. 'We are also exploring innovations that could change the nature of cocoa processing as a whole: reducing the release of ammonia and contributing to a more sustainable future for the industry.'
Source: https://www.ad.nl/koken-en-eten/oreo-koekjes-zwart-dankzij-grote-hoeveelheden-milieuvervuilend-ammoniak~a527f342/
Jumbo wins award for most misleading product, 'tea far from it'
"Sugar water, a dash of vitamins and a lot of marketing talk!" This is how food watchdog Foodwatch describes an iced tea range from supermarket chain Jumbo that won this year's Gouden Wind Egg. The iced tea with product names like 'Inner Beauty', 'Good Energy' and 'Feel Immune' won the award, which Foodwatch gives out every year for the most misleading food product. According to Foodwatch, it is misleading to present this tea as healthy to customers, and, moreover, tea in the drink is "far from it". A representative of Jumbo accepted the Golden Wind egg. In a reaction, Jumbo said it regretted winning the award. The product would comply with European rules. From now on, the supermarket will only make health claims on products that fall within the Disk of Five. Earlier, the supermarket had announced that it would change the packaging of the iced tea. This should be arranged by mid-April.
Grandma's recipe?
47 per cent of voters in Foodwatch's public election this year voted for Jumbo's 'healthy' iced tea. The second prize went to Kellogg's, which is allegedly guilty of shrinkflation, according to Foodwatch. Third place went to the Pure Artisan salad Grandma's Potato Salad from supermarket group Dirk/Dekamarkt. That salad would not be made as artisanal at all, according to Foodwatch, because it contains substances such as sodium benzoate ('where does grandma keep the sodium benzoate again?'). 'Artisanal' and 'grandmas' go off the packaging.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2457036-jumbo-wint-prijs-voor-meest-misleidende-product-thee-ver-te-zoeken
Flevoland power outage was a 'perfect storm' with accumulation of faults
Smoking high-voltage cables, a closed motorway, hundreds of thousands of people without power for a while, trains unable to run for months. The massive power failure on 2 September in Flevoland was caused by a combination of technical errors and human actions. This is according to the initial results of the investigation by Tennet, Liander and research agency DNV. The failure left some 300,000 households without power for an hour. It also caused major damage to the railway between Lelystad and Zwolle. The so-called Hanze Line was at a standstill for over three months. On that 2 September, a fire started at a new high-voltage substation in Dronten at around 3pm following a short circuit. Part of the overhead high-voltage line between the station and Lelystad switching station became overloaded, started to smoulder and sank down due to the heat. There was 150,000 volts on the cables at the time. A fire also broke out at the Lelystad switching station. Hundreds of kilometres of cables, relay boxes, even pieces of track had to be replaced. The train safety system was also damaged by the power surge.
Where did it go wrong? The investigation reveals that a lot went wrong in succession that day.
For instance, at the Olsterpad high-voltage substation in Dronten, which had been completed a day earlier, work was still in progress. Workers had taken the power off some of the connections and wanted to ground them again at the end of the day. They were unaware that the connection in question was live from Lelystad. This caused a short circuit and fire. The short circuit was not, as is standard, stopped automatically or remotely. The facility in Lelystad that should have done so had been set to 'local' shortly before, again because of safety during works. A backup facility also did not work due to a wiring fault. In the end, it took more than four minutes for security systems from surrounding high-voltage substations to ensure that the power supply was stopped.
To prevent this from happening again in the future, procedures for switching on installations are being reviewed, among other things. Technicians must be aware whether or not lines are energised. In addition, there are currently additional checks of back-up systems similar to the one that failed on 2 September. The events led to considerable damage to the high-voltage infrastructure. In both Dronten and Lelystad, installations have to be replaced. High-voltage lines that became overloaded also need to be replaced. Repair work on the high-voltage grid will continue until the end of 2023 and is expected to cost Tennet and Liander at least EUR 10 million.
It will not stop there. Several companies and consumers have filed claims for damages. Railway manager ProRail is still surveying the damage, but expects it to run into millions as well. The Hanze line between Lelystad and Zwolle was out of service until 11 December. At least one hundred kilometres of cables had to be replaced, both above and below ground. New relay boxes and even new sections of track had to be installed.
Broken appliances
Liander has received over eight hundred claims from consumers since the outage. These mainly concern appliances in the home that broke due to the power surge. Liander said it would like to help these people as quickly as possible and settle the claims in the short term.
The investigation by Tennet and Liander and DNV has not yet been completed. The whole report is expected to come at the end of January.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2457392-stroomstoring-flevoland-was-met-opeenstapeling-van-fouten-een-perfect-storm
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Pharmaceuticals Bilthoven Biologicals is temporarily halting production of their polio vaccine. This is done at the insistence of the Noordzeekanaalgebied Environment Service. The reason is an incident last month in which the polio virus was found in the sewer near the Utrecht Science Park in Bilthoven. That is where the pharmaceutical is located. An employee became infected and is in isolation, it emerged yesterday. According to the environmental service, there has been a pattern of incidents involving the poliovirus over the past five years. The service said in a statement that it is "insufficiently clear at the moment whether operations and safety are in order". The environmental service has therefore asked the pharmaceuticals to halt all poliovirus-related activities immediately. It is not clear when production will resume. Investigations into the causes of the incidents are also to be carried out.
What is polio?
Polio is a serious infectious disease transmitted from human to human. In 90-95 per cent of cases, it proceeds without flu-like symptoms. But sometimes the symptoms can get worse, with headaches, muscle aches and vomiting. In some cases, polio leads to paralysis. About 2 to 10 per cent of patients with paralysis die because the nerves of swallowing or breathing muscles are affected.
(Source: RIVM)
Health Minister Kuipers has long wanted stricter requirements for companies working with the poliovirus. He is therefore working on a new law, which should be ready in the first quarter of next year. The risk of further spread is otherwise estimated by the RIVM at almost zero, also thanks to the good sewage system in the Netherlands. Polio no longer occurs in the Netherlands, thanks to a large-scale vaccination campaign. Before vaccinations were introduced, polio was more common.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2455778-bilthovense-farmaceut-legt-productie-poliovaccin-tijdelijk-stil-na-incidenten
Oreo biscuits black thanks to large quantities of environmentally polluting ammonia
Cocoa factory Olam in Koog aan de Zaan in North Holland has been mixing large quantities of toxic ammonia with ground cocoa beans to make its famous Oreo biscuits black for years. The factory has kept this secret for years, although the government knew about it. This is according to research by the Noord-Hollands Dagblad, which writes that this makes the factory one of the biggest ammonia polluters in the Netherlands. For the biscuit eater, there would be no health hazard because "no or very little ammonia remains in the final product". The ingredient is listed on the packaging under the name 'ammonium carbonate'. "The use of ammonium carbonate in food does not affect the quality or safety of the product," explained Annick Verdege of Mondelez, the manufacturer of the biscuits. The Oreo maker buys cocoa from the factory in Koog aan de Zaan.
For local residents, the emissions of the environmentally polluting commodity do pose a problem. The cocoa factory in Koog aan de Zaan was never designed to process large quantities of ammonia, a whistleblower tells the newspaper. "There was never enough money invested to do that properly. Too expensive, they thought. So the ammonia seeps out of every nook and cranny, the stench is enormous. The environment? That doesn't interest the company top brass. They do care about the black cocoa powder and what they earn from it." Olam concealed the fact that large amounts of ammonia are artificially added during the process of turning cocoa deep black. The factory created "a fallacy" for local residents by saying that ammonia is naturally released when cocoa beans are treated. The government knew about it, writes the Noord-Hollands Dagblad. The Environment Agency concealed the addition of tens of thousands of kilos of ammonia at Olam's request, according to the newspaper. Olam director Eric Nederhand acknowledges that ammonia is added to the process, but would not clarify how much on an annual basis.
Ammonia is a nitrogen compound that is harmful to nature and health. People who live, work or go to school near a nitrogen source can suffer respiratory problems, reports Milieucentraal. 'Especially people who already suffer from chronic lung diseases, such as asthma and COPD. Long-term exposure to polluted air can also cause cardiovascular diseases.' Ofi reveals that ammonia is an approved food additive. It is used by the cocoa, confectionery and bakery industries, the company said in a statement. The residue in the final product is negligible, the company said. Moreover, report Ofi, a 2021 GGD study indicates that dust does not cause harm to the environment. The food company reports not exceeding the legally permissible values. In addition, Ofi is looking for alternatives. 'We are also exploring innovations that could change the nature of cocoa processing as a whole: reducing the release of ammonia and contributing to a more sustainable future for the industry.'
Source: https://www.ad.nl/koken-en-eten/oreo-koekjes-zwart-dankzij-grote-hoeveelheden-milieuvervuilend-ammoniak~a527f342/
Jumbo wins award for most misleading product, 'tea far from it'
"Sugar water, a dash of vitamins and a lot of marketing talk!" This is how food watchdog Foodwatch describes an iced tea range from supermarket chain Jumbo that won this year's Gouden Wind Egg. The iced tea with product names like 'Inner Beauty', 'Good Energy' and 'Feel Immune' won the award, which Foodwatch gives out every year for the most misleading food product. According to Foodwatch, it is misleading to present this tea as healthy to customers, and, moreover, tea in the drink is "far from it". A representative of Jumbo accepted the Golden Wind egg. In a reaction, Jumbo said it regretted winning the award. The product would comply with European rules. From now on, the supermarket will only make health claims on products that fall within the Disk of Five. Earlier, the supermarket had announced that it would change the packaging of the iced tea. This should be arranged by mid-April.
Grandma's recipe?
47 per cent of voters in Foodwatch's public election this year voted for Jumbo's 'healthy' iced tea. The second prize went to Kellogg's, which is allegedly guilty of shrinkflation, according to Foodwatch. Third place went to the Pure Artisan salad Grandma's Potato Salad from supermarket group Dirk/Dekamarkt. That salad would not be made as artisanal at all, according to Foodwatch, because it contains substances such as sodium benzoate ('where does grandma keep the sodium benzoate again?'). 'Artisanal' and 'grandmas' go off the packaging.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2457036-jumbo-wint-prijs-voor-meest-misleidende-product-thee-ver-te-zoeken
Flevoland power outage was a 'perfect storm' with accumulation of faults
Smoking high-voltage cables, a closed motorway, hundreds of thousands of people without power for a while, trains unable to run for months. The massive power failure on 2 September in Flevoland was caused by a combination of technical errors and human actions. This is according to the initial results of the investigation by Tennet, Liander and research agency DNV. The failure left some 300,000 households without power for an hour. It also caused major damage to the railway between Lelystad and Zwolle. The so-called Hanze Line was at a standstill for over three months. On that 2 September, a fire started at a new high-voltage substation in Dronten at around 3pm following a short circuit. Part of the overhead high-voltage line between the station and Lelystad switching station became overloaded, started to smoulder and sank down due to the heat. There was 150,000 volts on the cables at the time. A fire also broke out at the Lelystad switching station. Hundreds of kilometres of cables, relay boxes, even pieces of track had to be replaced. The train safety system was also damaged by the power surge.
Where did it go wrong? The investigation reveals that a lot went wrong in succession that day.
For instance, at the Olsterpad high-voltage substation in Dronten, which had been completed a day earlier, work was still in progress. Workers had taken the power off some of the connections and wanted to ground them again at the end of the day. They were unaware that the connection in question was live from Lelystad. This caused a short circuit and fire. The short circuit was not, as is standard, stopped automatically or remotely. The facility in Lelystad that should have done so had been set to 'local' shortly before, again because of safety during works. A backup facility also did not work due to a wiring fault. In the end, it took more than four minutes for security systems from surrounding high-voltage substations to ensure that the power supply was stopped.
To prevent this from happening again in the future, procedures for switching on installations are being reviewed, among other things. Technicians must be aware whether or not lines are energised. In addition, there are currently additional checks of back-up systems similar to the one that failed on 2 September. The events led to considerable damage to the high-voltage infrastructure. In both Dronten and Lelystad, installations have to be replaced. High-voltage lines that became overloaded also need to be replaced. Repair work on the high-voltage grid will continue until the end of 2023 and is expected to cost Tennet and Liander at least EUR 10 million.
It will not stop there. Several companies and consumers have filed claims for damages. Railway manager ProRail is still surveying the damage, but expects it to run into millions as well. The Hanze line between Lelystad and Zwolle was out of service until 11 December. At least one hundred kilometres of cables had to be replaced, both above and below ground. New relay boxes and even new sections of track had to be installed.
Broken appliances
Liander has received over eight hundred claims from consumers since the outage. These mainly concern appliances in the home that broke due to the power surge. Liander said it would like to help these people as quickly as possible and settle the claims in the short term.
The investigation by Tennet and Liander and DNV has not yet been completed. The whole report is expected to come at the end of January.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2457392-stroomstoring-flevoland-was-met-opeenstapeling-van-fouten-een-perfect-storm
Follow the url for video and photos
Translated from Dutch to English with Google translate