Forums: Garlic

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Nordic customs officials have arrested a truck driver after he tried to illegally import 28 tons of Chinese garlic into the European Union. The driver was intercepted last month as he drove the pungent truckload from Norway, which is outside the EU and where garlic is exempt from customs' duties, into Sweden, where garlic is subject to a 9.6 percent EU-wide duty. Smuggling of cheaply produced Chinese garlic into the EU is on the rise, with around 1,200 tons brought into the 27-nation bloc via Norway since 2009, according to the European Anti-Fraud Office, known as OLAF.

Researchers are warning that popular herbs and supplements, including St. John’s wort and even garlic and ginger, do not mix well with common heart drugs and can also be dangerous for patients taking statins, blood thinners and blood pressure medications. St. John’s wort raises blood pressure and heart rate, and garlic and ginger increase the risk of bleeding in patients on blood thinners, the researchers said. Even grapefruit juice can be risky, increasing the effects of calcium-channel blockers and statins, they said. “This is not new research, but there is a trend toward more and more use of these compounds,...

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who gained notoriety for her dogged promotion of lemons, garlic and olive oil to treat AIDS, has died. She was 69. The ruling African National Congress said Tshabalala-Msimang died in a Johannesburg hospital Wednesday from complications related to a 2007 liver transplant. Media outlets said she was possibly undergoing tests for a possible second transplant when she died. Tshabalala-Msimang's disastrous HIV policies during her nine years in office made her the most unpopular government minister in post-apartheid South Africa. She was ridiculed locally and internationally and nicknamed "Dr. Beetroot" — another...

Thanks to a belief in its flu-repellent powers, garlic traders are on course to get stinking rich this year http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/forget-gold-and-silver-invest-in-garlic-1828755.html