Richters HerbLetter


Date: 95/04/23
Contents
1. "Miracle" Mushroom Tea Cures Sweep Fiji
2. Garlic Pollution

1. "Miracle" Mushroom Tea Cures Sweep Fiji
By David Zimmerman

SUVA, Fiji, April 7, Reuters -- Fiji has been gripped by "mushroom fever," with hundreds of people claiming miracle cures for ailments such as asthma, baldness, diabetes and high blood pressure after drinking tea made from a kind of fungus. There are fresh claims almost daily from newspaper readers about the tea’s healing powers and radio talk shows have been inundated with callers, one of whom even claimed the tea made her pregnant -- without the aid of a man.

The brew, also known as kombucha, is gaining popularity in the United States and some Asian countries, according to Professor Bill Aalbersberg, lecturer in chemistry at the University of the South Pacific in Suva. According to popular rumor, the "mushroom," which looks like a bloated, gelatinous pancake, was brought to Fiji by a soldier returning from peacekeeping duties in the Middle East.


2. Garlic Pollution
TORONTO, April 22, Toronto Star -- Rotten garlic dumped illegally into the Bay of Bengal has polluted parts of the Bangladesh coast, disrupting aquatic life and fouling the air, according to a government minister. "Fish trawlers are facing hard times and have recorded very poor catches" because of the dumping, said Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdullah Al-Normal to reporters. He accused an unnamed company of dumping 880 tonnes of the rotten tuber about two months ago. The resulting stench has also polluted the air in adjoining coastal areas.



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