Najat Saliba … A World Expert in Environmental Pollution

Najat Saliba … A World Expert in Environmental Pollution
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Najat Saliba … A World Expert in Environmental Pollution

Najat Saliba … A World Expert in Environmental Pollution

Najat Saliba, an atmospheric chemistry specialist and a top environmentalist, who was chosen by BBC to be in its list of 100 women in 2019, has inspired many Lebanese villages and towns to protect the environment.

In 2021, she launched the Environment Academy and carried out many projects in cooperation with municipal councils to resolve environmental problems.

Saliba said she has worked with the municipalities of Damour, Mazraat Yachouh, Salaata and others to resolve water related issues and garbage problems.

She has earned a Ph.D. (1999) from the University of Southern California and before that a M.Sc. (1994) from California State University, Long Beach.

“When I moved along with my parents from Damour to Beirut, I realized how nature interacts with people. So I started studying atmospheric chemistry,” she tells Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Studying chemical reactions in the atmosphere is very difficult … There are a lot of challenges,” she says.

When she returned from her studies in the United States, she realized how people were unaware of the pollution surrounding them. She also faced the challenge of convincing people to carry out her research and raise awareness on the problem.

Asked what it feels like to be on BBC’s list of 100 women in 2019, she told Asharq Al-Awsat: “It’s a confirmation of the responsibility I am assuming and shows that what I am doing is being followed up internationally.”

She called for putting women in the right jobs and giving them opportunities to have leadership positions.



Many US Ice Cream Producers to Phase Out Artificial Food Dyes by 2028

Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Many US Ice Cream Producers to Phase Out Artificial Food Dyes by 2028

Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)

Dozens of US ice cream producers are planning to remove artificial colors from their products by 2028, a dairy industry group and government officials said on Monday.

The producers, which together represent more than 90% of ice cream sold in the US, are the latest food companies to take voluntary steps to remove dyes since Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April said the US aimed to phase out many synthetic dyes from the country's food supply.

Several major food manufacturers, including General Mills, Kraft Heinz, J.M. Smucker, Hershey and Nestle USA, have previously announced their plans to phase out synthetic food coloring.

The 40 ice cream companies will remove Red 3, Red 40, Green 3, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 from their retail products, excluding non-dairy products, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.

The IDFA announced the plan at an event at the US Department of Agriculture headquarters on Monday with Kennedy, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

"We know that our current health outcomes, especially for our children, are unsustainable and that American agriculture is at the heart of the solution to make America healthy again," Rollins said at the event, referencing a slogan aligned with Kennedy.

Rollins and Kennedy have worked closely together on food sector efforts like encouraging states to ban soda from the nation's largest food aid program.

Kennedy has blamed food dyes for rising rates of ADHD and cancer, an area many scientists say requires more research.

The IDFA said artificial dyes are safe, but that ice cream makers are taking the step in part to avoid disruption to sales from state efforts to phase out dyes from school foods and West Virginia's recent food dye ban.