recalls
The FDA says P&G is voluntarily recalling three lots of its
Vicks Sinex nasal spray in three countries: the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom after finding the bacteria B. cepacia in a small amount of product. There have been no reports of illness. However, the bacteria could cause serious infections for individuals with a compromised immune system, or those with chronic lung conditions, such as cystic fibrosis. B. cepacia poses little medical risk to healthy individuals.
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fda
Eating raw oysters from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico can and does kill people. Not
a lot of people. But it does kill people. The FDA recently was forced to back off from a plan to ban these oysters pending more research into how to keep them from killing said people. Apparently, oyster lovers are a motivated bunch.
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adverse events
The FDA has sent a warning to biotech company
Genzyme after particles of rubber, steel, and fibers were found in vials of five of their injectable medications. The contamination occurred during the manufacturing process, and the FDA is concerned because doctors could be, y'know,
injecting garbage fragments into their patients.
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govenment
The FDA says that companies have 30 days to convince them that caffeinated alcoholic beverages are safe and legal, because they don't seem to remember approving them.
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recalls
It's Halloween, and what's scarier than exploding DVD player batteries and killer flatware? Or dairy lurking in an innocent-looking tortilla? What about a zombie ATV that accelerates on its own?
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please be intelligent
The
FDA is calling on consumers not to fall for unapproved bogus "
swine flu" or "H1N1" products that claim to offer a cure or other health benefits. There's even a "swine flu shampoo" that claims to protect against the virus. Awesome.
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safety
This list of the
10 riskiest foods might surprise you at first, because there's no mention of any sort of meat or poultry. But that's because it's from the FDA, which doesn't regulate those two food categories. When it comes to produce, dairy, eggs and seafood, here's what to watch out for, listed in order from most outbreaks to least.
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pill popping
In the wake of
FDA warnings about
steroids in nutritional supplements, federal officials are studying ways to improve safety in dietary supplements. Mean time, we've got a few consumer tips for those of you who take supplements, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:
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news from the swamp
The House of Representatives just passed the bipartisan
Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. If enacted, the legislation would strengthen the FDA, increase inspections of
food facilities, and hopefully ensure that tragedies like the Peanut Corporation of America salmonella outbreak become a thing of the past.
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bodybuilding
You should avoid nutritional supplements that claim to have steroid-like effects, no matter how many flames are pictured on the label. Earlier this week, the
FDA sent a warning letter to
Americell-Labs, the manufacturer of many popular lines of such supplements, and also
warned consumers to stay away from the products. The "supplements" claim to act a little too much like steroids, and should be tested and sold as drugs if they are, y'know, drugs. If they're anabolic steroids, they shouldn't be sold at all.
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Never Stop Screaming Ever
(Ed. note— Ok, let me just tell you that reading this story made my stomach flip, which is something that almost never happens to me, so if you're eating lunch or (heaven forbid) drinking a Pepsi — just go to Cute Overload and forget this ever happened.) A Florida man says he was drinking a can of
Diet Pepsi when he noted that it tasted funny.
(Warning: "Not Safe For Lunch" graphic picture inside.)
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apologies
Apparently we were wrong about this whole "
Chinese Poison Train" thing. It turns out that it was "filthy U.S. inspectors" who were tainting "pristine Chinese shipments" all along, according to
The Onion.
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science says
Bottled water isn't any safer than
tap water, and could actually be more dangerous, according to a report from the
Government Accounting Office. The big difference lies in the government regulator: tap
water is covered by the Safe Water Drinking Act, administered by the aggressive and powerful Environmental Protection Agency, while bottled water falls under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act overseen by the powerless anything-goes industry-lovers over at the Food and Drug Administration.
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