Did you tie one on last night and have a few too many whiskeys/margaritas/beers? And are you at work right now, bleary-eyed and slow, or perhaps “sick” at home with a raging hangover? Your excessive drinking habits aren’t just a drain on your body, they’re costing the American economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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CDC Says Your Hangover Is Costing The Country Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars
By 10.15.15
FDA To Hold Public Meeting, Seek Comments On Antibiotic Overuse In Farm Animals
By 8.20.15
For decades, livestock farmers inadvertently encouraged the development of drug-resistant bacteria by providing a continuous stream of medically unnecessary antibiotics to their cows, pigs, and chickens — primarily to end up with bigger animals — while the Food and Drug Administration kept the issue on the back-burner. Meanwhile, antibiotic-resistant pathogens sicken more than two million people in the U.S. each year, resulting in at least 23,000 deaths. Now that everyone from consumers to lawmakers to public health advocates to McDonald’s and even Walmart are starting to care about the topic, the FDA is starting to listen. [More]
CDC Says: Most Contact Lens Wearers Aren’t So Great With Hygiene
By 8.20.15
If you wear contact lenses, you’ve probably had that moment when you wake up and realize you fell asleep with your lenses in, making your eyes feel gluey and dry. Or perhaps you’ve got extended wear contacts and have gotten accustomed to leaving them in for long periods of time. The Centers for Disease Control says you’re not alone — most contact lens wearers aren’t always so great with hygiene, and many wear their lenses for longer periods than they’re supposed to. [More]
CDC: 358 People In 26 States Confirmed To Have Cyclosporiasis From Cilantro
By 8.3.15
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration imposed a partial import ban on cilantro grown in Mexico after an outbreak of the parasitic gastrointestinal illness Cyclosporiasis was traced to specific fields and processing facilities in that country. So far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, government agencies have been able to confirm 358 cases of the illness, in 26 states. [More]
Prosecutors Recommend Life Sentence For Peanut Co. Exec Involved In Salmonella Outbreak
By 7.24.15
Stewart Parnell is the former owner of Peanut Corporation of America, the company behind a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and killed nine people in 2008 and 2009. Last year, a federal jury convicted him of knowingly shipping tainted peanut butter, and this week prosecutors in the case recommended he receive a life sentence for his crimes. [More]
You’re Not Eating Enough Fruits And Vegetables
By 7.9.15
Though there are surely those of you health-conscious readers out there who undoubtedly consume bucketloads of fruits and vegetables on a regular basis, the truth is most of us aren’t eating enough of that good, healthy stuff. That’s according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [More]
CDC Says Its Investigation Into Blue Bell Listeria Outbreak Is Over (But People Could Still Get Sick)
By 6.10.15
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued its final report on the recent outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes linked to contaminated Blue Bell Creameries ice cream products and deemed it over, we might not be out of the woods yet: Consumers could still get sick from eating contaminated ice cream that’s hanging out in their freezers, which is something some people are apparently doing. [More]
CDC Links Salmonella Outbreak Reported in 9 States To Sushi Made With Raw Tuna
By 5.22.15
Raw seafood might be delicious, but there’s always that chance that it could make you sick: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while it hasn’t conclusively determined the cause of a recent salmonella outbreak that’s spread to nine states and infected up to 53 people, it could be linked to sushi made with raw tuna. [More]
White House Acknowledges Health Risk Of Antibiotics Overuse; Critics Say It Fails To Fully Address Problem
By 3.27.15
In a new White House report on antibiotic resistance, the Obama administration acknowledges the serious public health risk posed by the over-prescription and overuse of antibiotics, and details multi-agency plans to combat the problem. However, many critics of the report say that these plans fail to close a loophole that will allow farmers to continue using medically unnecessary antibiotics on farm animals (who consume 80% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S.) primarily for the purpose of growth promotion. [More]
Legislation Aims To Make It Harder For Kids To Snack On Yummy-Looking Detergent Pods
By 2.26.15
Federal safety agencies and poison control centers have continuously expressed concern that the ever-popular, and convenient detergent pods are extremely dangerous to children, with more than 17,000 kids being poisoned by ingesting the detergent since they came on the scene three years ago. Today, the House and Senate took steps to ensure the single-serve detergent packs no long threaten childrens’ safety by introducing legislation that would enact stricter packaging standards for liquid detergent. [More]
Foods That Make People Sick With E. Coli: Beef, Plants Grown In Rows
By 2.25.15
There are three different agencies in the federal government that handle different types of foodborne illnesses and separate aspects of those illnesses. While two outbreaks might be caused by the same pathogen, which agency handles them depends on whether the food contains meat or not. This is sort of inefficient. [More]
CDC: Many Packaged Toddler Foods Contain Too Much Salt, Sugar
By 2.2.15
While the ease of pre-packaged meals for the wee set is surely tempting, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says parents should be aware that many contain worrisome amounts of salt and sugar. [More]
Health Officials: This Season’s Flu Vaccine Only 23% Effective
By 1.15.15
We were warned, and thus it has come to pass: After the Centers for Disease Control announced at the end of last year that this season’s flu vaccine might not do much to prevent people from getting sick, the agency released results today that show shots have only been about 23% effective. [More]
Third Candy Apple Maker Recalls Treats For Possible Listeria Contamination
By 12.30.14
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned consumers to avoid some caramel apples after at least 30 people in 10 states have been infected with Listeriosis due to Listeria monocytogenes. This week a third candy maker is recalling caramel apples, the government said, out of concern that its apples may be tainted with Listeria as well. [More]
CDC: This Year’s Batch Of Flu Shots Might Not Fight Current Flu Strain That Well
By 12.4.14
There you are, arm bared and teeth set, ready to endure the needle required to deliver a dose of flu vaccine, because you know that getting a flu shot will prepare you against the onslaught of illness. But it might not work out all that well, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, because this year’s batch of vaccine is proving a bit weak in the face of the current strain of flu going around for 2014-15. [More]
Sorry Camel, Fewer People Than Ever Are Smoking Between Every Thanksgiving Course
By 11.26.14
It’s been 78 years since Camel rans its full-page Thanksgiving ad encouraging smokers to enjoy a cigarette after every course of their holiday meal to aid with “good digestion.” Since then, food has apparently gotten a lot easier to digest — and people aren’t so keen about dying of lung cancer, emphysema and heart disease — as a new CDC report finds that fewer Americans than ever are aiding their digestion with cigarettes. [More]
USDA Bans Imports Of Young, Sick Puppies
By 8.15.14
First of all, let’s all look at those puppies there on the left. Don’t they look like they’re from a really adorable puppy version of The Shining? Maybe The Barking? Anyway, those puppies* are unrelated to this story: The United States Department of Agriculture has a new rule banning the importation of puppies that are too young or sickly to be coming into the country. [More]
41% Of U.S. Homes Are Now Wireless-Only
By 7.8.14
Ten years ago, only about 1-in-20 American homes were cellphone-only. By 2010, that rate had soared to 1-in-5. And according to the newest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of U.S. homes that have ditched landlines completely has doubled since 2010, and now stands at 41%. [More]
