It isn’t just the nation’s overweight children we need to worry about — the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows exactly how widespread America’s obesity problem is among the adult population in no uncertain terms. So how fat are we, really? The CDC says that every single state in the country has an obesity rate of at least 20%, and 12 states hit 30% and above. [More]
CDC
One In Three Teens Admits To Texting Or E-Mailing While Driving
By 6.7.12
As the evidence piles up showing that teens are still distracted behind the wheel to an unsafe degree, Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has introduced a new initiative aimed at ending the dangerous habits of texting or emailing while driving. [More]
There's More Sodium In Your Bread Than In Your Chips… Well, Maybe
By 2.7.12
It’s American Heart Month (some sort of Valentine’s-related synergy, we suppose) so the Centers for Disease Control has issued its latest report on how much sodium — a big contributor to high blood pressure — we’re eating and where we’re getting it from. [More]
Report Links Taco Bell To 2011 Salmonella Outbreak In 10 States
By 2.2.12
Last fall, at least 68 people in 10 states fell ill following an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis. In the months since, the Centers for Disease Control have only referred to a possible source of that strain as “Restaurant Chain A,” but a new report claims to have confirmed that the anonymous chain is actually Taco Bell. [More]
Tests Show No Connection Between Enfamil Baby Formula & Child Deaths
By 1.3.12
Late last month, Walmart and a handful of other other retailers decided to pull certain lots of Enfamil powdered baby food formula from shelves following the death of an infant in Missouri who had recently consumed the product. But tests by authorities at the Enfamil plant now show no link between the formula and this child’s death. [More]
CDC: One Dead, 76 Sick, From Salmonella-fied Ground Turkey
By 8.2.11
There is some tainted turkey making the rounds, as more than 75 people in at least 26 states have gotten salmonella poisoning from chowing down on the ground-up gobbler. And according to the Centers for Disease Control, which has yet to ID the source of the foul fowl, at least one person has died. [More]
Government Proposes New Guidelines For Marketing Food To Kids
By 4.28.11
Earlier today, an interagency working group consisting of folks from the Federal Trade Commission, Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, and the Dept. of Agriculture, issued a set of “proposed voluntary principles” it hopes the food industry will ultimately adopt in its marketing to the youth of America. [More]
Which States Have The Worst Smoker's Breath?
By 9.8.10
In spite of all the ads with coroners squeezing fat out of a smoker’s diseased heart and all the taxes levied on tobacco products, the percentage of adults who smoke on a regular basis has held steady at just over 20% for the last five years, says a new report from the Centers for Disease Control. But that percentage can vary wildly depending on location, education, race and gender. [More]
Outbreak Of Rare Salmonella Strains Linked To Taco Bell
By 8.6.10
In the last few months, at least 155 people in several states have become ill from a pair of rare strains of salmonella. And according to authorities, the source of the salmonella is food served at Taco Bell. [More]
Increased Number Of Foodborne Illnesses Coming From Salsa & Guacamole
By 7.12.10
In the last two decades, the number of Americans noshing on salsa and guacamole at restaurants has soared. Unfortunately, so has the number of Americans getting sick from salsa and guacamole they eat at restaurants. [More]
CDC: 90% Of Americans Eating Unhealthy Amounts Of Salt
By 6.25.10
Salt tastes good. It makes bland things taste less bland. But apparently, we the people of these United States of America have been salting our bland food a little too heavily. A new report says that almost every single one of us is consuming too much salt. [More]
Salmonella Recall Notices No Match For Hungry, Oblivious Consumers
By 6.19.10
Look, when the Centers for Disease Control recalls your frozen pot pie because it’s contaminated with salmonella, don’t eat it. Sure, it sounds easy, but hundreds of consumers apparently fell ill in 2007 even after ConAgra yanked millions of contaminated Banquet pies from store shelves. So just who were these sickened frozen pot pie devotees? [More]
Lettuce-Borne E.Coli Outbreak Hits Fourth State
By 5.13.10
Infected romaine lettuce from a single processing facility has been linked to the sickening of at least 23 people in four different states, NY, MI, TN, and OH, says the Center for Disease Control (CDC). [More]
CDC And Celebrity Cruises Can't Figure Out Why Passengers Keep Getting Sick
By 3.16.10
Remember the diarrhea nightmare vessel that sickened 450 passengers a few weeks back? Once it got back home, Celebrity Cruises delayed the next trip by a day so that it could perform a “full cleaning.” It didn’t help much, though: CNN says that about 10% of passengers on the next sailing got sick, and about 19% of passengers on the current sailing are now sick. [More]
CDC Will Probably Advise Flu Shots For Everyone This Fall
By 2.25.10
An advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control has recommended that everyone get flu vaccinations from now on, not just people in special higher risk groups. According to WebMD, “the CDC almost certainly will make universal flu vaccination official U.S. policy for this fall’s 2010-2011 flu season, as it consistently follows the advice of the panel of outside experts.” [More]
Caribbean Cruise Ship Turns Into Diarrhea Nightmare Vessel
By 2.23.10
When gastrointestinal illness hits a cruise ship, there’s nowhere to run or hide, as nearly 450 passengers and crewmembers aboard the Celebrity Cruises ship Mercury have discovered. Celebrity Cruises says they they’re still investigating what caused the outbreak, but the symptoms include “upset stomach, vomiting and diarrhea,” according to their spokeswoman. [More]
Swine Flu: Over 57 Million Americans Served
By 2.12.10
The white coats over at the Centers for Disease Control have issues a bad news/good news report regarding the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus — better known by its stage name, “swine flu.” The bad news is that more than 57 million Americans have gotten sick with H1N1. The good news, in a backhanded way, is that only around 0.02% of the cases were fatal. [More]
H1N1 Phishing Email Making The Rounds
By 12.4.09
The Centers for Disease Control have issued a warning that there’s a new, swine flu-themed phishing email going around. It says something about an imaginary State Vaccination H1N1 Program, and asks you to create an account on the cdc.gov website–and if you click the link, malicious code may be installed on your system. Obviously you have brain worms if you fall for this. [More]
