Last December, after decades of ignoring the issue of the non-medical use antibiotics in farm animals, the FDA finally released industry-friendly guidance on the topic, politely asking drug companies to stop selling their antibiotics to farmers for anything other than disease treatment and prevention. And yet the folks at Swiss drug giant Novartis continue to push one of their antibiotics as a way for pig farmers to make bigger pigs. [More]
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The Secret To These “African Black Ant” Pills Isn’t Black Ants, It’s Viagra
By 5.6.14
There’s a reason that, after centuries of homemade potency potions that fell flat, the world went crazy for drugs like Viagra (sildenafil) and Cialis (tadalafil). It’s because they apparently work. So it’s no surprise that companies may be trying to mix these prescription drugs into their “dietary supplements” and hope that no one actually tests them. [More]
Supreme Court Justices Grill Coca-Cola Over Scarcity Of Pomegranates In Pomegranate Juice
By 4.22.14
As the top judicial body in the land, the United States Supreme Court has asked some pretty tough questions in its day. But yesterday the justices had a question for Coca-Cola that doesn’t seem like it should be so tricky: Shouldn’t a juice labeled as “pomegranate and blueberry” actually include a fair amount of, um, pomegranates? And blueberries? [More]
Brewers Claim Proposed FDA Animal Feed Rules Would Raise Prices For Beer
By 4.21.14
One might not make the obvious connection between animal feed and beer brewing, but every year the nation’s brewers provide millions of tons of low- or no-cost animal feed to farmers in the form of spent grain left over from the brewing process. But a proposed rule update by the Food and Drug Administration may make it harder for brewers and farmers to continue this relationship. [More]
Health Advocates Say Joe’s Crab Shack Is Breaking Its “No Trans Fat” Promise
By 4.16.14
Seven years ago, the new owners of the 130-location Joe’s Crab Shack restaurant chain promised to completely stop using controversial artificial trans fats in the cooking of its menu items. But the folks at the Center for Science in the Public Interest say Joe’s is breaking this promise by serving up heaps of trans fat-heavy margarine on some dishes. [More]
Subway: No More “Yoga Mat” Chemicals In Our Bread By Next Week
By 4.11.14
Back in February, Subway pledged to stop using Azodicarbonamide, a controversial chemical that it uses to improve elasticity in its bread but that also shows up in things like yoga mats. You won’t be doing any downward dogging (that’s how yoga people talk, right?) on Subway’s bread soon, as the company says it’s almost done phasing out the chemical. [More]
FDA’s New Rules: Honey With Added Sweeteners Might Be Sweet, But It Ain’t Honey
By 4.8.14
Just because something looks like honey, is sticky like honey and is sweet like honey, doesn’t mean it’s the real thing, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said today in new draft guidelines. That means food companies that add sweeteners to pure honey will have to tell consumers it’s not the totally real deal and label the products as a “blend.” [More]
Proposal To Regulate E-Cigarettes Expected Soon, FDA Says
By 4.3.14
While critics of e-cigarettes raise concerns about everything from exploding devices to poisoning risks to marketing and advertising to minors, there are currently no specific federal regulations on these products. That is likely to change soon, says the head of the FDA. [More]
Avon To Phase Out Triclosan From Products
By 4.1.14
Four years ago, the FDA admitted that triclosan — an antibacterial and antifungal chemical used in numerous soaps, cosmetics and other products — doesn’t provide any additional benefit to simple soap-and-hot-water hand-washing. And while the agency mulls over proposed rules that would require companies that use triclosan in soap to prove their products are safe and more effective, some companies are responding to customer demand and phasing out the use of the chemical on their own. [More]
8 Things Companies Have Said That Sounded Like April Fool’s Jokes But Sadly Weren’t
By 4.1.14
For the calendar-challenged, we’ll point out that today is April 1, meaning the Internet is full of phony products, fake stories, doctored photos… so, you know, it’s like most days on the Internet. Rather than serve up a “United Charges Upgrade Fee For Merely Being Jealous Of First-Class Passengers” headline, or a post about Comcast CEO Brian Roberts giving up his job to play Gretl Von Trapp in a regional theater production of The Sound of Music, we’re looking back at some stories that would have been appropriate for April Fool’s. [More]
Weight-Loss Drug Alli Recalled Over Tampering Concerns
By 3.27.14
Big pharma biggie GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has issued a recall all on all of its alli weight loss products in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, over concerns that packages may have been tampered with, resulting in some bottles containing something other than actual alli capsules. [More]
Drug Companies Say They Won’t Sell Antibiotics For Non-Medical Use In Animals, But Are They Telling The Truth?
By 3.26.14
The FDA had “Look at effect of medically unnecessary antibiotics in farm animals and maybe do something about it” on its to-do list for three decades, and then last December it finally issued a pretty-please to the pharmaceuticals industry, asking drug companies to voluntarily stop selling antibiotics for non-therapeutic use on farm animals. Almost all of them have since agreed in writing to follow the FDA’s guidance, but are those promises worth the paper they’re written on? [More]
Full-Page Ads Thank Trader Joe’s For Giving Consumers The Choice To Eat Drugged-Up Meat
By 3.14.14
Freedom of choice is a pretty awesome thing. But for quite some time, consumers have had very little choice when it comes to buying beef, chicken, or pork that wasn’t fed a massive amount of medically unnecessary antibiotics. That’s one of the reasons why our cohorts at Consumers Union have been pushing supermarket chain Trader Joe’s to stop selling meat from these animals — so consumers could have an affordable, convenient way to get meat that wasn’t pumped full of penicillin. But according to a series of full-page newspaper ads, consumers apparently want hamburgers that are contributing to the spread of drug-resistant infections. [More]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren Takes FDA Chief To Task On Weak Antibiotics Guidance
By 3.13.14
In December, the Food and Drug Administration showed just how little it actually cares about drugs in our food by — after more than 35 years of dragging its feet on the topic — politely asking drug companies to pretty please stop selling medically unnecessary antibiotics to farmers who put the drugs in animal feed solely to encourage muscle tissue growth. Today, Senator Elizabeth Warren had the chance to grill FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg on the topic, and she didn’t pull her punches. [More]
Pfizer Recalls Antidepressant Effexor Because It Is Not A Heart Medicine
By 3.7.14
Two lots of Pfizer’s Effexor antidepressant and one lot of its generic form, Venlafaxine, have been recalled by Pfizer after a pharmacist discovered a different medicine inside one large bottle of the drug. [More]
FDA’s New Nutrition Label Emphasizes Calories, Serving Size, Added Sugars
By 2.27.14
Earlier today, the FDA finally got around to unveiling the first major change to food nutrition labels in two decades. The new-look label contains mostly the same information as the current version, but with the addition of “added sugars” data, the loss of “calories from fat,” and more emphasis on total calories per serving and servings per container. [More]
FDA May Trim Some Of Those Lengthy Warnings In Prescription Drug Ads
By 2.18.14
We’re all familiar with prescription drug commercials that are basically 5 seconds about how there’s some awesome drug for your “moderate-to-severe” fill-in-the-blank condition, followed by 25 seconds of happy families playing in parks accompanied by the sound of speed-red disclosures about a vast array of warnings and possible side effects. The FDA is now looking for you opinion about whether it should look into trimming down all that fine print. [More]
Chick Fil-A To (Eventually) Stop Using Antibiotic-Filled Chicken
By 2.11.14
In a move that could (hopefully) have a positive ripple effect on the rest of the fast food industry, Chick fil-A announced today that it will phase out the use of chickens raised using medically unnecessary antibiotics over the next five years. [More]
