Eagle-eyed reader Brian was sitting back and enjoying an ice-cold Mountain Dew when he noticed that something seemed funny about the math on the Nutrition Facts label. [More]
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Senate Passes Food Safety Bill That Would Increase FDA Authority
By 11.30.10
Earlier today, the Senate passed its version of a new food safety bill that would increase the authority of the Food & Drug Administration in making recalls and inspecting food processing facilities. The intent behind the bill is to proactively prevent outbreaks of tainted food instead of just dealing with the negative health and economic after effects. [More]
Is Today The Last Day To Eat Your Thanksgiving Leftovers?
By 11.29.10
Surely most have you have finished picking the carcass of your Thanksgiving turkey of all things edible. But for those of you who still have some bird meat sitting in your fridge — today is the deadline for eating them without putting yourself at risk. [More]
No More Darvon Or Darvocet For You
By 11.19.10
Two of the more commonly used painkillers in the U.S. have been pulled from the market by their manufacturer after a new study linked the drugs to potentially fatal heart rhythms. [More]
FDA Warns Makers Of Alcoholic Energy Drinks
By 11.17.10
Earlier today, there was speculation that the FDA might issue a declaration that effectively bans alcoholic beverages that contain caffeine and other stimulants. While the agency opted to not go to such lengths, it did announce that caffeine added to malt liquor qualifies as an “unsafe food additive” and sent warning letters to the makers of seven different drinks, giving them 15 days to come up with a plan for remedying the violation. [More]
Is A Ban Needed On Alcoholic Energy Drinks?
By 11.17.10
Reports say the the Food & Drug Administration is planning to announce today that caffeine is an unsafe food additive in alcoholic drinks. This would effectively ban a whole range of products like Four Loko, Joose and Sparks, which market themselves as a sort of boozed-up energy drink. [More]
More Cheese From Costco Recalled For E. Coli Contamination
By 11.15.10
Ten days after announcing that a brand of gouda cheese sold at Costco had been linked to an E. coli outbreak, the FDA has issued a recall for some gorgonzola cheese sold at Costco, also for E. coli contamination. [More]
FDA Proposes More Graphic Warning Labels For Cigarettes
By 11.10.10
In an effort to convince cigarette smokers to quit — and to stop potential smokers from picking up a pack — the FDA’s Dept. of Health and Human Services has proposed a series of larger, more graphic warnings for cigarette packs and advertising. [More]
288,000 Eggs Recalled For Possible Salmonella Taint
By 11.8.10
The year of the rotten (or rather, infected) egg isn’t over yet. The Cal-Maine Foods company has announced a recall after learning that around 24,000 dozen eggs that it processed and repackaged had originally come from a facility that tested positive for salmonella. [More]
Cheese Sold At Costco Linked To E. Coli Outbreak
By 11.5.10
Costco might be a good place to stock up on eyeglasses, but the FDA says that the warehouse store has been selling and sampling some cheese that could make you sick. [More]
FDA Issues Recall For Duro Extend Capsules For Containing Ingredient That Might Actually Work
By 11.4.10
It’s one thing to market a pill for “male enhancement” that doesn’t work; it’s another to market one that might and not tell customers about the ingredient that could be causing it to work. Just ask the folks behind those Duro Extend Capsules For Men, who have issued a recall after the FDA found they contain Sulfoaidenafil, an analogue of sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra. [More]
6 Nasty Things The FDA Found At Facility Behind Recalled Eggs
By 10.19.10
The FDA has released the warning letter it recently sent to Quality Egg, one of the facilities behind the massive egg recall in August. And while some things are redacted — mostly details from Quality’s plan to get back up to snuff — the letter contains more than its fair share of stomach-churning imagery. [More]
ID An Unknown Pill
By 10.18.10
Ever find a pill in your medicine cabinet and forget what it is and how it got there? To the rescue comes Pillbox, a site that helps you identify unknown pills. Just select a few criteria, like shape, size, scoring and marking, and it tells you what kind of pill it is. Neat! [More]
Woman Mistakes Superglue For Eyedrops; Not As Funny As It Sounds
By 10.6.10
It sounds like the sort of prank a bratty little brother would pull in a wacky Hollywood comedy from the ’80s, but it’s not. A woman in Arizona recently reached for what she thought was eyedrops, only to end up squirting superglue into her eye. [More]
FDA Does Spit-Take Over Mouthwash Labels Saying They Fight Gum Disease
By 9.29.10
The FDA just smacked the taste out of the mouths of Johnson & Johnson, Walgreens and CVS over advertising that their mouthwash fights gum disease, without having science to prove it. [More]
FDA Won't Require 'Genetically Modified' Label On Salmon
By 9.21.10
If you’re curious about whether the food you’re munching on is the product of gene-splicing scientists, don’t expect the Food and Drug Administration to allay those fears. [More]
NY Times: Changing HFCS To 'Corn Sugar' Is A Good Idea
By 9.16.10
As we reported earlier this week, The Corn Refiner’s Association has filed a petition with the FDA to get permission to refer to High Fructose Corn Syrup simply as Corn Sugar on food labels. This morning, the editors of the New York Times penned an editorial about the name change — and they’re all for it. [More]
USDA Knew Of Poor Sanitation At Egg Facility Months Before Recall
By 9.10.10
Unless you’ve been only been paying attention to the 24/7 Big Brother live feeds this summer, you’ve probably heard about that tiny little recall of 380 million eggs because of potential salmonella poisoning. Now the Wall Street Journal reports that USDA graders noticed problems at the source facility earlier this year but opted to wait until FDA inspectors figured things out for themselves in August. [More]
