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Misc. News
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L.etter to E.ditor
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Nov 3, 2006, 10:45
D.iet & H.ealth
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C.ancer
Nutritionist: Drinking too much milk promotes cancer growth After 27 years of animal studies, Dr. T. Collin Campbell, Emeritus professor from Cornell University, came to a shocking conclusion that drinking too much milk promotes cancer growth. The details were revealed in his book titled "China Study". Dec 8, 2006, 22:47
F.ood & H.ealth
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T.echnologies
Mushrooms Have a Future in Fighting a Fowl Parasite Wide use of a mushroom extract to protect poultry against a major parasitic disease is now closer, thanks to an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist and her South Korean colleagues. Dec 8, 2006, 09:38
F.ood & H.ealth
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Agri. & Environ.
Pesticides linked to high risk of pediatric cancers Rare pediatric cancers have been found not so rare in a potato-farming community of 14,000 residents on the western tip of Canada's Prince Edward Island, Global and Mail reported Wednesday Dec. 6. Dec 7, 2006, 21:34
F.ood & H.ealth
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L.aws & P.olitics
Congress Passes Sober Truth on Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act Passage of the STOP Act represents a long-overdue acknowledgement of the need to do more as a nation to address the harm caused by underage drinking. Unlike illicit drugs, for which we have a comprehensive government-wide strategy, there has been no credible national plan to combat alcohol problems, Dec 7, 2006, 19:01
D.iet & H.ealth
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C.ancer
High Protein Diets May Boost Cancer Risk Eating a low-protein diet may protect against certain cancers, while a diet high in protein may increase the risk for malignancies, a new study suggests. Dec 7, 2006, 14:36
Misc. News
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C.onsumer A.ffair
Cereal prices surge to highest levels in decade Cereal prices, particularly for wheat and maize, have reached levels not seen for a decade, according to FAO’s latest Food Outlook report. Dec 7, 2006, 14:32
D.iet & H.ealth
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B.ody W.eight
Nasal spray intended to treat obesity A Boston company named Compellis Pharmaceuticals said that it obtained an initial patent for a nasal spray that aims to treat obesity by blocking the olfactory activity in the nose, Boston.com reported Wednesday Dec. 6. Dec 7, 2006, 11:17
Misc. News
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C.onsumer A.ffair
Not to pile on Taco Bell, but how many times does lightening need to strike? In early December, 2000, Lake County Florida Health Department (LCHD) learned of seven hepatitis A cases, including five hospitalizations, in Lake and neighboring Sumter Counties in a two week span. During the previous two years, the total number of known hepatitis A cases in Lake County was twenty-two. Dec 7, 2006, 10:34
F.ood & H.ealth
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L.aws & P.olitics
FDA investigating E. colo 0157 infections linked with Taco Bell The Food and Drug Administration is assisting in the investigation of an outbreak of E. coli O157 infection in consumers associated with eating food from several Taco Bell restaurants in Northeastern states. Dec 6, 2006, 23:31
D.iet & H.ealth
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C.hildren & W.omen
Infants & Fluoride: New Warning from Dentists In a little-noticed but dramatic turnaround, the nation's leading fluoride advocate, The American Dental Association (ADA), issued an alert on November 9th urging parents to avoid fluoridated water when reconstituting infant formula. Dec 6, 2006, 15:46
Misc. News
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C.onsumer A.ffair
Taco Bell Removes Green Onions From Its Restaurants (HealthDay News) -- Preliminary tests have linked the E. coli outbreak at Taco Bell restaurants in three northeastern states to samples of green onions possibly contaminated with a harsh strain of the bacteria. Dec 6, 2006, 13:04
D.iet & H.ealth
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C.ancer
Eating greens may cut skin cancer risk Skin cancer survivors may halve their chance of relapse by eating lots of leafy green vegetables, a new Australian study suggests. Dec 6, 2006, 11:50
Misc. News
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C.onsumer A.ffair
Schools Getting Raw Deal from Bottlers Most school beverage deals aren't very lucrative, raising an average of only $18 per student per year, according to the first-ever multi-state analysis of school systems' contracts with beverage companies. Dec 6, 2006, 11:11
F.ood & H.ealth
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L.aws & P.olitics
Raw milk advocate says government made a big mistake Michael Schmidt, living off nothing but raw milk and water for almost two weeks, was cited as saying the provincial government is messing with the wrong man, adding, "They made a big mistake. They should have known that I'm very determined, and that the public is too well educated to buy all their crap. Dec 6, 2006, 11:07
F.ood & H.ealth
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L.aws & P.olitics
Give consumers choice in milk If consumers want raw milk so badly, then government should, according to this editorial, relax the rules and make it available. Dec 6, 2006, 11:00
Misc. News
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Non-f.ood Things
Minnesota Tops State Health Rankings For the fourth straight year, Minnesota has taken first place in state health rankings in the annual United Health Foundation report, which also found Americans 0.3 percent healthier in 2006 than they were last year. Dec 5, 2006, 16:47
F.ood & H.ealth
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L.aws & P.olitics
FSIS to Hold a Public Meeting to Help Define 'Natural' Label The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today announced a public meeting to discuss a petition to establish a definition for the voluntary claim "natural" and to gather comments on conditions under which the claim should be allowed to be used on the labels of meat and poultry products. Dec 5, 2006, 16:38
Misc. News
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R.ecalls & A.lerts
Cleugh's Frozen Foods Inc. Recalls Frozen Strawberries Sold to Jamba Juice Cleugh's Frozen Foods Inc., Salinas, CA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ-STKL) (TSX-SOY), today announced a voluntary recall of frozen strawberries sold exclusively to Jamba Juice for use in strawberry smoothies Dec 5, 2006, 16:21
Misc. News
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R.ecalls & A.lerts
Jamba Juice Issues Alert Regarding Strawberry Smoothies Jamba Juice of San Francisco, CA in consultation with the FDA is notifying the public that smoothies containing strawberries which were sold at its Jamba Juice stores in Arizona, Southern Nevada and Southern California between November 25 - December 1, 2006, may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Dec 5, 2006, 16:20
D.iet & H.ealth
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G.eneral H.ealth
Anorexia nervosa: what you need to know
A person with anorexia (a-neh-RECK-see-ah) nervosa, often called anorexia, has an intense fear of gaining weight. Someone with anorexia thinks about food a lot and limits the food she or he eats, even though she or he is too thin. Dec 5, 2006, 16:14
D.iet & H.ealth
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G.eneral H.ealth
Bulimia: What you need to know Bulimia (buh-LEE-me-ah) nervosa, often called bulimia, is a type of eating disorder. A person with bulimia eats a lot of food in a short amount of time (binges) and then tries to prevent weight gain by getting rid of the food, called purging. Dec 5, 2006, 16:09
F.ood & H.ealth
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L.aws & P.olitics
NYC Trans Fat, Calorie Labeling Initiatives Approved Congratulations to the New York City Board of Health, Health Commissioner Tom Frieden and Mayor Michael Bloomberg for adopting these bold new measures to promote the public’s health. When New York City's major chain restaurants comply with these sensible new regulations, I hope they make the changes nationwide. Dec 5, 2006, 13:17
Authorities from 12 states convened yesterday to better prepare for the war against illegal use and sales of fentanyl, a powerful prescription painkiller, which is lethal on its own, but even deadlier when mixed with heroin.
Fentanyl, trade name of Sublimaze, is an opioid analgesic with a potency of about 80 times that of morphine. It's being bought up as a more potent form of heroin, or mixed with heroin.
"In my almost 30 years of law enforcement experience, I haven't seen a threat that concerns me this much," said Tim Ogden, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Chicago office, in an Associated Press article. "Fentanyl is a very, very potent substance."
States authorities classify fentanyl as a narcotic, whose biological effects are indistinguishable from heroin, with the exception that the fentanyls may be hundreds of times more potent, according to the U.S. DEA. It is legally used as a painkiller for cancer, but its illegal use is growing, as is the number of reported overdoses.
While some arrests have found the two laced together in one bag, other times fentanyl is being sold as heroin. Either can easily lead to an overdose, according to the DEA.
Overdoses are being reported across the country, whether with pure fentanyl or as tainted heroin.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Cook County saw 64 fentanyl-related overdoses in the last year, with 20 had pure fentanyl in their bodies, said Frank Limon, chief of the Chicago Police Department's organized crime division. The remaining overdoses had fentanyl mixed with heroin or other drugs.
A fentanyl mix is sold as the street name "get high or die tryin'," and 83 people have overdosed on heroin laced with fentanyl in metro Detroit this year, according to the Detroit Free Press.
There's a spike in the drug's traffic, with thefts of the drug from pharmacies where it's legally prescribed, and increased illegal manufacture in illicit, homemade drug labs.
Authorities say they may have an emerging fentanyl crisis. According to the Chicago Tribune, of the 64 people who have died in fentanyl-related overdoses in Cook County over the last year, 20 had pure fentanyl in their bodies, said Frank Limon, chief of the Chicago Police Department's organized crime division. The others had fentanyl mixed with heroin or other drugs.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services dministration (SAMHSA) issued an action alert to substance abuse treatment and prevention professionals throughout the United States regarding fentanyl. SAMHSA warned about a new combination of street drugs made with fentanyl to create a potentially lethal effect.
"The addition of fentanyl to heroin or cocaine being sold on the streets is believed to be the cause of clusters of drug-related deaths and even greater numbers of overdoses in east coast and midwest cities in the past few months," said SAMHSA.
The federal agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reports thatiIn just one week in May, an estimated 33 individuals in the Detroit are reported to have died after using this fatal drug mix. The same drug combination may have been responsible for more than 100 deaths in Philadelphia/Camden, Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit since last September.
A two-day conference was called to better understand a drug rising in popularity, as well as coordinate how to pursue the traffickers pushing the drug to heroin users.
Chicago hosted a conference yesterday to coordinate worldwide investigative efforts aimed at identifying and dismantling the drug trafficking organizations responsible for the diversion, illicit production, and/or distribution of fentanyl.
Representatives from California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington D.C., Wisconsin, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention attended.
According to the Associated Press, heroin use is also on the rise, with the percentage of heroin users seeking treatment doubling from 1997 to 2005, said Eric Wandersleben, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Director H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., sent out the nation-wide fentanyl alert to highlight the growing concern about the potentially fatal effects of this street-drug combination and encloses a fact sheet about preventing as well as detecting and treating overdoses.
"Individuals involved in the public health need to be aware of this new dangerous drug combination," Dr. Clark said in a prepared statement. "They need to be prepared to alert patients, clients and others to help save lives. After all, fentanyl is 50-100 times more powerful than morphine. When mixed with cocaine or heroin, the results can be lethal."
According to the SAMHSA, the illegal use of fentanyl particularly in combination with a drug such as heroin or cocaine, or when used in excessive amounts, can result in irregular heart beat. But fentanyl and its drug hybrids can also result in the inability to breathe and death. "In some cases, heroin or cocaine users are aware they are purchasing this dangerous combination of drugs; in other cases, the buyer is not aware that he or she is purchasing this potentially lethal drug combination," said SAMSHA.
