People in northern Iran who drank tea hotter than 70 degrees Celsius were eight times more likely to have throat cancer than those drinking it below 65, in a study of 300 esophageal cancer patients and 571 others. The authors suspect repeated injury to the esophagus.
Food Consumer
Food
Soy food prevents breast cancer
A case-control study of 597 women with breast cancer and 966 without, across three Asian-American groups, tied the highest childhood soy intake to 60% lower risk. Adolescent and adult intake showed weaker links that faded after adjusting for westernization.
Politics
Pork Industry on Defensive After HBO Movie. Again
HBO's Death on a Factory Farm, shot undercover at the Wiles Hog Farm in Creston, Ohio, shows pigs bashed against walls and sows hung from forklifts as "euthanasia." The piece places it alongside the MowMar, Aviagen and Hallmark cases and new industry pledges of good behavior.
Environment
Challenges to Assessing Cancer Effects of Mobile Phone Use
A review of 33 peer-reviewed epidemiologic studies argues that design problems may understate brain tumor risk among mobile phone users. It weighs recall bias about which ear people use and notes the Interphone study counted cordless phone users, who get similar exposure, as unexposed.
Politics
Action Alert: Critical Pending Food Safety Legislation
An action alert on three 2009 food safety bills, HR 875, HR 759 and HR 1332, arguing that the industrial food system does need tighter federal oversight while calling claims that HR 875 would end organic farming a gross exaggeration.
Alerts
Missouri Firm Recalls Cheese Frank Products Due To Mislabeling and an Undeclared Allergen
Sara Lee North American Retail recalled about 1,728 pounds of cheese frank products that were packaged in Ball Park beef frank labels, leaving milk and cheese undeclared. The franks were produced Feb. 12, 2009 and shipped nationwide; FSIS reported no illnesses.
Drug
FDA's MedWatch Safety Alerts: March 2009
A rundown of FDA MedWatch alerts from March 2009, led by the March 5 warning that metal in the backing of some medicated adhesive patches can overheat during an MRI scan and burn the skin, plus alerts on Reglan and Raptiva.
Food Chemicals
Zinc rich foods
A USDA table ranking selected foods by zinc per common measure: raw eastern oysters lead at 76.28 mg for six medium, followed by breaded fried oysters at 74.06 mg and several fortified cereals at about 15 mg a serving.
Food Chemicals
Potassium rich foods
A USDA data table ranking selected foods by potassium content per common measure, led by canned tomato paste at 2,657 mg per cup, followed by frozen orange juice concentrate, cooked beet greens and canned white beans.
Food
Garlic could help patients with diabetes or high blood pressure
Kuwait University researchers treated diabetic and hypertensive rats with garlic for three weeks and found serum glucose and systolic blood pressure fell, while antioxidant levels including glutathione and vitamin C rose above baseline.
Law & Regulations
Maryland Bills Would Require Nutrition Info on Chain Restaurant Menus
Two bills before the Maryland General Assembly would put calorie counts on fast-food menu boards and fuller nutrition data on chain restaurants' printed menus, and phase partially hydrogenated oil out of all restaurants. The Center for Science in the Public Interest backs both.
Vitamins
Vitamin B and folic acid may reduce AMD risk
In a trial of 5,205 women at high heart-disease risk, those randomly assigned folic acid plus vitamins B6 and B12 for an average of 7.3 years were 34 percent less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration and 41 percent less likely to develop visually significant AMD than those on placebo.
Vitamins
Prenatal Vitamin B12 deficiency raises risk of birth defect
In 1,200 Irish women studied in Pediatrics, those with vitamin B12 in the lowest quartile were five times more likely to have a baby with a neural tube defect; the authors suggest keeping levels above 300 ng/L before pregnancy. PCRM notes vegans can meet the need with supplements.
Diet
Doctors endorse vegan and vegetarian diets for healthy pregnancies
PCRM doctors and dietitians say well-planned vegan and vegetarian diets suit pregnancy and that B12 needs are met by fortified foods or a multivitamin. They respond to a Pediatrics study linking low B12 to neural tube defects in Irish women sampled from 1983 to 1990.
Alerts
Whole Foods Market Recalls Select Peanuts, Peanut Products,
Whole Foods Market of Bellevue, Washington is recalling seven peanut products and self-serve grind peanut butter made from peanuts recalled by Peanut Corporation of America over possible salmonella. The items sold from bulk bins in Washington and Oregon stores.
Politics
FDA Can’t Protect Americans from Dangerous Dietary Supplements, GAO Says
The GAO will tell Congress the FDA lacks basic information to police dietary supplements: no accurate inventory of ingredients on shelves, no firm count of serious adverse reactions, not even a list of herbal supplement makers. CSPI notes banning ephedra took nearly 10 years.
Phytochemicals
Broccoli compound may help prevent respiratory inflammation
In a Clinical Immunology study, 65 volunteers took broccoli or alfalfa sprout preparations for three days. Those given 100 grams or more of broccoli sprouts showed significantly higher antioxidant enzymes in nasal airway cells, with 200 grams producing the largest increases.
Advisories
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
Key recommendations from the 2005 guidelines: eat nutrient-dense foods while limiting saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt and alcohol; balance calories against activity; and get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity most days, or 60 to 90 to sustain weight loss.
13770 stories