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Researchers to use three-dimensional liver mimic for toxicity study on human body

The liver is the primary organ in the human body that metabolizes foreign compounds such as drugs, alcohol, cigarette smoke, and environmental chemicals. Using the liver as an alarm system, researchers are starting to better understand the different levels of toxicity from these compounds and their effects on the human body.

7 Jun 2011

Study provides epidemiology of fatal occupational traumatic brain injury in the U.S.

Although traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, work-related TBI has not been well documented. In a study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers describe the epidemiology of fatal TBI in the US workplace between 2003 and 2008.

7 Jun 2011

E coli outbreak linked to tainted bean sprouts

It has been announced by German officials late Sunday that domestically grown bean sprouts may be the source of the Escherichia coli (E. coli) outbreak that has killed 22 people and sickened at least 1,600. All but one of the deaths occurred in Germany, the source of the entero haemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) outbreak that has affected 12 countries. The other victim died in Sweden.

5 Jun 2011

Learning ZoneXpress designs USDA MyPlate nutritional products for young people

Yesterday First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled the federal government's new food icon, MyPlate, to serve as a reminder to help all of us make healthier food choices. In response, Learning ZoneXpress, Inc. immediately designed USDA MyPlate products using the new icon which inspire consumers to build a healthy plate at mealtime.

4 Jun 2011

House Republicans use Ag spending bill to push back against certain health measures

The Republicans have used an agriculture appropriations bill to send several messages: They don't want the government to require school meals that are more nutritional but also more expensive, they don't want the government to prod food companies to restrain marketing to children, and they don't want the Food and Drug Administration to regulate any substance based on anything but "hard science".

3 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 2, 2011

Today's health policy headlines cover a gamut of develoments, including reports about the latest Medicare dust up in the ongoing budget negotiations and about oral arguments in the latest round of appellate court action related to health law legal challenges.

2 Jun 2011

Oxfam report warns about steep increases in food costs, demand

With food costs rising for the second time in three years, Oxfam released a report on Tuesday predicting "the price of some staples such as corn will double in the next 20 years amid a permanent crisis caused by rising demand, flat crop yields and climate change," Associated Press/Forbes reports.

1 Jun 2011

BioScience article describes early scale-up stage of new biotechnology with environmental benefits

An article published in the June issue of BioScience describes the early scale-up stage of a new biotechnology with environmental benefits and possible commercial potential. Algal turf scrubbers are field-sized, water-treatment systems that can extract excess nutrients from streams, canals, and lakes polluted by agricultural, domestic, and some industrial runoff.

1 Jun 2011

FDA scraps food pyramid for food plate

The Obama government is all set to ignore the food pyramid, that symbol of healthy eating for the last two decades. In its place officials are dishing up a simple, plate-shaped symbol, sliced into wedges for the basic food groups and half-filled with fruits and vegetables.

29 May 2011

Rise of obesity - risks at work

A team of researchers have found that the American workplace is a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic. In the review of shifts in the labor force since 1960 it was suggested that a sizable portion of the national weight gain can be explained by declining physical activity during the workday.

29 May 2011

OPINION: U.S. must do more on global food security

"Washington cannot allow food insecurity to exacerbate instability in already volatile regions. We are not doing all that must be done," Catherine Bertini, a former executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, and Dan Glickman, a former agriculture secretary, write in Politico.

27 May 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

As the G8 summit began in Deauville, France, on Thursday, David Olson, the council's director of policy communications, wrote on the Global Health Council's "Blog 4 Global Health" that "global health is nowhere visible on the agenda," which "is in striking contrast to the final communique of the G8 Muskoka, which devoted a significant amount of space to health" (5/26).

27 May 2011

OPINION: Aid for women farmers is a worthy investment

In a piece on The Hill's "Congress Blog," Eva Clayton, a former Democratic member of Congress from North Carolina and assistant director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization between 2003 and 2006, calls on the World Bank to invest more in women farmers in the developing world, after the agency "largely ignored the role women and small entrepreneurs can play in the developing world to improve food security" at an April 2011 meeting.

27 May 2011

Severe drought in China putting pressure on drinking water, agriculture

"Chinese authorities will step up the release of water from the Three Gorges Dam in a bid to tackle a drought in southern China which has put pressure on drinking water, crops, shipping lanes and electricity production in what is traditionally China's most water-abundant region," the Financial Times reports.

27 May 2011

Exposure to pesticides near any workplace increases risk of Parkinson's disease

In April 2009, researchers at UCLA announced they had discovered a link between Parkinson's disease and two chemicals commonly sprayed on crops to fight pests.

27 May 2011

Cattle plague – rinderpest, eradicated for good

As welcome news, world farm monitors on Wednesday declared a cattle-killing virus that has been a curse through the ages as eradicated. This is the first time an animal disease has been eradicated in human history. The global watchdog for farm-animal trade approved a report certifying that the last 14 countries of the world were free of rinderpest, also called cattle plague.

26 May 2011

Bill Gates, USAID Administrator Shah call for more investment in poor farmers to ensure global food security

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Foundation, and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah on Tuesday called for developed countries to invest in farmers in the developing world to help end global hunger, Agence France-Presse reports. Gates and Shah spoke at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security in Washington, D.C.

26 May 2011

Obesity and diabetes rates continue to rise despite decline in consumption of sweeteners

A comprehensive review of research focusing on the debate between High Fructose Corn Syrup and other sweeteners presented today finds there is no evidence of any significant variation in the way the human body metabolizes HFCS as opposed to standard table sugar, or any difference in impact on risk factors for chronic disease.

25 May 2011

Debt limit talks move to topic of finding savings in Medicare, Medicaid

In related news, projections released last week by Medicare's chief actuary concluded that spending on physician and hospital services will be significantly higher than expected if Congress reverses scheduled reductions in Medicare payments.

25 May 2011

Cooking pork needs lower temperatures now

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines released Tuesday it is recommended that pork be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees, 15 degrees cooler than the previous standard.

24 May 2011