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AMA removes support for ‘sin tax’ on sugary drinks

The American Medical Association (AMA) Tuesday afternoon removed its support from taxes on sugar-sweetened soft drinks, saying the concept needs more study. The AMA's policy-making House of Delegates this week debated the idea of supporting state and local taxation of “beverages with added sweeteners” as a way of fighting the nation's obesity epidemic and improving related education of the public.

22 Jun 2011

U.S. Tobacco label regulations tightened (warning graphic pictures)

Come September 2012, half of the front of all cigarette packages will have to carry graphic images of dead bodies, decaying teeth and a man exhaling smoke through a hole in his neck, the United States health officials announced on Tuesday.

22 Jun 2011

FDA to beef up monitoring of imports

As Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg has been trying to correct inadequately controlled imported food and drugs overwhelming her organization’s ability to monitor them.

21 Jun 2011

Hand sanitizer ingested by recovering alcoholic patient

Authorities are having another look at their provision of alcohol-based hand rub after an alcoholic patient drank six bottles of hand sanitizers at The Alfred hospital, Melbourne, Australia. This was the alcohol equivalent of about 20 glasses of beer. Doctors reported the incident in The Medical Journal of Australia yesterday.

19 Jun 2011

Teenage soda consumption survey

According to a latest report from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), one fourth or 24% of students drank soda, down from 29% in 2009. The study was a part of the survey termed Analysis of the National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study (NYPANS) conducted by CDC.

19 Jun 2011

Important to fund the GAFSP now

In a Guardian opinion piece, Lael Brainard, under-secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Treasury, writes about the importance of funding the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and investing in small farmers in the developing world.

18 Jun 2011

Civil society must have voice in future of MDGs

"There are three main options on the table" about what to do after the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015, Leo Williams, chair of Beyond 2015, an international campaign that aims to "ensure that the process of developing a development framework is participatory, inclusive and responsive to those directly affected by poverty and injustice," writes in a post on the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

18 Jun 2011

Tobacco promotion banned in Queensland stores

Queensland stores are directed to refrain from openly displaying cigarettes and other tobacco products. Under laws introduced on Thursday, all retail advertising and promotion of tobacco and other smoking-related products will be banned.

17 Jun 2011

Premier healthcare alliance today announces new group buy for wind turbines

The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that a new group buy for wind turbines is available with Southwest Windpower of Flagstaff, Ariz. The group buy supports wind energy, the nation's fastest growing source of energy.

17 Jun 2011

Sarkozy calls for G20 agriculture ministers to establish farm database

"French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged G20 agriculture ministers to agree at talks in Paris next week on a farm database that would gather and store market-sensitive information such as food stocks," Reuters reports.

17 Jun 2011

G20 agriculture ministers should focus on small farmers to address food price volatility

"When the G20 Ministers of Agriculture develop an action plan to address food price volatility and its impact on the poor, they should focus on both urgent actions and the vital role of smallholder farmers," Shenggen Fan, director-general of the International Food Policy Research Institute, writes in an Inter Press Service opinion piece.

17 Jun 2011

G20 should examine larger food issues

"The inefficiencies in food production, transport and wastage are not only hazardous from a financial and environmental perspective; they are equally tragic on a moral level," independent consultant and writer Cynthia Schweer writes in a post on Foreign Policy Blogs.

17 Jun 2011

Instability and global food prices

In this report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies, part of its Global Forecast 2011, Johanna Nesseth Tuttle writes, "As food prices have risen - to a new, all-time high in 2011 - it is clear that, although we are not inevitably destined for instability as a result of declining food stocks, without serious commitment and focus we will be hard-pressed to manage the dramatic increase in food production that will be needed to meet global demand".

17 Jun 2011

Guardian interviews USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah

The Guardian examines USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah's role in U.S. development policy and looks at some of the domestic challenges he faces.

16 Jun 2011

Opening the door for a lady – benevolent sexism or chivalry?

According to a latest study by feminist psychologists, men who open doors for women are guilty of ‘benevolent sexism’. Helping the ladies choose the right computer as well as carrying their shopping are also signs of ‘unseen’ sexism in society, according to the report.

16 Jun 2011

Where does non-emergency food aid fit in development?

"Pre-positioning food stocks has some important advantages besides saving time: it can lower program costs for the food itself and shipping. Mostly, however, it's crazy that the Congress still requires that U.S. food aid be bought here and transported around the world on U.S.-flagged ships," Kimberly Ann Elliott, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, writes on the "Views from the Center" blog.

15 Jun 2011

Smoking ban in NSW prison

In a new directive, prisoners at the Lithgow jail in central western New South Wales will be banned from smoking in their cells as part of a six-month trial to begin next year.

13 Jun 2011

Climate change to reduce water available for agriculture, report says

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) "on Thursday warned climate change will restrict the availability of water for farming in decades to come, including in the Mediterranean region, and urged governments to take action," Agence France-Presse reports.

13 Jun 2011

G20 to launch initiative to reduce food price volatility

The G20 plans to launch an initiative aimed at reducing food price volatility when the group's agriculture ministers meet this month in France, the Financial Times reports. According to the newspaper, G20 agriculture ministers will discuss the details of the Agriculture Market Information System (AMIS) initiative during their meeting in Paris, which begins on June 22.

10 Jun 2011

Volatile food prices likely to continue, threatening food security in developing world, FAO says

"Drought in some areas and heavy rain in others are keeping world food prices near record levels, threatening the food supply for poorer, food-importing countries," the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in its biannual report on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

9 Jun 2011