Food Research:Food industry can help lower cardiovascular diseases by adding little seaweed to products ♦ The unwanted extras in your morning filter coffee

The unwanted extras in your morning filter coffee New research examines chemical leaching into coffee from filter coffee machines and electric kettles. The alarming results suggest that caffeine consumption is not all we have to worry about in our coffee culture.

Healthy' foods differ by individual Ever wonder why that diet didn't work? A new study tracking the blood sugar levels of 800 people over a week suggests that even if we all ate the same meal, how it's metabolized would differ from one person to another. The findings demonstrate the power of personalized nutrition in helping people identify which foods can help or hinder their health goals.

Moderate amounts of caffeine during pregnancy do not harm baby's IQ Women drinking and eating moderate amounts of caffeine during pregnancy should be reassured that they are not harming their child's intelligence.

Food industry can help lower cardiovascular diseases by adding little seaweed to products Adding seaweed to processed foods such as frozen pizzas, hot dogs and dried pasta will reduce cardiovascular diseases, concludes a new scientific article. One suggestion is to replace 5 percent of the flour in pizza dough with dried and granulated seaweed.

Hearth Health: Hot flashes at younger age signal greater cardiovascular risk ♦ Energy drinks raise resting blood pressure ♦ Risk of death from acute coronary syndrome + more

Hot flashes at younger age may signal greater cardiovascular risk  Women who experience hot flashes earlier in life appear to have poorer endothelial function -- the earliest sign of cardiovascular disease -- than women who have hot flashes later in life or not at all, Continue Reading

Women don't get to hospital fast enough during heart attack  Women suffering a heart attack wait much longer than men to call emergency medical services and face significantly longer delays getting to a hospital equipped to care for them, putting women at greater risk for adverse outcomes.Continue Reading

Have a sense of purpose in life? It may protect your heart  Having a high sense of purpose in life may lower your risk of heart disease and stroke, according to a new study.Continue Reading

Physicians, patients overestimate risk of death from acute coronary syndrome Both physicians and patients overestimate the risk of heart attack or death for possible acute coronary syndrome (ACS) as well as the potential benefit of hospital admission for possible ACS, a survey of patient and physician communication and risk assessment shows.Continue Reading

Energy drinks raise resting blood pressure, with effect most dramatic in those not used to caffeine  Healthy young adults who don’t consume caffeine regularly experienced greater rise in resting blood pressure after consumption of a commercially available energy drink — compared to a placebo drink — thus raising the concern that energy drinks may increase the risk of cardiac events Continue Reading

12/11/14 Health News:IS BPA SAFE? ♦ STAGGERING ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE PREDICTIONS ♦ BOY DIES FROM RAW MILK ♦ SHOULD FDA BAN BULK CAFFEINE SALES

FDA SAYS BPA-LINED CONTAINERS ARE SAFE, BUT NEW STUDY RAISES CONCERNS

It might be easy to dismiss the latest study about spiking one’s blood pressure by drinking soy milk from cans lined with bisphenol A (more commonly known as BPA). After all, serious hypertension is more likely to occur from the sodium contained in whatever food or beverage is in the can. But the new Korean... Continue Reading

UK REVIEW MAKES STAGGERING ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE PREDICTIONS

Projections of the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) paint a grim picture for what could happen to the world’s economy if the problem is left unchecked. Research commissioned by the U.K.’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance show that a continued rise in resistance would, by 2050, lead to 10 million deaths every year and a reduction...Continue Reading

AUSTRALIAN BOY, 3, DIES IN E. COLI OUTBREAK FROM RAW MILK

A 3-year old boy has died and four other children have fallen ill in an E. coli and Cryptosporidium outbreak linked to raw milk sold by a company based in Victoria, Australia. The milk, Mountain View Organic Bath Milk, was labeled as being “for cosmetic use only” and “not for human consumption,” as well as... Continue Reading

CSPI WANTS FDA TO BAN SALES OF BULK CAFFEINE

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the sale of pure, powdered or liquid caffeine as a dietary supplement. “CSPI believes that highly concentrated caffeine presents a unique, self-evident danger to consumers that justifies an immediate ban and corresponding adjustments to FDA’s regulations,”... Continue Reading

7/19/14 Health News: DANGERS OF PURE CAFFEINE PRODUCTS ♦ Applebee’s pulls salad after E. coli O111 cases ♦ Danger of Nanomaterials in Food

FDA WARNS CONSUMERS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF PURE CAFFEINE PRODUCTS

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning the public to avoid pure caffeine being marketed directly to consumers after an 18-year-old high school senior in Ohio died after ingesting toxic amounts of caffeine powder. Products such as the bulk bags available over the Internet are essentially 100-percent caffeine, and a single teaspoon is roughly equivalent to... Continue Reading

Minnesota Applebee’s pulls salad after E. coli O111 cases

For all the bragging the California Leafy Greens Marketing folks do, you’d think like anyone serving food, they should take responsibility and man-up when their product is implicated in a foodborne outbreak.Continue Reading

Review Engineered Nanomaterials in Food: Implications for Food Safety and Consumer Health

According to the review, engineered nanoparticles like silver oxide, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are commonly used in packaging material, food processing and foods/dietary supplements without knowing their toxicity profiles.  A growing body of evidence Continue reading

2/7/14 Health News: U.S. River Is 'Toxic Soup - Fish Oil Helps Preserve Brain Cells - Caffeine Enhances Memory - FDA Checks Into 'Caramel Coloring

U.S. River Is 'Toxic Soup' After Coal Ash Spill

The leak, which started Sunday at a closed Duke Energy plant along the Dan River, has dumped 82,000 tons into waterway Continue Reading

FDA Checks Into 'Caramel Coloring' After Consumer Reports study

The Food and Drug Administration says it is taking a new look at a brown food coloring in sodas and other foods after Consumer Reports said it found higher than expected levels of a potentially cancer-causing agent in some soft drinks. The group said its tests of soft drinks using caramel coloring show some contain higher-than-necessary levels of a compound called 4-methylimidazole or 4-MEI Continue Reading

Fish Oil May Help Preserve Brain Cells, Study Suggests

Women with high blood levels of fish oils have larger brain volumes then those with lower levels, suggesting the oils may delay the normal loss of brain cells due to aging, research found. Those who raised their levels of two major omega-3 fatty acids by eating fish or taking supplements had larger total brain volume than those who didn’t, according to research posted online today by the journal Neurology. As people age, their brains get smaller but the shrinkage is accelerated in those with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, the authors said. While today’s findings suggest that larger brain volumes equal a one- to two-year delay in the normal loss of brain cells, more studies are needed to look at what that means for memory, said James Pottala, the lead study author.Continue Reading

Caffeine Enhances Memory Consolidation

Caffeine appears to have an enhancing effect on memory consolidation, a new study suggests. Those individuals who had taken the caffeine were better able to discriminate the new items and were more likely to detect that the similar items were different from those viewed the day before, Continue Reading

12/5/13 Health News: Caffeine Poisoning, Rare Salmonella, Behind Close Doors at the FDA

Is There Such Thing As Caffeine Poisoning?

As he was driving down an Ohio freeway minutes after swallowing five Magnum 357 caffeine pills, Christian Brenner started to vibrate -- and the cars in his rear view mirror did as well. Fortunately, Brenner pulled over and walked around in an effort to try and come down. Today, he swears off caffeine, even coffee -- the mental aftereffect of what he says was straight-up caffeine poisoning. Continue Reading

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: WHO’S TAKING MEETINGS WITH FDA ON FOOD SAFETY?

When President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law in January 2011, it was considered a long-fought, but significant and bipartisan, victory to update the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authority and oversight of the food supply. While much of the wrangling over the language of the law was made public through...Continue Reading

RARE SALMONELLA STRAIN SICKENS 18 IN NORWAY

At least 18 people across Norway have fallen ill with a rare strain of Salmonella, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The strain, Salmonella Coeln, infected three children and 15 adults. Each year for the past 10 years, Norway has seen zero to three cases of illness from this particular strain. Norwegian health... Continue Reading