Health News: More artificial ingredients coming off Panera's menu ♦ Tea tainted with pesticides ♦ Technique helps smokers quit tobacco

More artificial ingredients coming off Panera's menu Fast casual restaurant chain Panera is expanding the list of additives they won’t allow in their food. The company announced Tuesday that, by the end of 2016, all of the food in its U.S. bakery-cafes will be free of artificial preservatives, colors, sweeteners and flavors. New “clean” salad dressings free of artificial ingredients will be

Ten Ren tea tainted with pesticides Fipronil is a pesticide that can cause cancer when consumed by humans. The FDA launched a large-scale investigation into tea chains nationwide after the Stornaway tea scare broke early in April. The Taichung Department of Health discovered 0.003 ppm of fipronil in Easy Way Bubble Tea House's black tea on May 4, which violates the

Psychological technique helps smokers quit tobacco Researchers have demonstrated that motivational interviewing can make smokers see tobacco as something disagreeable, thus helping them to quit the habit. Motivational interviewing is a psychological technique of direct intervention that seeks to produce changes in patient behavior.

Exposure to air pollution in the first year of life increases risk for allergies Exposure to outdoor air pollution during the first year of life increases the risk of developing allergies to food, mould, pets and pests, new research concludes. The study showed that the sensitivity to allergens was associated with exposure to traffic-related air pollution during infancy

Rheumatoid arthritis patients at increased risk of surprise heart attack Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk of a surprise heart attack, according to new research. Risk was increased even when patients had no symptoms and was independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking and diabetes, researchers report.

Egg Products Recalled Due to Falsified Lab Tests for Salmonella

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert because Nutriom LLC, a Lacey, Wash. establishment, declined to expand its Feb. 15, 2014 recall to include an additional 118,541 pounds of processed egg products for which there is reason to conclude that they are unfit for human consumption.

The request for expansion was based on evidence collected during an ongoing investigation conducted by FSIS at this establishment. The company has refused to recall the additional processed egg products. As a consequence, FSIS intends to take appropriate action to remove the products from commerce.

FSIS issued the original recall because the company allegedly recorded false laboratory results. The company allegedly produced negative laboratory results for Salmonella when the results were actually positive, or reported that sampling had occurred when, in fact, no microbial testing was performed. FSIS requested the company to include additional products, but it declined. Because the product was not produced in accordance with FSIS requirements, it is unfit for human consumption

.The following Products have been recalled

• 1.75-lb. packs of “OvaEasy Plain Whole Egg” with the Julian dates “0374,” “0384,” “2683” and “2693”
• 66-gram spray bottles of “Bak-Klene Egg Wash” with the lot code “L1013A”
• 1.17-lb. packs of “OvaEasy UGRA, Reduced Cholesterol” with the Julian dates “3129,” “3228,” “3229,” “3230,” “3231,” “3281,” “3282,” “3283,” “3284,” “3337,” “3338,” “3339” and “3340”
• 4.5-oz. cans of “OvaEasy Whole Plain Egg” with the Julian date “2883”
• 571-gram packs of “Vitovo Low Fat” with the Julian date “3193”
• 1.1-lb. bags of “OvaEasy Boil-in-Bag UGR, Heat & Serve (HS)” with the Julian dates “3161,” “3162,” “3182,” “3183,” “3188,” “3201,” “3202,” “3203,” “3204,” “3205,” “3208,” “3209,” “3210,” “3211,” “3212,” “3213,” “3220,” “3221” and “3222”
• 2-oz. packs of “OvaEasy Plain Whole Egg” with the Julian dates “0074,” “0084,” “0094,” “0354,” “0364,” “0374,” “2243,” “2253,” “2953,” “2963,” “3463,” “3473” and “3483”
• 66-gram spray bottles of “Panera Egg Wash” with the Julian dates “0104,” “0154,” “0164,” “0174,” “0214,” “0224,” “0234,” “0244,” “0284,” “0294,” “0304” and “0314”
• 2-oz. pack of “Wise Company, Wise Blend” with the Julian date “0943”

On Feb. 15, 2014, the company recalled 226,710 pounds of processed egg products. To read the recall release, click here.

The dried egg products were produced from May 2013 through January 2014, and bear the establishment number “INSPECTED EGG PRODUCTS PLANT 21493G” inside the USDA Mark of Inspection. These products were shipped nationwide and to U.S. military installations in the United States and abroad, and to Mexico.