2/16/15 Health News: Seafood Contains Plastic--Restaurant Manager Jailed After Death--Bacteria prevalent in delis--Alligator blood helps soldiers-- Smoking impairs inflammatory back arthritis

UK Restaurant Manager, Chef Jailed After Deadly Food Poisoning Following a 2012 Christmas Day turkey dinner at a London-area pub that sickened approximately 33 people and may have killed one of them, the manager and chef were recently sentenced to jail terms. Chef Mehmet Kaya and Manager Ann-Marie McSweeney of the Railway Hotel in Hornchurch, Essex (east of London) were convicted of lying to... Continue Reading

Ocean plastic is likely disappearing into the food chain, new study indicates When I tell people that we have a problem with too much plastic in our oceans, many invariably say how shocked they were when they heard about vast swirling islands of trash that accumulate in the oceans’ gyres. I wish this was the full extent of the problem. It is not. Continue Reading

Listeria pathogen is prevalent, persistent in retail delis New research shows that standard cleaning procedures in retail delis may not eradicate Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, which can cause a potentially fatal disease in people with Continue Reading,

Alligator blood contains naturally strong germ fighters Alligator blood contains bacteria fighters that could help wounded soldiers in the field, according to new research. Alligators live in bacteria-filled environments and dine on carrion. Continue Reading

Smoking impairs treatment response in inflammatory back arthritis Smoking impairs the response to biological drugs used to treat inflammatory arthritis affecting the lower back, known as axial spondyloarthritis, or AxSpA, for short, new research reveals Continue Reading

9/16/14 Health News: Homeland Security ‘ill-prepared’ for pandemics ♦ New Products Sniff Out Food Additives ♦ CAN RESTAURANT AUTHENTICITY TRUMP FOOD SAFETY?

Homeland Security ‘ill-prepared’ for potential pandemics

The Department of Homeland Security is ill-prepared for potential pandemics, despite receiving $47 million to plan, train and otherwise ramp up for such events, according to a federal audit. Continue Reading

Get to know your food: Products sniff out additives

New products on the market can help detect unwanted additives or help regulate caffeine intake. For reasons of allergy, diet and health consciousness, increasing demand to know details the nutrition label doesn’t reveal and information that restaurants are rarely obligated to reveal has inspired several prototypes and testing methods that could soon …continue reading

CAN RESTAURANT AUTHENTICITY TRUMP FOOD SAFETY?

According to a recent study published in the academic journal Management Science, consumers are willing to disregard a restaurant’s poor health record if they believe the products and services are “authentic.” Inspiration for the study reportedly came from Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles in the 1980s that stored ducks by hanging them from their necks... Continue Reading

Reducing Sodium in Restaurant Foods is an Opportunity for Choice

Communities reduce, replace, reformulate to offer lower-sodium options

Americans eat out at fast food or dine-in restaurants four or five times a week. Just one of those meals might contain more than an entire day’s recommended amount of sodium.  CDC has strategies for health departments and restaurants to work together to offer healthier choices for consumers who want to lower their sodium intake.  The report, “From Menu to Mouth: Opportunities for Sodium Reduction in Restaurants,” is published in today’s issue of CDC’s journal, Preventing Chronic Disease.

On average, foods from fast food restaurants contain 1,848 mg of sodium per 1,000 calories and foods from dine-in restaurants contain 2,090 mg of sodium per 1,000 calories. The U. S. Dietary Guidelines recommend the general population limit sodium to less than 2,300 mg a day. Too much sodium can cause high blood pressure, one of the leading causes of heart disease and stroke.

“The bottom line is that it’s both possible and life-saving to reduce sodium, and this can be done by reducing, replacing and reformulating,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “When restaurants rethink how they prepare food and the ingredients they choose to use, healthier options become routine for customers.”

The report outlines several ways health departments and restaurants have worked together to offer lower-sodium choices:

• Health department dietitians help restaurants analyze the sodium content of their foods and recommend lower-sodium ingredients.
• Restaurants clearly post nutrition information, including sodium content, at the order counter and on menus or offer lower-sodium items at lower cost.
• Health departments and restaurants explain to food service staff why lower sodium foods are healthier and how to prepare them.

The report also features examples of sodium reduction successes.  In Philadelphia, the health department worked with 206 restaurants to create the “Philadelphia Healthy Chinese Take-out Initiative.”  After evaluating menus for sodium content, participating restaurants began choosing lower sodium ingredients and creating lower sodium recipes. After nine months, analyses of two popular dishes offered by 20 of the restaurants showed sodium was reduced by 20 percent.  

“The story in Philadelphia shows what can be done,” Dr. Frieden said. “It’s not about giving up the food you love, but providing lower sodium options that taste great.”

To learn more about sodium and how it affects health, visit www.cdc.gov/salt.  Reducing sodium is one way that Million Hearts, a national public-private initiative to prevent a million heart attacks and strokes by 2017, is working with communities to keep people healthier and less likely to need health care www.millionhearts.hhs.gov.