Health Glance
The House approved Thursday the first major changes to food safety laws in 70 years, giving sweeping new authority to the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the way food is grown, harvested and processed.
"Americans are dying because the Food and Drug Administration does not have authority to protect them and American producers and agriculture are being hurt," said Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the bill's author, who has been pushing food safety reform for more than 20 years. "This will fundamentally change the way in which we ensure the safety of our food supply."
The food dye that gives blue M&Ms their colour can help mend spinal injuries, researchers have claimed after tests on rats.
There is no doubt using a sunbed or sunlamp will raise the risk of skin cancer, say international experts.
Let's not beat around the bush on this issue: The swine flu vaccines now being prepared for mass injection into infants, children, teens and adults have never been tested and won't be tested before the injections begin. In Europe, where flu vaccines are typically tested on hundreds (or thousands) of people before being unleashed on the masses, the European Medicines Agency is allowing companies to skip the testing process entirely.
A chemical used in many plastic products and already under scrutiny for potential health risks is suspected of raising the risk of liver problems in premature babies, according to a new study.
