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An FDA crackdown on the import of the French cheese mimolette has foodies crying foul. “Isigny was alerted by importers that the cheese was being put on “FDA hold,” meaning it could not be moved from its arrival warehouse until further inspection. After that, he said, the cheese received the more damning label of “detained,” meaning it could not be sold in the U.S. The reason given was that the inspectors found cheese mites in the rind, which can cause allergies, and which made the product “adulterated,” and consists of a “decomposed substance otherwise unfit for food.” (Mites, related to...

Federal health regulators will require generic versions of the best-selling painkiller OxyContin to include recent formulation changes designed to make the pill harder to abuse. The Food and Drug Administration said late Tuesday it would not approve any generic versions of OxyContin based on the original formulation because it “poses an increased potential for certain types of abuse.” … OxyContin has long been one the nation’s top-selling prescription painkillers with sales of more than $2.8 billion last year, according to prescription tracker IMS Health. A time-release version of the narcotic oxycodone, the pill was hailed as a breakthrough treatment for...

The FDA is considering a plan that would allow the dairy industry to add the sweetener aspartame to milk without having to label it. The plan is coming under fire from some farmers and some consumer groups. …

Did you know that consumption of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the U.S. -- which can be found in a plethora of cookies, candies and fast-foods -- has increased by a a whopping 10,673 percent between 1970 and 2005? So reports the USDA Dietary Assessment of Major Trends in U.S. Food Consumption report. Are you one of millions, who, according to the USDA report, consume one-quarter of your calories from added sugars, most of which comes from high fructose corn syrup, as mercola.com pointed out? Meanwhile, have you heard about the a recent study, which reveals that a diet...

The U.S. government won't appeal a court decision blocking it from requiring tobacco companies to put large graphic health warnings on cigarette packages. In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Attorney General Eric Holder says the Food and Drug Administration will go back to the drawing board and propose new labels.

(CNSNews.com) – In a bipartisan bill opposing an expansion of food labeling requirements in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 10 Republicans and four Democrats have signed onto legislation to restrict the Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to include regulation of convenient stores and take-out food outlets.The bill’s sponsors cited Section 4205 of the healthcare law, or Obamacare, that is entitled “Nutritional Labeling of Standard Menu Items at Chain Restaurants.” The regulation requires restaurants with more than 20 establishments to provide nutritional information about its offerings.The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), called the requirements “unworkable” for places...

Nearly four years after it began regulating cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration is poised to extend its reach to a broader range of tobacco products. At the top of that list: cigars, which have experienced a boom in recent years even as cigarette sales have declined, in part because of growing popularity among young people. Anti-tobacco advocates and industry representatives widely expect the agency to require changes in the marketing and manufacturing of cigars. But the central question remains: What kind of cigars will the FDA target, and how? On one end of the spectrum are the hand-rolled Cohibas...

25,000 U.S. Deaths Linked to Sugary Drinks ABC NewsBy Katie Moisse | ABC News – 8 hours ago In a study that's sure to shake up the soda ban debate, Harvard researchers have linked the sugary drinks to 180,000 deaths a year worldwide, 25,000 in the United States alone. "We know that sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to obesity, and that a large number of deaths are caused by obesity-related diseases. But until now, nobody had really put these pieces together," said Gitanjali Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and lead author of...

Diners will have to wait a little longer to find calorie counts on most restaurant chain menus, in supermarkets and on vending machines. Writing a new menu labeling law "has gotten extremely thorny," says the head of the Food and Drug Administration, as the agency tries to figure out who should be covered by it. The 2010 health care law charged the FDA with requiring restaurants and other establishments that serve food to put calorie counts on menus and in vending machines.

Enlarge Image A risky mix? Data mining of search engine terms can reveal clues to what drug combinations cause side effects. Credit: ParentingPatch/Creative Commons Analyzing queries made to Google, Bing, and other search engines can reveal the potentially dangerous consequences of mixing prescriptions before they are known to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a new study. Such data mining could even expose medical risks that slip through clinical trials undetected. Pharmaceuticals often have side effects that go unnoticed until they're already available to the public. This is especially true of side effects that emerge when two...

By offering unproven therapies, a Texas biotechnology firm has sparked a bitter debate about how stem cells should be regulated. Ann McFarlane is losing faith. In the first half of 2012, the Houston resident received four infusions of adult stem cells grown from her own fat. McFarlane has multiple sclerosis (MS), and had heard that others with the inflammatory disease had experienced improvements in mobility and balance after treatment. The infusions — which have cost her about US$32,000 so far — didn't help, but she knew that there were no guarantees. It is McFarlane's experience with Celltex Therapeutics, the company...

If the Food and Drug Administration gets its way, your trip to the grocery store could get a tad pricier. Supermarket owners argue a pending federal food-labeling rule that stems from the new health care law would overburden thousands of grocers and convenience store owners -- to the tune of $1 billion in the first year alone. (Snip) The rule stems from an ObamaCare mandate that restaurants provide nutrition information on menus. Most in the restaurant industry were supportive of the idea, but when the FDA decided to extend the provision to also affect thousands of supermarkets

Goodbye candy bars and sugary cookies. Hello baked chips and diet sodas. The government for the first time is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful, a change that would ban the sale of almost all candy, high-calorie sports drinks and greasy foods on campus. Under new rules the Department of Agriculture proposed Friday, school vending machines would start selling water, lower-calorie sports drinks, diet sodas and baked chips instead. Lunchrooms that now sell fatty “à la carte” items like mozzarella sticks and nachos would have to switch to healthier pizzas, low-fat...

AP BUSINESS WRITER TRENTON, N.J. -- The maker of Zoloft is being sued in an unusual case alleging the popular antidepressant has no more benefit than a dummy pill and that patients who took it should be reimbursed for their costs. --snip-- He said Pfizer produced two studies showing Zoloft worked better than placebo - the FDA's requirement for approval - but most Zoloft studies showed its effect was the same as a placebo. Dr. Michael Thase, who heads the mood and anxiety disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania's medical school, said research by others using the same unpublished...

Be sure to wash those foods or cook them thoroughly... About 1 in 5 illnesses were linked to leafy green vegetables — more than any other type of food. And nearly half of all food poisonings were attributed to produce in general, when illnesses from other fruits and vegetables were added in... Many of the vegetable-related illnesses come from norovirus, which is often spread by cooks and food handlers. So contamination sometimes has more to do with the kitchen or restaurant it came from then the food itself...

Can improved labeling on food products help consumers make healthier choices? A new study by the Food and Drug Administration shows that it can. The FDA is in the process of updating the 20-year-old nutrition facts label that appears on all food and beverage products in the U.S. The organization’s researchers believe that improved labels may assist consumers in making healthier decisions about the food they buy. The FDA commissioned the study as part of the action plan for its Obesity Working Group. The researchers' goal was to determine whether modifying the key elements of the nutrition facts label might...

This morning I watched yet another video of something that disturbs me greatly: the events leading up to the “legal” theft of several tons of cheese produced on a small family farm in Missouri. This, after the cheese had been embargoed for over 2 years and thus was no longer fit for consumption anyway. All of this was done in the name and at the expense of the taxpayers of Missouri, under the guise of “food safety.”

Federal Drug Administration advisers voted today to restrict access to certain kinds of prescription drugs in an effort to fight drug abuse. The vote had experts divided over the risk of drug abuse as weighed against the risk of increased pain or difficulty for patients on the medication. “It will have an impact on a lot of patients who have been receiving them for some time for legitimate purposes,” Dr. Lynn Webster, president-elect of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, said per Health Day News ahead of the vote. The FDA rule change is designed to implement

The Obama administration moved ahead Friday with the first major overhaul of the nation’s food-safety system in more than 70 years, proposing tough new standards for fruit and vegetable producers and food manufacturers. The long-awaited proposals by the Food and Drug Administration are part of a fundamental change aimed at preventing food-borne outbreaks — caused by everything from leafy greens to canteloupes to peanut butter — rather than simply reacting to them. Every year, contaminated foods sicken an estimated 48 million Americans and kill 3,000.

FRiends -Both of my sons have the same debilitating disease  -- Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy -- that's kept them dependent on wheelchairs to get around. But now only one of my sons has access to a "miracle drug" that is saving his life.Max was fortunate enough to take part in a study of a breakthrough medication, and now he can walk on his own for longer than he ever could. But Austin wasn't as lucky. Without access to this miracle drug, I watch Austin suffer silently as his brother thrives. The FDA has the power to make this drug available to kids...