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Deadly Diets Driving Digestive Diseases
Against the backdrop of an alarming increase in the number of people under 50 being diagnosed with bowel cancer, researchers are urging people to bump up their fiber intake and improve their eating habits if they want to reduce their risk of deadly digestive cancers.
Two studies by Flinders University expand on existing evidence that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, legumes and dairy may protect against the risk of gastrointestinal cancers — including bowel — and improve the outcomes of these diseases.
“We’ve identified many direct links between poor diet choices and digestive cancers,” says senior author Dr. Yohannes Melaku from Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute.
Raw Milk Recall in California Expands After Tests Detect More Bird Flu Virus
A California farm expanded a recall of raw milk sold in stores and halted production after state health and agriculture officials found bird flu virus in more milk samples.
Raw Farm, of Fresno, voluntarily recalled all whole milk and cream products from stores late Tuesday after tests found bird flu virus in “multiple” retail samples and dairy storage and bottling sites. The recall covers all Raw Farm milk and cream produced between Nov. 9 and Nov. 27.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture quarantined the farm and suspended distribution of raw milk, cream, kefir, butter and cheese products produced on or after Nov. 27. “Californians are strongly encouraged not to consume any raw milk or cream products in their possession or still on store shelves,” officials said in a statement. The move followed recalls of two lots of Raw Farm products after bird flu was first detected in retail milk on Nov. 21.
Bovaer: What Is the Cattle Feed Additive and Why Is It Leading to Shoppers Pouring Milk Down the Toilet?
Shoppers have threatened to boycott three major supermarkets over their participation in a new trial to add a methane-suppressing supplement into cow feed. Arla Foods, which owns the U.K.’s biggest dairy co-operative, announced on Nov. 26 it was going to start using the supplement. The initiative is aimed at tackling climate-heating methane emissions produced by cows during digestion.
Arla said it will work alongside Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco to trial the use of the feed additive known as Bovaer across 30 British farms. But the announcement has since been heavily criticized, with swathes of British shoppers threatening to boycott all three supermarkets and Arla brands, especially Lurpak butter.
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Cucumbers and Costco Eggs Recalled Amid Growing Food Safety Alarms
“Another day, another recall” might be an understatement as food safety concerns mount this holiday season. Costco’s Kirkland brand eggs and a large batch of cucumbers are the latest items to face recalls due to potential salmonella contamination. According to Aimee Picchi of CBS News, “The Kirkland Signature Organic Pasture Raised 24-Count Eggs were sold at 25 Costco locations across several states.” The recall affects 10,800 packages of eggs from Handsome Brook Farm, distributed starting Nov. 22, with a “use by” date of Jan. 5, 2025.
Impacted states include Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. No illnesses have been reported so far, but consumers are advised to discard or return the eggs for a refund.
Bird Flu Is Racing Through Farms, but Northwest States Are Rarely Testing Workers
On a recent Monday morning, workers began their week on a large poultry farm in Franklin County, Washington, home to over 800,000 chickens. By the end of the day, avian flu had been discovered among some of those chickens. By the end of the week, four workers came down with the illness, which had infected only a handful of other people in the U.S. And after two more days of testing by the Benton Franklin Health District, another 10 workers at the farm tested positive.
That outbreak, initially detected Oct. 14, represented the first human cases this year of the avian flu in the Pacific Northwest. The first human case in Oregon was confirmed Nov. 15, adding to mounting evidence that the flu is spreading to farmworker populations across the Western U.S. But efforts to test and monitor the disease among workers are spotty and inconsistent and leave the responsibility for getting tested on the laborers themselves, many of whom are undocumented and can’t afford to take time off if they test positive.
Meanwhile, the virus is spreading rapidly among cows and chickens, raising concerns among epidemiologists that the avian flu could merge with the regular flu and cause a pandemic, making it even more urgent to try to limit the spread among people.
What Are Ultra-Processed Foods and Why Do Scientists Say They Cause Fat Thighs?
Eating heavily processed foods like cereal bars and cakes leads to more fat being stored in the thighs, research shows. The study looked at MRI imaging scans and concluded ultra-processed foods also impacted muscle quality regardless of how much exercise someone did. Consumption of these popular staple meals and snacks were assessed in the Osteoarthritis Initiative in the U.S. which followed 666 people to better understand how to prevent and treat the knee condition. It revealed that the more ultra-processed foods people consumed, the more fat they had in their thigh muscles, regardless of how many calories they ate.
Study author Dr Zehra Akkaya, imaging expert at the University of California, said: “The novelty of this study is that it investigates the impact of diet quality, specifically the role of ultra-processed foods in relation to intramuscular fat in the thigh muscles assessed by MRI. This is the first imaging study looking into the relationship between MRI-based skeletal muscle quality and quality of diet.”
