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Health Advocates Sue FDA to Remove Phthalates From Food
Center for Food Safety reported:
Today, a group of health advocates, including Center for Food Safety, and represented by Earthjustice sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to force the agency to reevaluate its decades-old authorizations for the use of certain phthalates in food packaging and food production materials. Phthalates are a group of hormone-disrupting chemicals that leach into food from these food-contact materials. The FDA’s authorizations are based on safety assessments that are at least forty years old, and the agency has refused advocates’ calls to update them.
“The FDA’s failure to act on phthalates is a dereliction of its duty to protect public health,” said Kristina Sinclair, staff attorney at the Center for Food Safety. “These toxic, hormone-disrupting chemicals are linked to birth defects, infertility, and harm to children’s brain development. By ignoring decades of science, the FDA is allowing industry to profit while endangering millions of people. It’s time for the agency to prioritize safety over corporate interests.”
Why Cats Are the New Pigs — and Could Spark the Next Pandemic
Experts have long regarded pigs as one of the greatest zoonotic threats to public health because their cells allow viruses to mix and mutate, creating new strains capable of causing human pandemics. This is how the 2008/09 H1N1 swine flu pandemic started and it is suspected that pigs in Haskell country, Kansas may have triggered the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic which is estimated to have killed between 50 and 100 million people.
Now a new study suggests that pet cats could be just as dangerous — and could provide the bridge that allows H5N1 bird flu to mutate and jump to humans.
Food as Medicine Got a Boost After RFK Jr.’s Nomination — Will It Last Under Trump?
Despite growing concerns among some lawmakers and the scientific community, nearly half of voters approve of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s (RFK Jr’s.) nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. One of Kennedy’s stated goals is to fight chronic disease by cracking down on processed food. But to what extent would he actually be able to accomplish this?
To company founders in the food-as-medicine space, RFK Jr.’s philosophy on nutrition in and of itself is a positive thing. But, when considering the broader Trump-Vance agenda of deregulation and spending cuts, entrepreneurs have serious doubts about what can truly be achieved. Fierce Healthcare spoke to nearly a dozen founders, functional medicine docs, investors and policy experts to get their take on where the space might be headed.
Ashley Tyrner of FarmboxRx remains hopeful that food-as-medicine will someday become the standard of care. And she thinks Kennedy’s agenda can spur progress. “I think this is an amazingly positive announcement for the food-as-medicine movement,” Tyrner told Fierce Healthcare.
“Food as medicine is kind of a buzzword, and I think people forget what it actually means,” Aidan Dewar, co-founder and CEO of telenutrition startup Nourish, told Fierce Healthcare. “It’s literally medicine, and it can outperform medicine.” Since RFK Jr. put a spotlight on food, Dewar has noticed an “uptick” in conversations among investors.
‘Bird Flu Symptoms’: Online Searches Spike After First Severe Case in US
Health officials on Wednesday confirmed the first severe case of bird flu in the U.S., causing a spike in online searches for symptoms of the virus. There have been more than 60 bird flu infections in people across the country since March. Nearly all have resulted in mild illness. Google searches for bird flu symptoms shot up 500% on Wednesday, with the virus topping all trending “symptoms” searches, according to the search engine’s data.
“Symptoms of H5N1 bird flu may include fever — or feeling feverish and chills — and respiratory symptoms such as cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches and tiredness,” according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Epidemiologist Dr. Denisse Vega Ocasio. Anyone who may have been exposed to bird flu and starts to feel symptoms should immediately contact the state or local health department — or a community health clinic — the CDC advises.
While bird flu cases have been rampant among wild birds, poultry and U.S. dairy cows, among other animals, cases in the U.S. have all been mild, up until a severe case was documented in Louisiana.
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The Political Lens on Food Is Changing
After years of dire warnings about Americans’ diet, the political winds appear to be shifting to a more critical view of what we eat. Why it matters: The concerns were evident at a Senate health committee hearing this month as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle dug into the connection between ultra-processed foods and obesity and chronic illness.
Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) assailed the way Congress and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed big corporations to profit off enticing children and adults to consume ultra-processed foods and beverages. Some lawmakers were also surprised that the FDA hasn’t reviewed the safety of a food dye called Red 40 in more than a decade, and asked about its potential effects on behavioral health.
What they’re saying: “This is the first time that I’ve heard anybody at that level talk about issues related to the food system in general and chronic disease in particular in a very, very long time,” Marion Nestle, an emerita professor of nutrition at New York University, told Axios. The big picture: The connection between food and chronic disease has been central to HHS Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy, whose Make America Healthy Again agenda has targeted everything from dyes to seed oils.
Lay’s Classic Potato Chips Recalled Over ‘Life-Threatening’ Allergy Risk
Frito-Lay recalled one of its most popular potato chip products because of milk that was not declared on the label, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Lay’s Classic Potato Chips, which shoppers may recognize for its familiar fluorescent yellow bag, are being recalled in Oregon and Washington, the FDA said Wednesday. It’s unclear where there was contamination with milk, as the chips’ listed ingredients are potatoes, vegetable oil and salt.
“Those with an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the recalled product,” the recall notice said. The recall is for the 13-ounce bag with a “Guaranteed Fresh” date of Feb. 11, 2025, and the manufacturing codes 6462307xx or 6463307xx.
Tainted Cucumbers Now Linked to 100 Salmonella Cases in 23 States
An outbreak of salmonella linked to cucumbers has now been tied to 100 known cases of the illness across 23 states, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported Thursday. That’s up from 68 cases reported in the FDA’s last tally in early December.
Many of the illnesses are severe.
“Of the 90 people for whom information is available, 25 have been hospitalized,” the FDA said in a statement. “No deaths have been reported.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first announced its investigation in late November. “Epidemiologic and traceback information shows that cucumbers grown by Agrotato, S.A. de C.V. in Sonora, Mexico, including recalled cucumbers from SunFed Produce LLC, may be contaminated with salmonella and may be making people sick,” the CDC said in a statement posted Nov. 29.
Bird Flu Sweeps Through Zoos With ‘Grave Implications’ for Endangered Animals
Dozens of rare animals including tigers, lions and cheetahs are dying as bird flu infiltrates zoos, with potentially “grave implications” for endangered species, researchers have warned. As a growing number of zoos report animal deaths, scientists are concerned that infected wild birds landing in enclosures could be spreading it among captive animals.
In the U.S., a cheetah, mountain lion, Indian goose and kookaburra were among the animals that died in Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix, according to local media reports last week. San Francisco Zoo temporarily closed its aviaries after a wild red-shouldered hawk was found dead on its grounds, and later tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. A rare red-breasted goose died at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, causing aviaries to close and penguin feeding for visitors to be suspended in November. These cases follow the deaths of 47 tigers, three lions, and a panther in zoos across south Vietnam over the summer.
