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Pediatricians Renew Their Call for a Ban on Raw Milk
Anyone can become ill after eating or drinking unpasteurized dairy. But “raw” milk and foods made from it are especially risky for children and pregnant people, the American Academy of Pediatrics warned in a new policy statement published in the journal Pediatrics.
The updated guidance calls for a ban on the sale and distribution of unpasteurized dairy. Proponents say these products offer health benefits such as curing allergies and boosting immunity. Scientific evidence does not support these and other raw-milk claims.
“Unpasteurized milk is not better for people’s health than pasteurized milk, it is more dangerous,” said Adam Ratner, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases and lead author of the statement.
Without pasteurization, raw dairy can harbor germs like E. coli, listeria and salmonella. The H5N1 virus, which transmits bird flu, was detected in raw milk samples during the 2024 dairy outbreak, the authors noted. While there are no confirmed cases of bird flu spreading from dairy to humans, “it’s quite concerning,” Ratner said.
Scientists Served Processed and Unprocessed Meals —Then Compared the Effects
The way food is processed, not just its nutritional value, could affect how your body responds to it, researchers at Virginia Tech have found. The scientists gave participants either a minimally or significantly processed meal and made sure that both had the same nutritional value.
They found those who ate the more processed meal experienced a different metabolic response and even had different activation of the brain region associated with motivation and reward. The study was published in the journal Nature Metabolism on October 5.
“This study shows that, even with the same macronutrient profile, ultraprocessed and non-ultraprocessed meals can produce different metabolic responses, which are linked to changes in the brain’s regions that regulate reward and craving,” Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute and professor at Tufts University, told Newsweek.
One Diet Change May Ease Depression Symptoms in Just 4 Weeks, Small Trial Finds
A packet of snacks. A sugary drink. A meal ready in minutes. Ultra-processed foods make life easier in the kitchen. Researchers are investigating whether eating fewer of them could also make a difference to depression symptoms. In a pilot trial, people diagnosed with depression had lower symptom scores during a diet low in ultra-processed foods than during their usual diet.
Each dietary period lasted four weeks, giving researchers a chance to compare two eating patterns in the same people. The study, led by psychiatry researcher Nyasha Chagwedera at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), recruited 20 adults who consumed substantial amounts of ultra-processed foods.
Their average age was approximately 44, and they had lived with depression for an average of nearly 13 years. Participants were randomly assigned to start with one of two diets. One group ate as usual for four weeks, while the other reduced ultra-processed foods. Then they switched.
Energy Drinks’ New College Sports Partnerships Make Them More Dangerous Than Ever
In a single generation, energy drinks have conquered the beverage world. Starting as an upscale version of the humble NoDoz pill, then sugared up for guzzling, they are now the caffeine jolt of choice for the sluggish and the sleep-deprived. In an odd commercial convergence, they have also hooked up with the burgeoning wellness movement by adding favorites like ginseng, vitamins, and amino acids to the mix, making the energy drink seem like a friendly sports drink.
Presto! An $85-billion-a-year (and growing) global market is upon us. Which is fine. Caffeine in whatever form, be it in coffee or tea or Coca-Cola, has long been a staple of the American kitchen table. But there is a large problem with allowing market forces alone to square the deal: Energy drinks are not safe, especially for teens and pre-teens.
Too much caffeine (and perhaps the sporty added favorites, too) can push the naïve teen heart or mind into overdrive, leading to acute illness and even death. A decade-plus ago, the evidence was strong enough to lead the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and even Congress to advise extreme restraint.
A Lawsuit Accuses Starbucks of Mislabeling 8 ‘Sugar-Free’ Protein Drinks
Starbucks is facing a consumer lawsuit over claims that the protein drinks labeled “sugar-free” on its cafe menus may actually contain more sugar than a Reese’s peanut butter cup. The federal lawsuit filed late Friday in Seattle alleges that eight protein beverages Starbucks sells in the U.S. contain varying amounts of sugar even though the company lists them as sugarless.
On Monday, the menu on Starbucks’ U.S. website listed a 16-ounce (0.5-liter) Sugar-Free Caramel Protein Matcha with 16 grams of sugar and a 20-ounce (0.6-liter) version of the same drink with 21 grams of sugar. By comparison, one Reese’s cup has 11 grams of sugar. Hagens Berman, a law firm that specializes in class action cases, filed the suit on behalf of three individual consumers who bought Starbucks’ sugar-free protein drinks in California, New York and Washington.
“Consumers avoid sugar for various reasons, whether that be general health, diabetes and blood glucose levels or other factors, and for many, a staunch mislabeling like this is significant,” said Steve Berman, a co-founder and managing partner of the Seattle-headquartered firm.
More Than 122,000 Cases of Gatorade Recalled Across the Country: What to Know
More than 122,000 cases of Gatorade have been recalled, according to a notice by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The recall, which was initiated Sept. 25, involves a total of 122,021 cases of 28-ounce bottles of Gatorade Lemon Lime, Gatorade Lemon Lime Zero, Gatorade Orange and Gatorade Orange Zero. The items have been recalled for containing undeclared Yellow No. 6 and/or Yellow No. 5.
The recall affects products distributed in 37 states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
TODAY.com has reached out to PepsiCo, which owns Gatorade, for comment, but had not heard back by publication.
