Food and Drug Administration

The Case for Plan B

Your Booty May Be Contaminated

Obama Calls for Safer Food

In an interview on the Today show earlier today, President Obama said the Food and Drug Administration needs to step it up. With a salmonella outbreak in peanut butter blamed for eight deaths and sickening over 500 people, Obama said he wants to examine how the agency operates. "I think that the FDA ... More >>

Cheaper McD's in China

McDonald's is lowering its prices in China as the nation's economy slows.[NY Times]The FDA defends its handling of the salmonella peanuts saying they were already investigating the Peanut Corporation of America.[NY Daily News]Some fans of the Biggest Loser are compelled to eat unhealthily while they ... More >>

Popcorn Gets Booze Flavoring

An enterprising University of Missouri student has created a line of alcohol-flavored popcorn called Pub Corn.[CNN]According to figures from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the cube steak is experiencing a resurgence in popularity.[NY Times]Noting that the Texas and Georgia peanut produc ... More >>

New Yorker to Head Up FDA

After coming down hard on the government's inadequate inspection of food processing plants, President Obama has vowed to improve food safety by reorganizing the FDA and tightening regulations. And who has he enlisted to help him? None other than former New York City health commissioner, Dr. Margar ... More >>

Federal Judge: Give Plan B to 17-Year-Olds

Good news, youngsters. A judge in Brooklyn has ruled that if a 17-year-old girl thinks she may be knocked up, she should have Plan B, the so-called morning after pill, without going through the hassle of obtaining a prescription. Federal Judge Edward Korman gave the FDA 30 days to revise its regs so ... More >>

Hillary's Plan B

Clinton calls Bush's bluff on science, women's rights, and the morning-after pill

Tits for Tat?

Bush's FDA moves forward on approving silicone breast implants but still stalls on emergency contraception

Net Pill Bill?

This Fall, Congress Will Consider Legislation To Regulate Online Drug Sales. Barely.

Bad Blood

FDA Catches Brookdale Hospital in transfusion confusion

Seize and Resist

FDA Catches Brookdale Hospital in transfusion confusion

No Rx Required

The Fight to Make Morning-After Pills Available Over the Counter

Prescription: Euphoria

New Research Brings Ecstasy Back to the Couch

Dr. Pusherman

New Research Brings Ecstasy Back to the Couch

Silicone Rally

Panel Says Breast Implants Safe

Trust Me, Baby

Bush White House snookers Clinton on morning-after pill

FDA Chokes on Morning-After Pill

Excerpts from the GAO's 62-page report

If the Morning After Never Comes

The Bush administration is set to keep emergency contraception out of reach

Legalize It: Another Approach to Winning Plan B

The Bush administration is set to keep emergency contraception out of reach

Another Food Scare: Now it's Pistachios

More fodder for those who believe the FDA needs a total overhaul--another food recall! This time, it's pistachios. The recall involves one million pounds of the nuts, possibly contaminated with salmonella, produced by Setton Pistachios in California. The FDA recommends avoiding all pistachios and pi ... More >>

Fighting for Plan B

More fodder for those who believe the FDA needs a total overhaul--another food recall! This time, it's pistachios. The recall involves one million pounds of the nuts, possibly contaminated with salmonella, produced by Setton Pistachios in California. The FDA recommends avoiding all pistachios and pi ... More >>

FDA Reverses Ruling, Will Let 17-Year-Olds Have Plan B

Yay! Last month a federal judge (in Brooklyn!) ruled that the FDA had no business restricting the unprescribed sale of Plan B to women over 18. Today the Food and Drug Administration caved and reversed its ruling, which means 17-year-olds will be able to buy Plan B, aka the morning-after pill, whi ... More >>

Obama's Foodie Poems Uncovered; Fast Food Secret Menus Revealed

Wired has the inside scoop on some popular food chains' secret menus: In-N-Out Burger's The Flying Dutchman (two beef patties, two cheese slices, no bun), Jamba Juice's extras of white gummi bears and strawberry shortcake, and Starbucks' Black Eye (a Red Eye with an extra shot of espresso). [Wired] ... More >>

Sensa Makes Food Smell Better, More Satisfying; US & Canada Reach Organic Trade Agreement

Before you drop a dollar in that busker's open guitar case, be forewarned: Dunkin' Donuts has hired a dozen street musicians to play around Manhattan. The faux buskers are making $20 per hour in the "Breakfast NOT Brokefast" campaign, which promotes eating a Dunkin' Donuts breakfast instead of donat ... More >>

Airlines Turn to 'Haute' Cuisine; Ben & Jerry's Celebrates Gay Marriage With 'Hubby Hubby'

​The remnants of a frog or toad were found in a Diet Pepsi can, according to the FDA. A Florida couple discovered a disintegrated blob at the bottom of the can when one of them gagged on it. [CNN] Airlines are revamping their on-board meal offerings, following years of cutbacks on free meals ... More >>

Forget Swine Flu: Horse Virus Kills Man Upstate

​As if swine flu weren't enough to worry about, a man in upstate New York has died of Eastern equine encephalitis. This brain virus is rare at present and spread by mosquitoes to horses, humans and other animals; no cure is known for the human cases. Officials in other states have had their ey ... More >>

Council Ban on Flavored Smokes Expectedly Passes

​As we expected, the city council went ahead and passed that ban on flavored tobacco products, which "improves" the FDA action against the yum smokes by including flavored cigars, chewing tobacco, and cigarillos in the order. The Mayor is expected to sign it. "That looks like a lip gloss," s ... More >>

The Government Is Now Secretly Making You Healthier

Put down the shaker and no one gets hurt.​Just yesterday we all found out how much we really distrust the government. Today we learn, via the Washington Post, that the FDA is about to start ever-so-sneakily reducing our salt intake. Hm.

Watercress Now; Restaurants Bring the Noise

​It's not as exciting as ramps to most foodies, but watercress has been gaining a following among both chefs and home cooks, and it's in season now. [NY Times] Food photography in restaurants is getting out of hand. Dovetail's John Fraser has had customers set up tripods. Momofuku Ko, La Esqu ... More >>

FDA Considering "Lady Viagra"

​Next month the FDA will decide whether or not to endorse a pill called flibanserin (yeah, that name has got to go) which purports to boost women's sex lives. The drug, made by German pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim, sparks "a woman's sexual desire by fiddling with her brain chemicals." Wh ... More >>

Gays Still Can't Give Blood

​You'd think anyone who wanted to fight in the armed forces would be hugely welcomed, especially with an international crisis going on--but no, not gays! You'd suspect that anyone crazy enough to get married should be given carte blanche to do whatever they want about it--but no, not gays!

Lady Viagra Gets a Thumbs-Down From the FDA

​Bummer. Turns out that the proposed sexual desire drug flibanserin is actually not going to be the little pink pill for women. Per the New York Times, the drug, which was under consideration from the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee to the FDA, was deemed "not robust enough to jus ... More >>

E. Coli Tracking: There Is Now a Product Recall App

Follow E. coli here, there, any everywhere!​Can't keep track of whether it's spinach or peanut butter that's tainted with salmonella, or which industrial food product E. Coli's worked its way into week? The FDA wants to help. It's teamed up with the Department of Agriculture, the Consumer Prod ... More >>

The Great Pumpkin Shortage is Over; Ben & Jerry's No Longer 'All Natural'

​The great canned pumpkin shortage of 2009-10 has ended. Nestle, which sells about 85 percent of the canned pumpkin in the U.S., said increased demand was to blame for the shortage. [Boston Herald] As the FDA nears the approval of genetically modified salmon, questions over its safety have ar ... More >>

David Burke to Open New Resto in the James; Brad Farmerie Gives Turkey Tips

​The Senate has voted to consider a bill that would give greater power to the FDA to deal with food safety issues. [NY Times] Alec Baldwin is shilling for Wegmans in a couple new ads. Apparently, his mother really is a fan of the supermarket chain. [Democrat & Chronicle] David Burke has con ... More >>

Revenge of the Nerds: Invisalign 'Invisible Braces' Potentially Bad for You

​It's a good day for dorks! Everyone knows that one preppy girl in their lives whose parents had enough money to buy her Invisalign, the plastic dentures that spare you the embarrassment of walking around with a mouth full of metal while making your teeth perfect over time. But those of us traumat ... More >>

100 People Get Staph Infections from Gingerbread; Fast-Food Chains Try to Top the Double Down

​At least 100 people have contracted staph food poisoning from eating tainted gingerbread houses sold at Whole Foods, according to the FDA. [TopNews] After finding traces of cooked food on the fossilized teeth of Neanderthals, scientists now believe the Ice Age diet included cooked plants and ... More >>

The Week in Food Blogs: Navigating Awkward Restaurant Situations; Sampling Flava Flav's Chicken

This week in food blogs ... Eater posted its guide to navigating 10 different awkward restaurant situations. Grub Street revealed that a bar you can't find has closed. A Hamburger Today listed its favorite burgers in the city, including Bill's Bar and Burger's and Minetta Tavern's. Atlantic Food ... More >>

Menthol Cigarettes to Stay Legal as Cops Bust Illegal Cigs in Brooklyn

​When police in Brooklyn pulled a 29-year-old driver over for not signaling while making a turn, what was supposed to be a routine inspection turned into a $60,000 bust of illegal cigarettes. The cigarettes had a street value of $40,000 and were unstamped. The New York Post reports that the ma ... More >>

FDA Overhauls Its Recall Website, and It's Actually Pretty Great

​Following in the footsteps of the New York Department of Health, the FDA has overhauled its food recall search engine to make it easier to use.

Hell's Kitchen Is Hot; Sandra Lee to Launch Kitchen Line

​Increased food prices have begun to affect diners directly, with restaurants like Per Se and 'wichcraft raising their menu prices. [Wall Street Journal] A group of women at Bravo were said to be bitching about the special treatment Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi gets. (This is news?) [NY Post] He ... More >>

FDA Recalls Satur Farms Cilantro Over Possible Salmonella Contamination

Satur Farms​If you shop at the farmers market and patronize the kind of restaurants that tout their use of local produce, it's easy to view FDA recalls and salmonella-tainted crops as a problem limited to industrialized farming and unscrupulous corporations. Unfortunately, that's not always th ... More >>

Why America's E. Coli Response Makes Germany's Look Like Scheiße

​Each week, Death by Science gets on its hands and knees and crawls around, searching the dark world of science and technology. Often terrifying, sometimes humbling, our discoveries will make you call your best bud and go, "Wha--?" This week, we examine why Germany's E. Coli outbreak has been ... More >>

Cigarette Packs to Get Graphic Government Warning Labels in 2012

​Like New York City's gross "salt, sugar and soda will kill you" ads, but more disgusting, the FDA has decided upon a set of graphics and short phrases that will adorn all packs of cigarettes beginning next year. Rotting teeth, a tracheotomy hole, dirty lungs and suffering babies are among the ... More >>

FDA Gets Into Gluten-Free; Food Is the New Rock

​New research suggests that babies develop their palates in the womb and that what a woman eats while pregnant could affect her child's tastes later in life. [NPR] The FDA will soon start to regulate gluten-free foods. Currently, a gluten-free label doesn't necessarily ensure that a product a ... More >>

Licorice Is Tasty, But It Just Might Kill You

Niznoz / FlickrTrick-or-tachycardia?​Here's some depressing news from Food Consumer, just in time for Halloween: Licorice can cause irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia, and now the FDA encourages only moderate consumption of the jet-black candy.

FDA Says 'No' to Drugged Up Livestock

​Cows, chickens, and pigs in America are on lots of drugs -- and even account for 80 percent of the country's antibiotic consumption, Time reports. But now, Food and Drug Administration officials have called on the ag industry to limit antibiotic use in livestock, as they think it might lead ... More >>

Food Industry Wants to Keep Dioxins in Your Dinner: Report

​It's always good to know that the people who raise the nation's livestock and sow the country's crops really want to put health first. Or not. A group of top U.S. food producers has recently protested the Food and Drug Administration's upcoming demands for tougher dioxin limits in nutrition ... More >>

FDA Monitoring Orange Juice for Fungicide

​The Food and Drug Administration thinks that a sketchy foreign fungicide might have contaminated Brazilian orange juice -- so FDA officials might start turning away O.J. imports from there, according to NJ.com.