Health Glance
Do you want to know what country produced the food you eat? Too bad, says the World Trade Organization (WTO). That’s a barrier to free trade, so you don’t get to know.
The US instituted a labeling law requiring that all foods’ country of origin be on the label; it was part of the 2008 Farm Bill. Canada and Mexico complained to the WTO, saying that it would discourage food imports. It took three years, but the WTO decided that labeling food with its country of origin is a “technical barrier to trade”. In 1979, the US signed a treaty that includes prevention of technical barriers to trade. Of course, that term was not fully defined. It was up to the WTO to say just what it means. And they’ve done just that in regard to food—though for some inexplicable reason, meat is not included. Therefore, country of origin labeling can continue with meat.
Soda, which is loaded with sugar primarily in the form of high fructose corn syrup, is a leading contributor to the rising rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases facing Americans.
Scientists and security specialists are in the midst of a fierce debate over recent experiments on a strain of bird flu virus that made it more contagious.
The blockbuster drug Avastin should no longer be used in advanced breast cancer patients because there's no proof that it extends their lives or even provides enough temporary benefit to outweigh its dangerous side effects, the government declared Friday
Brussels bureaucrats were ridiculed yesterday after banning drink manufacturers from claiming that water can prevent dehydration.
On October 25, 2011, an advisory panel to the CDC, who actually receives a ‘kick-back’ on Gardasil sales recommended that the vaccine be administered to boys ages 9 to 26 – creating a whole new market for sales and profits. The recommendation, which falls short of a mandate, means Merck’s Gardasil vaccine could be added to vaccination schedules in pediatricians’ offices across the country.
