Diet & Nutrition News Headlines - Yahoo! News UK

In China, food scares put Mao's self-sufficiency goal at risk

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:29:37 +0100

By David Stanway and Niu Shuping BEIJING (Reuters) - The discovery of dangerous levels of toxic cadmium in rice sold in the southern city of Guangzhou, the latest in a series of food scandals, has piled more pressure on China to clean up its food chain - possibly at the expense of Mao Zedong's cherished goal of self-sufficiency. ...

New sleeping pill poised to hit US markets

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:31:27 +0100

An experimental sleeping pill from US drug company Merck is effective at helping people fall and stay asleep, according to reviewers at the US Food and Drug Administration, which could soon approve the new drug.

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek of The Doors dies at age 74

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:47:37 +0100

By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ray Manzarek, a founding member and keyboardist of 1960s rock group The Doors, died on Monday at a medical clinic in Germany at age 74 following a battle with cancer, the group's manager Tom Vitorino said. Manzarek, who lived in Northern California's Napa Valley wine country for the past decade, had been seeking treatment in Germany for bile duct cancer, Vitorino said. He died in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his wife and brothers. ...

Peru cracks down on junk food in schools

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:31:53 +0100

Peru's president signed a new law Thursday designed to reduce child obesity by encouraging healthier eating habits in schools.

South Sudan forces loot aid agencies in restive east

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:15:10 +0100

By Hereward Holland JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudanese security forces have raided several aid agencies, a food warehouse and medical clinic in the east of the country where the army is fighting a rebellion, military and humanitarian officials said on Monday. The United Nations said aid workers witnessed armed, uniformed men ransacking private homes and compounds of foreign aid groups in the centre of Pibor town in Jonglei state at the weekend. ...

Salt in foods is still high: US study

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:31:09 +0100

The amount of salt in foods that are processed or sold at fast food restaurants is still high despite calls by medical experts for people to cut sodium for better health, a US study said Monday.

KFC China sales crash 36% in April on bird flu fears

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:45:40 +0100

Sales of fast food giant KFC in China slumped an estimated 36 percent last month, according to parent Yum! Brands, as consumers shunned chicken due to the H7N9 bird flu outbreak in humans.

Angola sending aid to 300,000 at risk from drought

Thu, 09 May 2013 21:46:47 +0100

LISBON (Reuters) - Angola set up an emergency plan on Thursday for the southern province of Cunene, where an estimated 300,000 people are at risk of malnutrition because of a two-year-long drought. "The plan seeks to immediately provide medical assistance, food and drinking water for the most needy populations," the cabinet's economic commission said in a statement. Cunene, a semi-arid province which shares a border with Namibia to the south, depends largely on subsistence farming and cattle-raising. ...

Omega-3 acids not beneficial for cardiac risk group: study

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:05:52 +0100

Fish oil supplements rich in omega-3 fatty acids are not beneficial for patients at high risk of cardiovascular troubles and already being medicated, a study found Wednesday.

Swedish companies breach salmon export ban: report

Wed, 08 May 2013 19:08:07 +0100

Swedish companies have sold hundreds of tonnes of salmon containing illegal levels of dioxin to European countries, breaching a ban on exporting fatty fish from the heavily polluted Baltic Sea, media reported Wednesday.

Altitude sickness? Try a mug of Bolivian coca beer

Tue, 07 May 2013 20:46:04 +0100

A Bolivian brewer has come up with an innovative solution for quenching thirst and coping with altitude sickness: coca beer, based on the same leaf used to make cocaine.

China probes mutton supplier; government website says linked to Yum

Mon, 06 May 2013 05:06:04 +0100

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shanghai authorities are testing mislabelled mutton from a wholesaler a government website said supplies a chain of hot pot restaurants run by U.S. fast food firm Yum Brands Inc, the latest safety scare to taint China's food industry. Acting on a tip, Shanghai food safety inspectors and police raided a wholesale market on Friday and found packages labelled "New Zealand mutton" at one supplier that had no production date or list of ingredients, according to a report on the website of the municipal food safety committee (www.spaq.sh.cn). ...

US to open first horse slaughterhouses since 2007

Sat, 04 May 2013 20:25:27 +0100

Americans don't want to eat horse meat and Congress is trying to forbid its sale and export. Yet for the first time since 2007, new horse slaughterhouses are set to open in the United States.

Caffeine in kids' foods 'dangerous': US regulator

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:58:41 +0100

The US food and drug regulator on Friday called the addition of caffeine to children's foods like chewing gum and jelly beans "dangerous" and warned of a possible crackdown.

Chinese police bust million-dollar rat-meat ring

Fri, 03 May 2013 06:49:12 +0100

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have broken a crime ring that passed off more than $1 million (643 thousand pounds) in rat and small mammal meat as mutton, authorities said, in a food safety crackdown that coincides with a bird flu outbreak and other environmental pressures. Authorities have arrested 904 suspects since the end of January for selling and producing fake or tainted meat products, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday. ...

Sanofi says to step up development of new diabetes device

Thu, 02 May 2013 11:56:24 +0100

PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi is stepping up the development of a fixed combination of diabetes treatments Lantus and Lyxumia to sidestep an earlier setback with a similar pen device and take advantage of the delayed U.S. launch of competitor Novo Nordisk's new insulin. The French drugmaker, which on Thursday reported first-quarter results, said it would provide a fresh timeline for the fixed-combination pen device, currently in mid-stage trials, next month. ...

Egyptian students protest mass food poisoning at university

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:40:23 +0100

CAIRO (Reuters) - Hundreds of students from Egypt's top Islamic university protested on Monday to demand investigation and punishment of those responsible for a second mass food poisoning on campus this month. Ninety Al-Azhar University students were hospitalized on Monday after eating at a campus cafeteria, the health ministry said. Earlier this month, some 460 Al-Azhar University students were hospitalised following a mass food poisoning on campus. ...

Living in US raises risk of allergies

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:05:35 +0100

Children born outside the United States have a lower risk of asthma, skin and food allergies, and living in the United States for a decade may raise a person's allergy risk, said a study on Monday.

Young obesity doubles death risk before 55: study

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:47:12 +0100

Men who are obese in their early 20s are twice as likely as peers of average weight to die before reaching the age of 55, a study said Tuesday.

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:35:31 +0100

A Mediterranean-style diet packed with fish, chicken and olive oil and low on fatty dairy products and meat may lower the risk of memory problems later in life, a large US study said on Monday.