The American Cancer Society’s most recent estimate showed that more than 10.5 million Americans with a history of cancer are still living, and the total cancer deaths in the United States declined for the second straight year in 2004 (the most recent year for which statistics are available).
Packaging that lets you see a food product may make you feel better as a consumer, but it is not good for the food. New ideas for plastics may help remedy that problem. Research by Virginia Tech food scientists has provided significant evidence that visible wavelengths of light cause taste and odor changes of food.
Food scientists and material scientists agree that the primary purpose of food packaging is to protect the food. Once that is accomplished, the package has to protect sensory quality. One challenge to meeting the second goal is communication between food scientists and material scientists, according to research by Susan E. Duncan, professor of food science and technology at Virginia Tech.
People often pay more attention to price tags than to real value. Professor Jean-Robert Tyran, University of Copenhagen, discusses when money illusion can affect markets (eg. the housing market) in the current issue of Science.
Two items high on the list of public concerns are the need for greater food safety and a growing demand for natural or organic food products. Understanding this, chemists and food scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, joined forces to develop natural approaches to the prevention of food contamination and spoilage.
With the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) set to expire Sept. 30, experts say that unless Congress and the White House reauthorize the program and agree on its funding, coverage for vulnerable children nationwide will be in jeopardy.
Exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in the womb is statistically associated with lower weight and head circumference at birth, according to an analysis of nearly 300 umbilical cord blood samples led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Following is a statement by Linda A. Suydam, D.P.A., president of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), regarding the safety and efficacy of over-the-counter pediatric cough and cold medicines:
Recent toy recalls may leave you wondering about your child’s exposure to lead. Read on to get the facts from Children’s Hospital Boston’s Michael Shannon, MD, MPH, an emergency physician, toxicologist and co-director of the Pediatric Environmental Health Center at Children’s Hospital Boston and Alan Woolf, MD, MPH, a pediatrician, toxicologist, co-director of the Pediatric Environmental Health Center and director of the Environmental Medicine Program at Children’s Hospital Boston.
Antibacterial soaps show no health benefits over plain soaps and, in fact, may render some common antibiotics less effective, says a University of Michigan public health professor.