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Emergency doses of a meningitis vaccine not approved for use in the U.S. may soon be on the way to Princeton University to halt an outbreak of the potentially deadly infection that has sickened seven students since March. Government health officials said Friday they have agreed to import Bexsero, a vaccine licensed only in Europe and Australia that protects against meningitis B, a strain not covered by the shots recommended for college students in the U.S.

One week after proposing the removal of trans fats from food, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is targeting another fattening – and potentially harmful – ingredient: acrylamide. Acrylamide is a chemical that forms in many plant-based foods during high-temperature cooking, such as frying or baking. It is often found in French fries, cereals, crackers and many other food products. According to a recent report on the FDA website, stuides have found that high levels of acrylamide can increase the risk of cancer in animals – and many experts believe the risk likely translates to humans as well.

We recently posted Julie Borowski’s video entitled, “Get the Government Off My Donuts.” Sure, it sounds silly and stupid in light of stories about the turmoil in Syria or the persecution in North Korea. Donuts…seriously? Who cares? How shallow is that! Well, despite Julie’s silly donut scarfing demonstration and the light-hearted title, the point of her video wasn’t actually about getting the government away from her donuts. It was about freedom. Nothing shallow about freedom.The FDA taking steps to ban transfats in food doesn’t seem important in light of what’s happening in places like Syria, but the root of Syria’s...

Organic farmer Don Kretschmann walked around his picturesque but ancient barn and stepped up to a rustic barrel root crop washer. It's a simple machine, he said, consisting of long, wooden planks that form a cylinder, which he uses to clean freshly harvested produce on his Beaver County farm. Soil-covered carrots and potatoes go in one end, the cylinder rotates, water sprays in and clean vegetables emerge. “But who knows if I'll be allowed to keep using it?” said Kretschmann, who has farmed about 15 acres since he and his wife, Becky, bought the land in 1978. “Or this barn,...

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 12, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new undercover video has exposed the fact that Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations are stricter for common cold medication than for the abortifacient drug Plan B. In the video, created by Students for Life, women posing as 15-year-old girls attempt to simultaneously purchase the "emergency contraceptive" Plan B, and the cold medicine Sudafed. The “teenagers” are asked for identification, and when they say they don't have any ID, are told they can’t purchase Sudafed. However, they are allowed to purchase Plan B. “I thought I didn’t need an ID for Plan...

"They're coming after your doughnuts!" the Kentucky Republican said, referring to the Food and Drug Administration decision to ban trans fats. Paul added that if the FDA was banning trans fats, the employees of the agency should be forced to get healthy themselves. "I say we should line every one of them up. I want to see how skinny or how fat the FDA agents are that are making the rules on this," Paul said.

Prohibition: Washington is moving to ban trans fats. The obvious question, of course, is what will it ban next? If it can outlaw trans fats, it can outlaw anything. Is taking away choice what we want government to do? Trans fats, also called partially hydrogenated oils by many, have been in our foods for decades. These artificial fats help extend shelf life and in some cases simply make food taste better. Activists, though, tell us they're not healthy. We're not going to debate the issue. The health concerns of trans fats are not the point. But this is: Where does...

Progressive liberals just can't help themselves. They're so wise and all-knowing that us common peasants need them to come down from their elated heights to make decisions for us. The nanny state mentality is one that is a core component of the progressive liberal psyche, and while they cloak it with talk of good intentions, it's all about controlling every aspect of your life. Sadly, the nanny state is going national. I never worried about Nanny Bloomberg's crazy edicts as I don't live in New York City, but his trans fat madness is now being picked up by the FDA....

The FDA announced Thursday that there is no safe level of partially hydrogenated oils. The move — unusually bold for an agency that typically leaves additive safety to the private sector — is the first step in what could be a long road to removing trans fats, which are still widely used to improve the texture and shelf stability of processed foods like frosting, doughnuts and crackers. There is no safe level of consumption of artificial trans fats, Hamburg stressed. Consumer advocates are applauding the FDA’s actions.

They are among our most personal daily decisions: what to eat or drink. Maybe what to inhale. Now that the governmentºs banning trans fat, does that mean it’s revving up to take away our choice to consume all sorts of other unhealthy stuff? … In the tug-of-war between public health and personal freedom, the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to ban trans fats barely rates a ripple. Hardly anyone defends the icky-sounding artificial ingredient anymore, two decades after health activists began warning Americans that it was clogging their arteries and causing heart attacks. …

Medications approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration result in 100,000 deaths every year from what the federal agency describes as “Adverse Drug Reactions”, or ADRs. Worse, over 2 million Americans suffer non-deadly adverse reactions to drugs every year that the FDA has approved “safe”. ADRs refer to negative reactions that Americans suffer from taking drugs as directed by their doctor or the drug’s manufacturer. These cases DO NOT include overdoses or drug abuse. In fact, the FDA claims that adverse drug reactions account for the 4th leading cause of death “ahead of pulmonary disease, diabetes, AIDS, pneumonia,...

GM Debate Not Settled, Say European Scientists Controversy erupts after World Food Prize awarded to Monsanto By Justina Reichel, Epoch Times | October 24, 2013 In the wake of biotech giants Monsanto and Syngenta being awarded the World Food Prize, a European coalition of scientists is challenging claims that the debate around genetically modified foods is settled and that GM foods are safe. The European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility, which consists of more than 90 scientists, academics, and physicians, released a statement Monday in response to “sweeping claims” that GM products are safe. “We strongly reject...

While some European ethicists and politicians have called for an end to the creation of “three-parent” IVF embryos, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced it is considering allowing the practice - without having held a public consultation. Researchers say that the technique “modifies standard IVF technology” to create an embryo from the eggs of two women and sperm from one man. The FDA’s most recent draft guidance on the issue included no mention of the ethical concerns over the nature of the procedure itself, but only offers suggestions for developing early stage clinical trials. “This guidance is intended...

These seven drugs are running short in US hospitals. What is the cause of the drug shortage when considering the power of the pharmaceutical industry. How can we get them back to the hospital shelves. Drug shortages are nothing new, In fact, in 2011, there were 251 drug shortages reported by the FDA. 183 of those involved sterile injectable drugs. In 2012, there was less with only 117 new drug shortages, 84 of which involved sterile injectable drugs. Fortunately through early notifications from manufacturers the FDA has been able to prevent 282 shortages last year and numerous times this year...

The Coca-Cola Company isn’t smiling about the latest effort to force labels on foods and beverages that contain genetically modified organisms – this time in Washington State. It’s on a long list of manufacturers that sell products using ingredients derived from either corn or soy, both of which are nearly impossible to source in the United States without using genetically modified crops. In fact, should Washington pass its ballot initiative 522 next week, good luck finding any processed foods or beverages in an Evergreen State grocery store that don’t have GMO warning labels. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo both are on a...

The Food and Drug Administration is recommending new restrictions on prescription medicines containing hydrocodone, the highly addictive painkiller that has grown into the most widely prescribed drug in the U.S. In a major policy shift, the agency said in an online notice Thursday that hydrocodone-containing drugs should be subject to the same restrictions as other narcotic drugs like oxycodone and morphine.

**SNIP** But in spite of running more than 1,000 tests and visiting multiple manufacturers, the FDA still isn’t sure what it is in the chicken, duck, and sweet potato jerky that is making the animals sick. “To date, testing for contaminants in jerky treats has not revealed a cause for the illnesses,” said deputy director for the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine Martine Hartogensis.

Nearly 600 pets have died and more than 3,600 have been sickened in an ongoing, mysterious outbreak of illnesses tied to jerky treats made in China, federal animal health officials said Tuesday. Most of the cases have been in dogs of all breeds, ages and sizes, although 10 cats have been sickened, too. The pace of the reported illnesses appears to have slowed, but federal Food and Drug Administration officials are now seeking extra help from veterinarians and pet owners in solving the ongoing puzzle.“To date, testing for contaminants in jerky treats has not revealed a cause for the illnesses,” Martine...

Just heard on the drive in that Ben Venue, a maker of cancer drugs (generic and on contract), will be going out of business. They have been working through a consent decree with the FDA for quality system issues and stated: "the company cannot return to sustainable production." Their announcement here: http://www.benvenue.com/news_/press_releases/october_3_2013.html 1100 folks in Beford Ohio will be impacted.

Throughout its long history, the Federal Food and Drug Administration has insisted that its mission is “protecting and promoting your health.” Take that your seriously. In area after area, the record suggests that the paternalist FDA fails you in its announced purpose. Far from protecting “your health,” the FDA prevents you from making the informed decisions to preserve and promote your own health. All too often, the FDA lacks both the judgment and technical expertise to decide which treatments ordinary people may choose to undergo and which they must turn aside. To take one example, the FDA’s critics have bemoaned...